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20 Nebuchadnezzar took captive to Babylon the people who were left alive. And he forced them to be slaves for him and his descendants. They remained there as slaves until the Persian kingdom defeated Babylon. 21 And so what the Lord had told Israel through the prophet Jeremiah happened. The Lord had said that place would be an empty wasteland for 70 years. This happened to make up for the years of Sabbath rests[a] that the people had not kept.

22 It was the first year Cyrus was king of Persia. The Lord caused Cyrus to write an announcement and send it everywhere in his kingdom. This happened so the Lord’s message spoken by Jeremiah would come true.

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Footnotes

  1. 36:21 Sabbath rests The Law said that every seventh year the land was not to be farmed. See Leviticus 25:1–7.

20 He carried into exile(A) to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants(B) to him and his successors until the kingdom of Persia came to power. 21 The land enjoyed its sabbath rests;(C) all the time of its desolation it rested,(D) until the seventy years(E) were completed in fulfillment of the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah.

22 In the first year of Cyrus(F) king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:

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