Ezra 1-2 

“The Lord … has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem” (1:2).  The book of Ezra opens seventy years after the Jews have been exiled from Israel.  The Babylonian empire had conquered Judah and then been taken over by Persia, and King Cyrus declared that the Jews could return home to rebuild their Temple.  This was “in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah” (Ezra 1:1, II Chron 36:22).

After seventy years of exile, some might have doubted God’s promises.  But His Word doesn’t fail: “You will go out with joy, and be led forth with peace” (Isaiah 55:12).