Ezra 1:1-8
The Proclamation of Cyrus
1 aIn the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, bthat 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 cthat 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 dhe 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— ehe 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, feveryone whose spirit gGod had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem. 6And all who were about them haided them with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts, and with costly wares, besides all that was freely offered. 7 iCyrus the king also brought out the vessels of the house of the Lord that jNebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods. 8Cyrus king of Persia brought these out in the charge of kMithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to lSheshbazzar the prince of Judah.
Ezra 6:3-5
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, 4 nwith three layers of great stones and one layer of timber. Let the cost be paid from the royal treasury. 5And also olet the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that is in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought back to the temple that is in Jerusalem, each to its place. You shall put them in the house of God.” Isaiah 44:28
28who says of pCyrus, ‘He is qmy shepherd,and he shall fulfill all my purpose’;
saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’
rand of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’”
Isaiah 45:1
Cyrus, God’s Instrument
1 Thus says the Lord to shis anointed, to Cyrus,twhose right hand I have grasped,
to subdue nations before him
and uto loose the belts of kings,
to open doors before him
that gates may not be closed:
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