Study Desk

^(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 all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying:

Then the heads of fathers' households of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites arose, ^(e)even everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up and rebuild the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem.