It lasted for nearly fifty years, from the end of Zedekiah’s reign in 586 B.C.E. to the Persian conquest of Babylonia in 539 B.C.E. When King Cyrus took over, he proclaimed, “Thus says King Cyrus of Persia: ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the LORD his God be with him! Let him go up.’” (NRSV, II Chronicles 36:23)