Ezr 1:5, Neh 2:4-9, 17, Isa 51:18-20, 62:5, Eze 28:24 | ESV | STEP | Then rose up the heads of the fathers ’ houses of Judah and Benjamin , and the priests and the Levites , everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem .

Ezra 1:5

5 Then rose up the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, ^aeveryone whose spirit ^bGod had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem.

Nehemiah 2:4-9

4 Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed ^cto the God of heaven. 5 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.” 6 And the king said to me ( ^dthe queen sitting beside him), “How long will you be gone, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me ^ewhen I had given him a time. 7 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me ^fto the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah, 8 and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of ^gthe fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy.” And the king granted me what I asked, ^hfor the good hand of my God was upon me.

Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem’s Walls

9 Then I came to ⁱthe governors of the province Beyond the River and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen.

Nehemiah 2:17

17 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, ^jhow Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer ^ksuffer derision.”

Isaiah 51:18-20

18 ^lThere is none to guide her
among all the sons she has borne;
there is none to take her by the hand
among all the sons she has brought up.
19 ^mThese two things have happened to you—
who will console you?—
devastation and destruction, famine and sword;
who will comfort you? ^{▼▼Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Masoretic Text how shall I comfort you}
20 ^oYour sons have fainted;
they lie at the head of every street
like an ^pantelope ^qin a net;
they are full of the wrath of the Lord,
the rebuke of your God.

Isaiah 62:5

5 For as a young man marries a young woman,
so ^rshall your sons marry you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
so ^sshall your God rejoice over you.

Ezekiel 28:24

24 “And for the house of Israel ^tthere shall be no more a brier to prick or ^ua thorn to hurt them among all their neighbors ^vwho have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord God.