s [1] which was the seventieth
from the day that our people were removed out of their own land into
Babylon, God commiserated the captivity and calamity of these poor
people, according as he had foretold to them by Jeremiah the prophet,
before the destruction of the city, that after they had served
Nebuchadnezzar and his posterity, and after they had undergone that
servitude seventy years, he would restore them again to the land of
their fathers, and they should build their temple, and enjoy their
ancient prosperity. And these things God did afford them; for he stirred
up the mind of Cyrus, and made him write this throughout all Asia: "Thus
saith Cyrus the king: Since God Almighty hath appointed me to be king of
the habitable earth, I believe that he is that God which the nation of
the Israelites worship; for indeed he foretold my name by the prophets,
and that I should build him a house at Jerusalem, in the country of
Judea."

2. This was known to Cyrus by his reading the book which Isaiah left
behind him of his prophecies; for this prophet said that God had spoken
thus to him in a secret vision: "My will is, that Cyrus, whom I have
appointed to be king over many and great nations, send back my people
to their own land, and build my temple." This was foretold by Isaiah one
hundred and forty years before the temple was demolished. Accordingly,
when Cyrus read this, and admired the Divine power, an earnest desire
and ambition seized upon him to fulfill what was so written; so he
called for the most eminent Jews that were in Babylon, and said to them,
that he gave them leave to go back to their own country, and to rebuild
their city Jerusalem, [2] and the temple of God, for that he would be
their assistant, and that he would write to the rulers and governors
that were in the neighborhood of their country of Judea, that they
should contribute to them gold and silver for the building of the
temple, and besides that, beasts for their sacrifices.

3. When Cyrus had said this to the Israelites, the rulers of the two
tribes of Judah and Benjamin, with the Levites and priests, went in
haste to Jerusalem; yet did many of them stay at Babylon, as not willing
to leave their possessions; and when they were come thither, all the
king's friends assisted them, and brought in, for the building of the
temple, some gold, and some silver, and some a great many cattle and
horses. So they performed their vows to God, and offered the sacrifi