27 ^rBlessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers, ^swho put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem, 28 ^tand who extended to me his steadfast love before the king and his counselors, and before all the king’s mighty officers. I took courage, for the hand of the Lord my God was on me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.