Ezra 1:2

1:2 “Thus says King Cyrus of Persia:

“‘The Lord God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has instructed me to build a temple ¹  for him in Jerusalem, ²  which is in Judah.

Ezra 5:11

5:11 They responded to us in the following way: ‘We are servants of the God of heaven and earth. We are rebuilding the temple which was previously built many years ago. A great king ³  of Israel built it and completed it.

Ezra 7:12-13

7:12 ⁴ “Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, a scribe of the perfect law of the God of heaven: 7:13 I have now issued a decree ⁵  that anyone in my kingdom from the people of Israel – even the priests and Levites – who wishes to do so may go up with you to Jerusalem. ⁶ 

Nehemiah 1:4

1:4 When I heard these things I sat down abruptly, ⁷  crying and mourning for several days. I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

Nehemiah 2:4

2:4 The king responded, ⁸  “What is it you are seeking?” Then I quickly prayed to the God of heaven

Psalms 136:26

136:26 Give thanks to the God of heaven,

for his loyal love endures!

Daniel 2:18-19

2:18 He asked them to pray for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery so that he ⁹  and his friends would not be destroyed along with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 2:19 Then in a night vision the mystery was revealed to Daniel. So Daniel praised ¹⁰  the God of heaven,

Daniel 2:44

2:44 In the days of those kings the God of heaven will raise up an everlasting kingdom that will not be destroyed and a kingdom that will not be left to another people. It will break in pieces and bring about the demise of all these kingdoms. But it will stand forever.

Revelation 11:13

11:13 Just then ¹¹  a major earthquake took place and a tenth of the city collapsed; seven thousand people ¹²  were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

Revelation 16:11

16:11 They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their sufferings ¹³  and because of their sores, ¹⁴  but nevertheless ¹⁵  they still refused to repent ¹⁶  of their deeds.

¹ tn Heb “house.” The Hebrew noun בַּיִת (bayit, “house”) is often used in reference to the temple of Yahweh (BDB 108 s.v. 1.a). This is also frequent elsewhere in Ezra and Nehemiah (e.g., Ezra 1:3, 4, 5, 7; 2:68; 3:8, 9, 11, 12; 4:3; 6:22; 7:27; 8:17, 25, 29, 30, 33, 36; 9:9; 10:1, 6, 9).

² map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

³ sn This great king of Israel would, of course, be Solomon.

⁴ sn Ezra 7:12-26 is written in Aramaic rather than Hebrew.

⁵ tn Heb “from me is placed a decree.” So also in v. 21.

⁶ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁷ tn Heb “sat down.” Context suggests that this was a rather sudden action, resulting from the emotional shock of the unpleasant news, so “abruptly” has been supplied in the present translation.

⁸ tn Heb “said to me.”

⁹ tn Aram “Daniel.” The proper name is redundant here in English, and has not been included in the translation.

¹⁰ tn Or “blessed.”

¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹² tn Grk “seven thousand names of men.”

¹³ tn Grk “pains” (the same term in Greek [πόνος, ponos] as the last word in v. 11, here translated “sufferings” because it is plural). BDAG 852 s.v. 2 states, “ἐκ τοῦ π. in pain…Rv 16:10; pl. (Gen 41:51; Jos., C. Ap. 2, 146; Test. Jud. 18:4) ἐκ τῶν π. …because of their sufferings vs. 11.”

¹⁴ tn Or “ulcerated sores” (see 16:2).

¹⁵ tn Grk “and they did not repent.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but nevertheless” to express the contrast here.

¹⁶ tn Grk “they did not repent” The addition of “still refused” reflects the hardness of people’s hearts in the context.