2 Chronicles 36:22-23

The Proclamation of Cyrus

22 ^aNow in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, ^bthat the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, ^cthe 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 ^dIn the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, ^ethat 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 ^fthat 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 ^ghe has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

Ezra 1:7-8

7 ^hCyrus the king also brought out the vessels of the house of the Lord that ⁱNebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods. 8Cyrus king of Persia brought these out in the charge of ^jMithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to ^kSheshbazzar the prince of Judah.

Ezra 3:7

7So they gave money to the masons and the carpenters, ^land food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians ^mto bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, ⁿaccording to the grant that they had from Cyrus king of Persia.

Ezra 4:3

3But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel said to them, ^o“You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, ^pas King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.”

Ezra 4:5

5and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Ezra 5:13-17

13 ^qHowever, in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king made a decree that this house of God should be rebuilt. 14 ^rAnd the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple that was in Jerusalem and brought into the temple of Babylon, these Cyrus the king took out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to one whose name was ^sSheshbazzar, whom he had made governor; 15and he said to him, “Take these vessels, go and put them in the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its site.” 16Then this ^tSheshbazzar came and ^ulaid the foundations of the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and from that time until now it has been in building, and it is ^vnot yet finished.’ 17Therefore, if it seems good to the king, ^wlet search be made in the royal archives there in Babylon, to see whether a decree was issued by Cyrus the king for the rebuilding of this house of God in Jerusalem. And let the king send us his pleasure in this matter.”

Ezra 6:3

3In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king issued a decree: Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be rebuilt, the place where sacrifices were offered, and let its foundations be retained. Its height shall be sixty cubits ▼

▼A  cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters

and its breadth sixty cubits,

Ezra 6:14

14 ^yAnd the elders of the Jews built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They finished their building by decree of the God of Israel and ^zby decree of Cyrus and ^aaDarius and ^abArtaxerxes king of Persia;

Daniel 1:21

21And Daniel ^acwas there until the first year of ^adKing Cyrus.

Daniel 6:28

28So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and ^aethe reign of ^afCyrus the Persian.