And he took {those who escaped the sword} to Babylon. And they became servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia,

And in the first year of Cyrus, the king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of Yahweh by the mouth of Jeremiah, Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, so that he {made a proclamation} throughout all his kingdom and also in writing, saying:

"Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia: 'Yahweh the God of heaven has given to me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has appointed me to build a house for him at Jerusalem, which [is] in Judah. Whoever [is] among you from all his people, may Yahweh his God go up with him.'"

In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to accomplish the word of Yahweh by the mouth of Jeremiah, Yahweh stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia and he sent a message to all of his kingdom and also [put the message] in writing:

"Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: Yahweh, the God of the heavens, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. And he himself has appointed me to build a house for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

Cyrus the king of Persia let them go out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and he counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.

So they gave money to the stone craftsmen and skilled craftsmen, and food, drink, and olive oil to the Sidonians and Tyrians, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the authorization over them of Cyrus king of Persia.

But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of the {families} of Israel said to them, "[It is] not for you but for us to build a house for our God. For we ourselves alone will build [it] for Yahweh the God of Israel, just as Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us."

and bribed officials against them to frustrate their plan for all the days of Cyrus king of Persia until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

And in the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their colleagues wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia. The letter was written in Aramaic and translated from Aramaic.

Then the work on the house of God in Jerusalem stopped, and was discontinued until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

So the elders of the Jews were building and prospering, through the prophecy of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo. They finished building by the command of the God of Israel and by the decree of Cyrus, Darius, and King Artaxerxes of Persia.

After these things [during] the reign of King Artaxerxes of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah,

For we are slaves and in our bondage our God did not forsake us, and he has extended to us loyal love in the presence of the kings of Persia, to give to us deliverance [and] to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judea and Jerusalem.

In the days of Eliashib, Jehoiada, Jehohanan, and Jaddua the Levites were recorded as heads of the {families}. So [these were] the priests [during] the reign of Darius the Persian.

he gave a banquet in the third year of his reign for all his officials and servants. The army of Persia and Media and the nobles and officials of the provinces were in his presence

and those next to him were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, Memucan, the seven officials of Persia and Media who {had access to the king} and sat first in the kingdom--

This day the women of nobility from Persia and Media will respond to all the officials of the king and there will be no end to contempt and anger.

{If it pleases} the king, let {a royal edict} go out from him, and let it be written among the laws of Persia and Media so that it will not be altered, that Vashti cannot come before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal position to her neighbor who [is] better than she.

All the work of his authority and his {powerful deeds}, and the full accounting of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written on the scroll of the {chronicles} of the kings of Media and Persia?

Persia and Lud and Put were {among your soldiers}; small shield and helmet hung {among you} [and] gave [to you] your adornment.

Persia, Cush, and Put [are] with them, all of them, with small shield and helmet.

So this Daniel prospered during the kingdom of Darius and during the kingdom of Cyrus the Persian.

"The ram that you saw {who had two horns} [represents] the kings of Media and Persia.

But [the] prince of [the] kingdom of Persia stood {before me} [for] twenty-one days. And look, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to assist me, and I left [him] there beside [the] king of [the] Persians.

Then he asked, "Do you know why I have come to you? And now I return to fight against the prince of Persia and I [myself] [am] going, and look, [the] prince of Javan will come.

And now I will reveal [the] truth to you. Look! Still three kings will arise in Persia, and the fourth will get abundance [and] great wealth, [even] more than all [of them], and {when he becomes strong} through his wealth, [then] he will stir up {everyone} against [the] kingdom of Javan.