and a letter for Asaph the keeper of the king&#8217;s nature preserve,<n id="1" /> so that he will give me timber for beams for the gates of the fortress adjacent to the temple and for the city wall<n id="2" /> and for the house to which I go.&#8221; So the king granted me these requests,<n id="3" /> for the good hand of my God was on me.

My God placed it on my heart to gather the leaders,<n id="1" /> the officials, and the ordinary people so they could be enrolled on the basis of genealogy. I found the genealogical records<n id="2" /> of those who had formerly returned. Here is what I found written in that record:<n id="3" />p>