Ezra and Nehemiah are the last two books about the history of the Israelites.1:0 The Israelites were the descendants of Jacob, who was also called Israel. Jacob's 12 sons became the ancestors of Israel's 12 tribes. The land that God gave to them as their home was called Israel. After King Solomon died, the nation of Israel became two kingdoms. The kingdom in the north was called Israel. The kingdom in the south was called Judah.

Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had destroyed the temple in Jerusalem. 1:0 Babylon was a rich and powerful city on the Euphrates River. The king of Babylon ruled many other countries.He took the Israelites who lived in Judah to Babylon as prisoners. That was called the Exile.

When Cyrus, King of Persia, started to rule over Babylon, he told the Jews to return to Jerusalem. 1:0 Jews were people who belonged to the Israelite tribe of Judah. The name was first used at the time of their exile in Babylon. It can mean any of the Israelites who returned to Judah after the exile.He told them to build God's temple again. The book of Ezra tells us how the Jews did that. This happened in about 538 BC.

Then Ezra returned to Jerusalem. Ezra was a priest who studied God's Law. He taught the people how they should live to please God in their own land.