¹³ The bronze columns that belonged to the house of the Lord, and the stands and the bronze sea in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke into pieces; they carried away the bronze to Babylon.^{(A) 14} They took also the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the cups and all the bronze articles used for service.^{(B) 15} The fire pans and the bowls that were of solid gold or silver the captain of the guard also carried off.^{(C) 16} The two columns, the one bronze sea, and the stands, which Solomon had made for the house of the Lord—the weight in bronze of all these articles was never calculated.^{(D) 17} Each of the columns was eighteen cubits high; a bronze capital three cubits high surmounted each column, and a netting with pomegranates encircled the capital, all of bronze; and they were duplicated on the other column, on the netting.^(E)

¹⁸ All the utensils of the house of God, large and small, the treasures of the Lord’s house, and the treasures of the king and his princes, all these he brought to Babylon.^(A)

Decree of Cyrus. ^22 [a]In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in order to realize the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord roused the spirit of Cyrus, King of Persia, to spread this proclamation throughout his kingdom, both by word of mouth and in writing:^(A)