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:

^9 (A)Then the Lord put out his hand and ^(B)touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me,

⁹ Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(A)“Let your hands be strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth of ^(B)the prophets who were present on ^(C)the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built.