^21 (A)to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until ^(B)the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. ^(C)All the days of its desolation it kept the Sabbath ^[a](D)until seventy years were complete.

Cyrus’ Proclamation

1 ^(A)Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he ^(B)sent a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying:

^11 (A)This entire land will be a place of ruins and an object of horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for ^(B)seventy years.

Babylon Will Be Judged

¹² ‘Then it will be ^(A)when seventy years are completed I will ^(B)punish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ declares the Lord, ‘for their wrongdoing, and the land of the Chaldeans; and ^(C)I will make it an everlasting desolation.

¹⁰ “For this is what the Lord says: ‘When ^(A)seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My ^(B)good word to you, to bring you back to this place.

⁵ “Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months ^[a]these ^(A)seventy years, was it actually for ^(B)Me that you fasted?