“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:
Cyrus begins his proclamation, presenting himself as the king of Persia speaking under the acknowledgment that follows.
This verse introduces the royal decree in formal terms.
1In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to send a proclamation throughout his kingdom and to put it in writing as follows: 2“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: 3Whoever among you belongs to His people, may his God be with him, and may he go to Jerusalem in Judah and build the house of the LORD, the God of Israel; He is the God who is in Jerusalem. 4And let every survivor, wherever he lives, be assisted by the men of that region with silver, gold, goods, and livestock, along with a freewill offering for the house of God in Jerusalem.’” 5So the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and Levites— everyone whose spirit God had stirred— prepared to go up and rebuild the house of the LORD in Jerusalem. 6And all their neighbors supported them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuables, in addition to all their freewill offerings.