9. Proclamation for the return (36:22-23)

These verses, declaring restoration after exile, form an appendix to the chronicler’s work. They are based on Ezr 1:1-4 and direct the reader to the story of the first generation of returnees. Chronicles thus ends on a more positive note than if it finished with the report of the Exile. God again speaks through a foreign ruler. The exiles return by God’s grace, apparently in response to humble repentance. Back in the land, the chronicler exhorts his community, and each generation of God’s people, to obey the Lord.