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Ezra 1 · a question people ask

Did Cyrus worship the LORD?

In the text

The chapter doesn't say. It says what the LORD did: "the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia" (1:1). And it gives Cyrus's own words: "The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he has commanded me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah" (1:2), and he speaks of "the house of the LORD, the God of Israel (he is God), which is in Jerusalem" (1:3). The chapter doesn't say what Cyrus himself believed or whom he worshipped. These notes keep to what the verses say and bring in nothing about Cyrus from outside the Bible.

From Favor's study of Ezra 1

Ezra 1: Stirred to go up

Ezra 1 says the LORD stirred two spirits: Cyrus's, to make the proclamation (1:1), and the people's, "all whose spirit God had stirred to go up" (1:5). And the vessels Nebuchadnezzar had put in the house of his gods were counted out and brought up "from Babylon to Jerusalem" (1:11).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions