Ezra 1:2-3

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. 1:3 Anyone from ³  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 6:10

6:10 so that they may be offering incense to the God of heaven and may be praying for the good fortune of the king and his family. ⁴ 

Ezra 7:23

7:23 Everything that the God of heaven has required should be precisely done for the temple of the God of heaven. Why should there be wrath ⁵  against the empire of the king and his sons?

Deuteronomy 10:17

10:17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God who is unbiased and takes no bribe,

Deuteronomy 32:31

32:31 For our enemies’ ⁶  rock is not like our Rock,

as even our enemies concede.

Psalms 145:3

145:3 The Lord is great and certainly worthy of praise!

No one can fathom his greatness! ⁷ 

Daniel 2:47

2:47 The king replied to Daniel, “Certainly your God is a God of gods and Lord of kings and revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery!”

Daniel 3:26

3:26 Then Nebuchadnezzar approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire. He called out, ⁸  “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the most high God, come out! Come here!”

Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego emerged from the fire. ⁹ 

Daniel 4:2

4:2 I am delighted to tell you about the signs and wonders that the most high God has done for me.

Daniel 4:34-37

4:34 But at the end of the appointed time ¹⁰  I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up ¹¹  toward heaven, and my sanity returned to me.

I extolled the Most High,

and I praised and glorified the one who lives forever.

For his authority is an everlasting authority,

and his kingdom extends from one generation to the next.

4:35 All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing. ¹² 

He does as he wishes with the army of heaven

and with those who inhabit the earth.

No one slaps ¹³  his hand

and says to him, ‘What have you done?’

4:36 At that time my sanity returned to me. I was restored ¹⁴  to the honor of my kingdom, and my splendor returned to me. My ministers and my nobles were seeking me out, and I was reinstated ¹⁵  over my kingdom. I became even greater than before. 4:37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, for all his deeds are right and his ways are just. He is able to bring down those who live ¹⁶  in pride.

Daniel 6:26

6:26 I have issued an edict that throughout all the dominion of my kingdom people are to revere and fear the God of Daniel.

“For he is the living God;

he endures forever.

His kingdom will not be destroyed;

his authority is forever. ¹⁷ 

[1:2]  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).

[1:2]  ² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:3]  ³ tn Heb “from all.”

[6:10]  ⁴ tn Aram “for the life of the king and his sons.”

[7:23]  ⁵ tn The Aramaic word used here for “wrath” (קְצַף, qÿtsaf; cf. Heb קָצַף, qatsaf) is usually used in the Hebrew Bible for God’s anger as opposed to human anger (but contra Eccl 5:17 [MT 5:16]; Esth 1:18; 2 Kgs 3:27). The fact that this word is used in v. 23 may have theological significance, pointing to the possibility of divine judgment if the responsible parties should fail to make available these provisions for the temple.

[32:31]  ⁶ tn Heb “their,” but the referent (enemies) is specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[145:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “and concerning his greatness there is no searching.”

[3:26]  ⁸ tn Aram “answered and said.”

[3:26]  ⁹ tn Aram “from the midst of the fire.” For stylistic reasons the words “the midst of” have been left untranslated.

[4:34]  ¹⁰ tn Aram “days.”

[4:34]  ¹¹ tn Aram “lifted up my eyes.”

[4:35]  ¹² tc The present translation reads כְּלָא (kÿla’), with many medieval Hebrew MSS, rather than כְּלָה (kÿlah) of BHS.

[4:35]  ¹³ tn Aram “strikes against.”

[4:36]  ¹⁴ tc The translation reads הַדְרֵת (hadret, “I returned”) rather than the MT הַדְרִי (hadri, “my honor”); cf. Theodotion.

[4:36]  ¹⁵ tc The translation reads הָתְקְנֵת (hotqÿnet, “I was established”) rather than the MT הָתְקְנַת (hotqÿnat, “it was established”). As it stands, the MT makes no sense here.

[4:37]  ¹⁶ tn Aram “walk.”

[6:26]  ¹⁷ tn Aram “until the end.”