The rest of the people who remained in the city, the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the crowd Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard took into exile.
In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, that the word of the Lord spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also declared in a written edict:
Now these are the people of the province who went up from the captivity of the exiles, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon, and came again to Jerusalem and Judah. Each returned to his own city.
Afterwards, our fathers provoked the God of heaven to wrath, so He gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and carried the people away into Babylon.
I was angry with My people; I have polluted My inheritance and given them into your hand. You did not show them mercy; on the aged you have laid your yoke very heavily.
All nations shall serve him and his son and his son’s son until the time of his own land comes; and then many nations and great kings will make him their servant.
Writhe and bring forth, daughter of Zion, like the woman in labor, because now you will go forth from the city and reside in the field, and you will come to Babylon. There you will be rescued; there the Lord will redeem you from the hand of your enemies.