Cyrus Proclaims Liberty for the Exiles

Cyrus rebelled against king nebuchadnezzar who had made him swear by god. He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the lord, the god of israel. All the leading priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful. And they polluted the house of the lord, which he had hallowed in jerusalem. Cyrus took into exile in babylon those who had escaped from the sword. They became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of persia. The days that it lay desolate, it kept sabbath to fulfil 70 years.