THE DECREE OF CYRUS

1 Ina the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah,b the Lord roused the spiritc of King Cyrus to issue a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom and to put it in writing:

2 This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: “The Lord, the God of the heavens, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has appointed me to build him a house at Jerusalem in Judah.d 3 Any of his people among you, may his God be with him, and may he go to Jerusalem in Judah and build the house of the Lord, the God of Israel,e the God who is in Jerusalem. 4 Let every survivor,f wherever he resides, be assisted by the men of that region with silver, gold, goods, and livestock, along with a freewill offering for the house of God in Jerusalem.”

RETURN FROM EXILE

5 So the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and Levites—everyone whose spirit God had rousedg—prepared to go up and rebuild the Lord’s house in Jerusalem. 6 All their neighbors supported themA,h with silver articles, gold, goods, livestock, and valuables, in addition to all that was given as a freewill offering.