2 Chronicles 36
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 36
Jehoahaz. 1 (A)The people of the land took Jehoahaz, son of Josiah, and made him king in Jerusalem to succeed his father. 2 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. 3 The king of Egypt deposed him in Jerusalem and fined the land one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 4 Then the king of Egypt made Eliakim, the brother of Jehoahaz, king over Judah and Jerusalem, changing his name to Jehoiakim. Neco took Jehoahaz his brother away and brought him to Egypt.
Jehoiakim. 5 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, his God.(B) 6 (C)Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, attacked and bound him in chains to take him to Babylon.[a] 7 Nebuchadnezzar also carried away to Babylon some of the vessels of the house of the Lord and put them in his palace in Babylon. 8 The rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, the abominable things that he did, and what therefore happened to him, are recorded in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. His son Jehoiachin succeeded him as king.(D)
Jehoiachin. 9 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight.(E) 10 At the turn of the year, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and had him brought to Babylon, along with precious vessels from the house of the Lord. He made his brother Zedekiah[b] king over Judah and Jerusalem.(F)
Zedekiah. 11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.(G) 12 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, his God, and he did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke for the Lord.(H) 13 He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. He became stiff-necked and hardened his heart rather than return to the Lord, the God of Israel.(I) 14 Likewise all the princes of Judah, the priests, and the people added treachery to treachery, practicing all the abominations of the nations and defiling the Lord’s house which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.
The Fall of Judah. 15 Early and often the Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent his messengers to them, for he had compassion on his people and his dwelling place.(J) 16 But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until the Lord’s anger against his people blazed up beyond remedy.(K) 17 Then he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in their own sanctuary, with compassion for neither young men nor young women, neither the old nor the infirm; all of them he delivered into his power.(L) 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.(M) 19 They burnt the house of God, tore down the walls of Jerusalem, burnt down all its palaces, and destroyed all its precious objects.(N) 20 Those who escaped the sword he carried captive to Babylon, where they became servants to him and his sons until the Persian kingdom came to power. 21 All this was to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah: Until the land has retrieved its lost sabbaths, during all the time it lies waste it shall have rest while seventy years are fulfilled.
Decree of Cyrus. 22 [c]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:(O) 23 “Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given to me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has also charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. All among you, therefore, who belong to his people, may their God be with them; let them go up.”
Footnotes
- 36:6 Nebuchadnezzar…bound him in chains to take him to Babylon: the Chronicler does not state that Jehoiakim was actually taken to Babylon. According to 2 Kgs 24:1–6, Jehoiakim revolted after being Nebuchadnezzar’s vassal for three years; he died in Jerusalem before the city surrendered to the Babylonians. Dn 1:1–2, apparently based on 2 Chr 36:6–7, does speak of Jehoiakim’s deportation to Babylon.
- 36:10 His brother Zedekiah: Zedekiah was actually the brother of Jehoiakim and the uncle of Jehoiachin (2 Kgs 24:17; Jer 37:1), though scarcely older than his nephew (2 Kgs 24:8, 18; 2 Chr 36:9, 11).
- 36:22–23 These verses are identical with those of Ezr 1:1–3a and were to prevent the work from ending on a note of doom.
Proverbs 23:22-35
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
22 [a]Listen to your father who begot you,
do not despise your mother when she is old.
23 Buy truth and do not sell:
wisdom, instruction, understanding!
24 The father of a just person will exult greatly;
whoever begets a wise son will rejoice in him.(A)
25 Let your father and mother rejoice;
let her who bore you exult.
26 [b]My son, give me your heart,
and let your eyes keep to my ways,
27 For the harlot is a deep pit,
and the foreign woman a narrow well;
28 Yes, she lies in wait like a robber,(B)
and increases the number of the faithless.
29 [c]Who scream? Who shout?
Who have strife? Who have anxiety?
Who have wounds for nothing?
Who have bleary eyes?
30 Whoever linger long over wine,
whoever go around quaffing wine.(C)
31 Do not look on the wine when it is red,
when it sparkles in the cup.
It goes down smoothly,
32 but in the end it bites like a serpent,
and stings like an adder.
33 Your eyes behold strange sights,
and your heart utters incoherent things;
34 You are like one sleeping on the high seas,
sprawled at the top of the mast.
35 “They struck me, but it did not pain me;
they beat me, but I did not feel it.
When can I get up,
when can I go out and get more?”[d]
Footnotes
- 23:22–23 Father and mother are associated with truth and wisdom. One should no more rid oneself of truth and wisdom than rid oneself of one’s parents, who are their source.
- 23:26–28 The exhortation is a condensed version of chap. 7 with its emotional appeal to “my son” to avoid the forbidden woman (7:1–5), her traps (7:21–23), and her intent to add the youth to her list of victims (7:24–27). As in 23:15, 19, 22, a trustful and affectionate relationship between student and teacher is the basis of teaching. The danger of the woman is expressed in imagery that has sexual overtones (cf. 22:14).
- 23:29–35 A vivid description of the evil effects, physical and psychological, of drunkenness. The emphasis is on the unwise behavior, the folly, caused by alcohol. Cf. 20:1.
- 23:35 Drunkards become insensible to bodily and moral harm. Their one desire is to indulge again.
