Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther

Book excerpt: Set in the Persian Empire, one of the greatest kingdoms the world has ever known, the stories contained in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah provide the most comprehensive scriptural account of the restored Judean community after the Babylonian exile. The book of Esther is also set in the Persian period of Israel's history, although the concern is for a different community. Carrying forward brilliantly the pattern established by Barclay's New Testament series, the Daily Study Bible has been extended to cover the entire Old Testament as well. Invaluable for individual devotional study, for group discussion, and for classroom use, the Daily Study Bible provides a useful, reliable, and eminently readable way to discover what the Scriptures were saying then and what God is saying today.