The Book of Ezra, originally paired with Nehemiah as a singular literary and historical tome in the Hebrew, recounts the story of the return of God's people to the Promised Land. While the Jews had been forewarned that such an expulsion from the Promised Land was imminent if they did not turn from their evil ways, God had also promised to gather them anew, after a period of seventy years, in order to restore them to the Promised Land and accomplish His will and redemptive purposes. The Book of Ezra recounts that story.