²⁵ then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to them and their fathers.

⁶ Behold, ^(A)I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth. ⁷ And ^(B)I will cause the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel to return, and will rebuild those places ^(C)as at the first. ⁸ I will ^(D)cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned and by which they have transgressed against Me. ^9 (E)Then it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I do to them; they shall ^(F)fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I provide for it.’

¹⁰ “Thus says the Lord: ‘Again there shall be heard in this place—^(G)of which you say, “It is desolate, without man and without beast”—in the cities of Judah, in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast, ¹¹ the ^(H)voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who will say:

and of those who will bring ^(J)the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. For I will cause the captives of the land to return as at the first,’ says the Lord.

¹² “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(K)‘In this place which is desolate, without man and without beast, and in all its cities, there shall again be a dwelling place of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. ^13 (L)In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the South, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks shall again ^(M)pass under the hands of him who counts them,’ says the Lord.

End of the Babylonian Captivity^(A)

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

⁵ Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, with all whose spirits ^(F)God ^[b]had moved, arose to go up and build the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem. ⁶ And all those who were around them ^[c]encouraged them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with precious things, besides all that was ^(G)willingly offered.

The Promise Fulfilled

⁴³ So the Lord gave to Israel ^(A)all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they ^(B)took possession of it and dwelt in it.

⁸ And I will bring you into the land which I ^(A)swore^[a] to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the Lord.’ ”

¹⁵ for all the land which you see ^(A)I give to you and ^(B)your ^[a]descendants forever.