Ephesians 2
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 2[a]
Generosity of God’s Plan.[b] 1 (A)You were dead in your transgressions and sins[c] 2 in which you once lived following the age of this world,[d] following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the disobedient.(B) 3 All of us once lived among them in the desires of our flesh, following the wishes of the flesh and the impulses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest.(C) 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us, 5 (D)even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to life with Christ[e] (by grace you have been saved), 6 raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus,(E) 7 that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.(F) 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God;(G) 9 it is not from works, so no one may boast.(H) 10 For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them.(I)
One in Christ.[f] 11 Therefore, remember that at one time you, Gentiles in the flesh, called the uncircumcision by those called the circumcision, which is done in the flesh by human hands, 12 were at that time without Christ, alienated from the community of Israel[g] and strangers to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world.(J) 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have become near by the blood of Christ.(K)
14 [h]For he is our peace, he who made both one and broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his flesh,(L) 15 abolishing the law with its commandments and legal claims, that he might create in himself one new person[i] in place of the two, thus establishing peace,(M) 16 and might reconcile both with God, in one body, through the cross, putting that enmity to death by it.(N) 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near,(O) 18 for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.(P)
19 So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God,(Q) 20 built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets,(R) with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.[j] 21 Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord;(S) 22 in him you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.(T)
Footnotes
- 2:1–22 The gospel of salvation (Eph 1:13) that God worked in Christ (Eph 1:20) is reiterated in terms of what God’s great love (Eph 2:4), expressed in Christ, means for us. The passage sometimes addresses you, Gentiles (Eph 2:1–2, 8, 11–13, 19, 22), but other times speaks of all of us who believe (Eph 2:3–7, 10, 14, 18). In urging people to remember their grim past when they were dead in sins (Eph 2:1–3, 11–12) and what they are now in Christ (Eph 2:4–10, 13), the author sees both Jew and Gentile reconciled with God, now one new person, a new humanity, one body, the household of God, a temple and dwelling place of God’s Spirit (Eph 2:15–16, 19–22). The presentation falls into two parts, the second stressing more the meaning for the church.
- 2:1–10 The recipients of Paul’s letter have experienced, in their redemption from transgressions and sins, the effect of Christ’s supremacy over the power of the devil (Eph 2:1–2; cf. Eph 6:11–12), who rules not from the netherworld but from the air between God in heaven and human beings on earth. Both Jew and Gentile have experienced, through Christ, God’s free gift of salvation that already marks them for a future heavenly destiny (Eph 2:3–7). The language dead, raised us up, and seated us…in the heavens closely parallels Jesus’ own passion and Easter experience. The terms in Eph 2:8–9 describe salvation in the way Paul elsewhere speaks of justification: by grace, through faith, the gift of God, not from works; cf. Gal 2:16–21; Rom 3:24–28. Christians are a newly created people in Christ, fashioned by God for a life of goodness (Eph 2:10).
- 2:1–7 These verses comprise one long sentence in Greek, the main verb coming in Eph 2:5, God brought us to life, the object you/us dead in…transgressions being repeated in Eph 2:1, 5; cf. Col 2:13.
- 2:2 Age of this world: or “aeon,” a term found in gnostic thought, possibly synonymous with the rulers of this world, but also reflecting the Jewish idea of “two ages,” this present evil age and “the age to come”; cf. 1 Cor 3:19; 5:10; 7:31; Gal 1:4; Ti 2:12. The disobedient: literally, “the sons of disobedience,” a Semitism as at Is 30:9.
- 2:5 Our relation through baptism with Christ, the risen Lord, is depicted in terms of realized eschatology, as already exaltation, though Eph 2:7 brings in the future aspect too.
- 2:11–22 The Gentiles lacked Israel’s messianic expectation, lacked the various covenants God made with Israel, lacked hope of salvation and knowledge of the true God (Eph 2:11–12); but through Christ all these religious barriers between Jew and Gentile have been transcended (Eph 2:13–14) by the abolition of the Mosaic covenant-law (Eph 2:15) for the sake of uniting Jew and Gentile into a single religious community (Eph 2:15–16), imbued with the same holy Spirit and worshiping the same Father (Eph 2:18). The Gentiles are now included in God’s household (Eph 2:19) as it arises upon the foundation of apostles assisted by those endowed with the prophetic gift (Eph 3:5), the preachers of Christ (Eph 2:20; cf. 1 Cor 12:28). With Christ as the capstone (Eph 2:20; cf. Is 28:16; Mt 21:42), they are being built into the holy temple of God’s people where the divine presence dwells (Eph 2:21–22).
- 2:12 The community of Israel: or “commonwealth”; cf. Eph 4:18. The covenants: cf. Rom 9:4: with Abraham, with Moses, with David.
- 2:14–16 The elaborate imagery here combines pictures of Christ as our peace (Is 9:5), his crucifixion, the ending of the Mosaic law (cf. Col 2:14), reconciliation (2 Cor 5:18–21), and the destruction of the dividing wall such as kept people from God in the temple or a barrier in the heavens.
- 2:15 One new person: a corporate body, the Christian community, made up of Jews and Gentiles, replacing ancient divisions; cf. Rom 1:16.
- 2:20 Capstone: the Greek can also mean cornerstone or keystone.
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