The Decree of Cyrus

2 Chronicles 36:22–23 forms the movement “The Decree of Cyrus.” In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah was fulfilled. The Lord moved the heart of Cyrus to make a proclamation: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and appointed me to build a temple for Him at Jerusalem. Any of His people among you may go up, and may the Lord their God be with them. This decree marked the beginning of Judah’s return from exile and the rebuilding of the temple.

In the book’s larger argument, The final chapter interprets Jerusalem’s fall through rejected messengers, covenant judgment, sabbath-rest language, Jeremiah’s seventy years, and Cyrus’s decree; the ending points directly into Ezra.