Ezra 1:3

1:3 Anyone from ¹  his people among you (may his God be with him!) may go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and may build the temple of the Lord God of Israel – he is the God who is in Jerusalem.

Ezra 3:10

3:10 When the builders established the Lord’s temple, the priests, ceremonially attired and with their clarions, ²  and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with their cymbals, stood to praise the Lord according to the instructions left by ³  King David of Israel. ⁴ 

Ezra 4:2

4:2 they came to Zerubbabel and the leaders ⁵  and said to them, “Let us help you build, ⁶  for like you we seek your God and we have been sacrificing to him ⁷  from the time ⁸  of King Esarhaddon ⁹  of Assyria, who brought us here.” ¹⁰ 

Ezra 7:25

7:25 “Now you, Ezra, in keeping with the wisdom of your God which you possess, ¹¹  appoint judges ¹²  and court officials who can arbitrate cases on behalf of all the people who are in Trans-Euphrates who know the laws of your God. Those who do not know this law should be taught.

¹ tn Heb “from all.”

² sn This was a long, straight, metallic instrument used for signal calls, rather than the traditional ram’s horn (both instruments are typically translated “trumpet” by English versions).

³ tn Heb “according to the hands of.”

⁴ sn See Ps 107:1; 118:1, 29; 136:1. Cf. 2 Chr 5:13; 7:3; 20:21.

³ tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.” So also in v. 3.

⁴ tn Heb “Let us build with you.”

⁵ tc The translation reads with the Qere, a Qumran MS, the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Arabic version וְלוֹ (vÿlo, “and him”) rather than the Kethib of the MT, וְלֹא (vÿlo’, “and not”).

⁶ tn Heb “days.”

⁷ sn Esarhaddon was king of Assyria ca. 681-669 b.c.

⁸ sn The Assyrian policy had been to resettle Samaria with peoples from other areas (cf. 2 Kgs 17:24-34). These immigrants acknowledged Yahweh as well as other deities in some cases. The Jews who returned from the Exile regarded them with suspicion and were not hospitable to their offer of help in rebuilding the temple.

⁴ tn Aram “in your hand.”

⁵ tc For the MT reading שָׁפְטִין (shoftim, “judges”) the LXX uses the noun γραμματεῖς (grammatei", “scribes”).