Cyrus Helps the Exiles to Return

In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:

of Pahath-Moab (through the line of Jeshua and Joab) 2,812

of Ater (through Hezekiah) 98

The priests: the descendants of Jedaiah (through the family of Jeshua) 973

you gave through your servants the prophets when you said: ‘The land you are entering to possess is a land polluted by the corruption of its peoples. By their detestable practices they have filled it with their impurity from one end to the other.

A proclamation was then issued throughout Judah and Jerusalem for all the exiles to assemble in Jerusalem.