Ezra 6:3-5
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
3 In the first year of his reign, King Cyrus issued a decree: With regard to the house of God in Jerusalem: the house is to be rebuilt as a place for offering sacrifices and bringing burnt offerings. Its height is to be sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits. 4 It shall have three courses of cut stone for each one of timber. The costs are to be borne by the royal house. 5 Also, let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple of Jerusalem and brought to Babylon be sent back; let them be returned to their place in the temple of Jerusalem and deposited in the house of God.”
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2 Chronicles 36:22-23
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Decree of Cyrus. 22 [a]In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in order to realize the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord roused the spirit of Cyrus, King of Persia, to spread this proclamation throughout his kingdom, both by word of mouth and in writing:(A) 23 “Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given to me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has also charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. All among you, therefore, who belong to his people, may their God be with them; let them go up.”
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- 36:22–23 These verses are identical with those of Ezr 1:1–3a and were to prevent the work from ending on a note of doom.
Jeremiah 25:11-12
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
11 This whole land shall be a ruin and a waste. Seventy years these nations shall serve the king of Babylon;(A) 12 but when the seventy years have elapsed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation and the land of the Chaldeans for their guilt—oracle of the Lord. Their land I will turn into everlasting waste.(B)
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Jeremiah 29:10
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
10 For thus says the Lord: Only after seventy years have elapsed for Babylon will I deal with you and fulfill for you my promise to bring you back to this place.(A)
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Zechariah 1:12
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
12 Then the angel of the Lord replied, “Lord of hosts, how long will you be without mercy for Jerusalem and the cities of Judah that have felt your anger these seventy years?”[a](A)
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- 1:12 These seventy years: allusion to the period of divine anger mentioned in Jer 25:11–12 and 29:10. Here the symbolic number seventy is understood to mark the period without a Temple in Jerusalem. Since these seventy years would have been almost over at this point, this symbolic number would have provided motivation for rebuilding the Temple as a sign of the end of the exile.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.