He spoke kindly to him and gave him a more prestigious position than the other kings who were with him in Babylon.

Nebuchadnezzar took some of the items in the Lord’s temple to Babylon and put them in his palace there.

He spoke kindly to him and gave him a more prestigious position than the other kings who were with him in Babylon.

So Darius the king issued orders, and they searched in the archives of the treasury which were deposited there in Babylon.

All of you, gather together and listen! Who among them announced these things? The Lord’s ally will carry out his desire against Babylon; he will exert his power against the Babylonians.

And all the exiles of Judah who are in Babylon will use them as examples when they put a curse on anyone. They will say, “May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab whom the king of Babylon roasted to death in the fire!”

I will punish the god Bel in Babylon. I will make him spit out what he has swallowed. The nations will not come streaming to him any longer. Indeed, the walls of Babylon will fall.”

“Now if the king is so inclined, let a search be conducted in the royal archives there in Babylon in order to determine whether King Cyrus did in fact issue orders for this temple of God to be rebuilt in Jerusalem. Then let the king send us a decision concerning this matter.”