Ezra / Question
Cyrus said the LORD, the God of heaven, had given him all the kingdoms of the earth and charged him to build a house at Jerusalem. He invited any of God’s people to go up, with God with them, and build. See Ezra 1:2 and Ezra 1:3.
In Ezra 1:2 Cyrus, the Persian king, issues a public statement about his rule and a specific task. He credits “Yahweh, the God of heaven” with granting him authority over the world’s kingdoms, and he presents the temple project as an assignment he has received. Ezra opens by moving from a brief narrative setup (the start of Cyrus’s reign and an edict being issued) into the king’s own words. Verse 2 functions like the headline of the decree: it identifies the speaker, names the divine source of authority, and states the concrete objective.
Ezra 1:2 presents Cyrus’s decree as an official royal statement.
A careful answer keeps the immediate passage, the book's argument, and the whole-Bible storyline together, so the question is answered in context instead of as a detached idea.
Start with Ezra 1:2, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.
2Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth has Yahweh, the God of heaven, given me; and he has charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.