Then the herald ¹  made a loud ²  proclamation: “To you, O peoples, nations, and language groups, the following command is given: ³ 

I first decreed to Zion, ‘Look, here’s what will happen!’ ¹  I sent a herald to Jerusalem. ² 

For this gospel ¹  I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher. ² 

and if he did not spare the ancient world, but did protect Noah, a herald of righteousness, along with seven others, ¹  when God ²  brought a flood on an ungodly world, ³ 

Go up on a high mountain, O herald Zion! Shout out loudly, O herald Jerusalem! ¹  Shout, don’t be afraid! Say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!”

For this I was appointed a preacher and apostle – I am telling the truth; ¹  I am not lying – and a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

Deliverance goes ¹  before him, and prepares ²  a pathway for him. ³ 

The Lord responded: ¹  “Write down this message! ²  Record it legibly on tablets, so the one who announces ³  it may read it easily. ⁴ 

Preach the message, ¹  be ready ²  whether it is convenient or not, ³  reprove, rebuke, exhort ⁴  with complete patience and instruction.

In the first year of the reign of ¹  King Cyrus of Persia, in fulfillment of the promise he delivered through Jeremiah, ²  the Lord moved ³  King Cyrus of Persia to issue a written decree throughout his kingdom.

¹ In the first ²  year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order to fulfill the Lord’s message ³  spoken through ⁴  Jeremiah, ⁵  the Lord stirred the mind ⁶  of King Cyrus of Persia. He disseminated ⁷  a proclamation ⁸  throughout his entire kingdom, announcing in a written edict ⁹  the following:

(2:1) ¹  Look! A herald is running ²  on the mountains! A messenger is proclaiming deliverance: ³  “Celebrate your sacred festivals, O Judah! Fulfill your sacred vows to praise God! ⁴  For never again ⁵  will the wicked ⁶  Assyrians ⁷  invade ⁸  you, they ⁹  have been completely destroyed.”

And he will go as forerunner before the Lord ¹  in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, ²  to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him.”