^25 (A)then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them again to the land that you gave to them and to their fathers.

^6 (A)Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security. ^7 (B)I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, ^(C)and rebuild them as they were ^(D)at first. ^8 (E)I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, ^(F)and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. ^9 (G)And this city^[a] shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them. They shall ^(H)fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it.

¹⁰ “Thus says the Lord: In this place ^(I)of which you say, ‘It is a waste without man or beast,’ in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man or inhabitant or beast, there shall be heard again ^11 (J)the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, as they bring ^(K)thank offerings to the house of the Lord:

^(M)For I will restore the fortunes of the land as at first, says the Lord.

¹² “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(N)In this place that is waste, without man or beast, and in all of its cities, there shall again be ^(O)habitations of shepherds ^(P)resting their flocks. ^13 (Q)In the cities of the hill country, ^(R)in the cities of the Shephelah, ^(S)and in the cities of the Negeb, in the land of Benjamin, ^(T)the places about Jerusalem, ^(U)and in the cities of Judah, ^(V)flocks shall again pass under the hands ^(W)of the one who counts them, says the Lord.

The Proclamation of Cyrus

1 ^(A)In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, ^(B)that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so ^(C)that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:

² “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and ^(D)he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. ³ Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—^(E)he is the God who is in Jerusalem. ⁴ And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”

⁵ Then rose up the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, ^(F)everyone whose spirit ^(G)God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem. ⁶ And all who were about them ^(H)aided them with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts, and with costly wares, besides all that was freely offered.

^43 (A)Thus the Lord gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers. And they took possession of it, and they settled there.

⁸ I will bring you into ^(A)the land that I ^(B)swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. ^(C)I am the Lord.’”

¹⁵ for all the land that you see I will give ^(A)to you and ^(B)to your offspring forever.