Ezra and Nehemiah, the Men Who Feared God

Nehemiah was a man who desired to restore the lost glory of Jerusalem; and he left his comfortable position as the cupbearer of the king of Babylon in order to do that great task. Though Nehemiah and the Jews were opposed and ridiculed, yet they continued to build; and they did the work. After the temple had been finished, Ezra came from Babylon to Jerusalem. He was a skilled scribe in the Law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given. The king granted him all his request, according to the Hand of the Lord his God upon him. For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach Statutes and Ordinances in Israel. He was encouraged, as the Hand of the Lord his God was upon him; and he gathered leading men of Israel to go up with him to Jerusalem; and they came to Jerusalem, where he taught the Jews the Law of God.