2 Chronicles 36:21-23

21to 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 1:1-5

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. 3Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel— ^jhe is the God who is in Jerusalem. 4And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”

5Then rose up the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, ^keveryone whose spirit ^lGod had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem.

Proverbs 21:30

30 ^mNo wisdom, no understanding, no counsel
can avail against the Lord.

Jeremiah 25:11-12

11 ⁿThis whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and ^othese nations shall serve the king of Babylon ^pseventy years. 12Then after ^qseventy years are completed, ^rI will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, ^sthe land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the Lord, ^tmaking the land an everlasting waste.

Jeremiah 29:10

10“For thus says the Lord: ^uWhen seventy years are completed for Babylon, ^vI will visit you, ^wand I will fulfill to you my promise ^xand bring you back to this place.

Jeremiah 32:5

5And ^yhe shall take Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he shall remain until I visit him, declares the Lord. ^zThough you fight against the Chaldeans, you shall not succeed’?”

Daniel 9:2

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