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,

The Proclamation of Cyrus^(A)

^22 (B)Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of ^(C)Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of ^(D)Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying,

The Lord Considers the Heart

¹² ‘Then it will come to pass, ^(A)when ^[a]seventy years are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity,’ says the Lord; ^(B)‘and I will make it a perpetual desolation. ¹³ So I will bring on that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah has prophesied concerning all the nations. ^14 (C)(For many nations ^(D)and great kings shall ^(E)be served by them also; ^(F)and I will repay them according to their deeds and according to the works of their own hands.)’ ”

^27 (A)Blessed^[a] be the Lord God of our fathers, ^(B)who has put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to beautify the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem,

²² And they kept the ^(A)Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy; for the Lord made them joyful, and ^(B)turned the heart ^(C)of the king of Assyria toward them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

⁷ And ^(A)I will cause the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel to return, and will rebuild those places ^(B)as at the first. ⁸ I will ^(C)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 (D)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 ^(E)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—^(F)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 ^(G)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 ^(I)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: ^(J)‘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 (K)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 ^(L)pass under the hands of him who counts them,’ says the Lord.