2Ch 36:21-Ezr 1:2, Jer 25:12, 27:7, 22, Dan 9:2, Zec 7:5 | ESV | STEP | to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah , until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths . All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath , to fulfill seventy years .

21 to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had ^aenjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate ^bit kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.

The Proclamation of Cyrus

22 ^cNow in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, ^dthat the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, ^ethe Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: 23 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the Lord his God be with him. Let him go up.’”

The book of Ezra begins where 2 Chronicles ends. As prophesied by Isaiah (Isa. 44:28), the Persian King Cyrus had sent exiles led by Zerubbabel back to Jerusalem in 538 b.c. (Persia had defeated Babylon in 539.) Despite opposition from the non-Jewish inhabitants of Judea, and after encouragement by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, the temple was rebuilt (515). Then in 458, Ezra led the second of three waves of returning exiles. By the time Ezra arrived, the people had again fallen into sin. Ezra preached God’s word and the people repented (10:9-17). Ezra succeeded because God’s hand was upon him (7:6, 9, 28; 8:18, 22, 31). This book, perhaps written by Ezra, shows God’s power in covenant faithfulness, moving even pagan kings to accomplish his redemptive purposes.

Ezra 1:1-2

The Proclamation of Cyrus

1 ^fIn the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, ^gthat 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 ^hthat 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 ⁱhe has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

Jeremiah 25:12

12 Then after ^jseventy years are completed, ^kI will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, ^lthe land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the Lord, ^mmaking the land an everlasting waste.

Jeremiah 27:7

7 ⁿAll the nations shall serve him and ^ohis son and ^phis grandson, ^quntil the time of his own land comes. ^rThen many nations and great kings shall make him their slave.

Jeremiah 27:22

22 ^sThey shall be carried to Babylon ^tand remain there ^uuntil the day when I visit them, declares the Lord. ^vThen I will bring them back ^wand restore them to this place.”

Daniel 9:2

2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to ^xthe word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.

Zechariah 7:5

5 “Say to all the people of the land and the priests, 'When you fasted and mourned in ^ythe fifth month and in ^zthe seventh, for these ^aaseventy years, ^abwas it ^acfor me that you fasted?