\v 1 In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, Yahweh fulfilled his word that came from the mouth of Jeremiah, and stirred Cyrus's spirit. Cyrus' voice went out over his entire kingdom. This is what was written and spoken:
\v 2 "Cyrus, king of Persia, says: Yahweh, God of Heaven, gave me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he appointed me to build for him a house in Jerusalem in Judea.
\v 3 Whoever is from his people (may his God be with him) may go up to Jerusalem and build a house for Yahweh, the God of Israel, the God who is Jerusalem.
\v 4 People of any part of the kingdom where survivors of that land are living should provide them with silver and gold, possessions and animals, as well as a freewill offering for God's house in Jerusalem."
\v 5 Then the heads of the ancestors' clans of Judah and Benjamin, the priests and Levites, and everyone whose spirit God stirred to go and build his house arose.