| Former half | Relation | Latter half |
| 1 Reign of Josiah (1:1-31) Josiah kept the passover to his Lord in Jerusalem (1:1) | Festival of the LORD | 7 The foundation of the temple laid (5:46-62) They kept the festival of booths, as it is commanded in the law, and offered the proper sacrifices every day (5:51) |
| 2 The last kings of Judah (1:32-55) Captivity | Captivity and return | 6 List of the returning exiles (5:1-45) Return |
| 3 Cyrus permits the exiles to return (2:1-14) Permission of Cyrus | Permission of kings | 5 The debate of the three bodyguards (3:1-4:63) Permission of Darius |
| Former half | Relation | Latter half |
| 7 The foundation of the temple laid (5:46-62) They kept the festival of booths, as it is commanded in the law, and offered the proper sacrifices every day (5:51) | Festival of the LORD | 13 Ezra reads the law of the people (9:37-55) This day is holy to the Lord (9:50) |
| 8 Interference of enemies (5:63-70) by plots and demagoguery and uprisings they prevented the completion of the building as long as King Cyrus lived. (5:73) | Jamming of foreign people | 12 The expulsion of foreign wives (8:65-9:36) All these had married foreign women, and they put them away together with their children. (9:36) |
| 9 Official permission granted (6:1-33) I, King Darius, have decreed that it be done with all diligence as here prescribed. (6:34) | Permission of kings | 11 Ezra arrives in Jerusalem (8:1-64) They delivered the king's orders to the royal stewards and to the governors of Coelesyria and Phoenicia; (8:67) |