You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know that he gave up his heavenly riches for you. He gave up everything so that you could be richly blessed.
Then God caused many of his people to want to go to Jerusalem. These included the family leaders of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, the priests and Levites, and many others. They all prepared to go and rebuild the Lord’s Temple.
During the first year that Cyrus was king of Persia, the Lord caused him to make an announcement. It was written down, and Cyrus ordered that it be read throughout his kingdom. This was done so that what the Lord had told Jeremiah years before would now happen. This was the announcement:
Everything good comes from God. Every perfect gift is from him. These good gifts come down from the Father who made all the lights in the sky. But God never changes like the shadows from those lights. He is always the same.