Ezra 8:22

For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way, against the bands of Bedouins which infested the deserts and lived largely on robbery and plunder, because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek Him, but Him power and His wrath is against all them that forsake Him. They had declared that they were traveling under the protection of the true God, and they did not want to lower the respect which Artaxerxes had for their religion at that time by applying for an armed escort.