1) Its text.
One year after Babel's conquest, that is in 538 B.C.E., Cyrus issued this proclamation, the famous edict ordering the release of the Jews and the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem.
In the Tanakh, we find two versions thereof, one recorded in 2.Chron. 36:23, the other one in Ezra 1:2-4. The latter one seems to record it in length, for the purpose mentioned there. It reads:
"Thus says Cyrus king of Persia. The Lord God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he has charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people whose God is with him, may he go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel - he is the God - which is in Jerusalem. And whosoever remaineth in any place were he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, besides the freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem".
The edict as recorded in 2.Chron. 36:22 apparently intends to address the Jewish captives, and perhaps to bring a message at large. Incidentally, the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) whose arrangement of books and chapters is not followed by the translations into other languages, concludes with its citation, thus giving it special weight. There, it reads:
"Thus says Cyrus King of Persia: The Lord God of Heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he has charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is there among all his people whose God is with him, may he go up."
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