⁸ “But now, for a short time, the Lord our God has been ·kind [gracious; merciful] to us. He has let ·some of us [a remnant] ·come back from [escape; or survive] ·captivity [exile] and has ·let us live in safety [^Lgiven us a peg; ^Ca tent peg symbolizing pitching a tent after travel] in his holy place. And so our God ·gives us hope [^Lcauses our eyes to shine; ^Cthat is, revives] and a little relief ·from [in] our ·slavery [bondage]. ⁹ Even though we ·are [were] slaves, our God in his ·unfailing love [loyalty] ·has not left [did not abandon/forsake] us. He caused the kings of Persia to ·be kind to [look kindly on] us and has ·given us new life [revived us]. We can rebuild the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of our God and ·repair [restore] its ruins. And he has given us a wall [^Cof protection] in Judah and Jerusalem.

¹⁰ “But now, our God, what can we say after you have done all this? We have ·disobeyed [abandoned; forsaken] your commands