³ and I will have you swear by the Lord, God of heaven and God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I live,^(A)

⁷ The Lord, the God of heaven,^(A) who took me from my father’s house and from my native land,^(B) who spoke to me and swore to me, “I will give this land to your offspring”^[a](C) – he will send his angel before you,^(D) and you can take a wife for my son from there.

² This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: ‘The Lord, the God of the heavens, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has appointed me to build him a house at Jerusalem in Judah.^(A)

Nehemiah’s Prayer

⁴ When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for a number of days, fasting and praying^(A) before the God of the heavens.^(B)

¹⁸ urging them to ask the God of the heavens^(A) for mercy^(B) concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends would not be destroyed with the rest of Babylon’s wise men.^(C)