2 Chronicles 36

English Standard Version

Judah's Decline

36 ^(A)The people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and made him king in his father's place in Jerusalem. ²Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. ³Then the king of Egypt deposed him in Jerusalem and ^(B)laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent^[a] of gold. ⁴And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Jehoahaz his brother and carried him to Egypt.

⁵^(C)Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God. ⁶^(D)Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ^(E)and bound him in chains ^(F)to take him to Babylon. ⁷^(G)Nebuchadnezzar also carried part of the vessels of the house of the Lord to Babylon and put them in his palace in Babylon. ⁸^(H)Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and the abominations that he did, and what was found against him, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place.

⁹^(I)Jehoiachin was eighteen^[b] years old when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. ¹⁰In ^(J)the spring of the year King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon, ^(K)with the precious vessels of the house of the Lord, and made his brother ^(L)Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.

¹¹^(M)Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. ¹²He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God. He did not humble himself before ^(N)Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the Lord. ¹³^(O)He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. ^(P)He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁴All the officers of the priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations. And they polluted the house of the Lord that he had made holy in Jerusalem.

¹⁵The Lord, the God of their fathers, ^(Q)sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. ¹⁶^(R)But they kept mocking the messengers of God, ^(S)despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, ^(T)until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no remedy.

Jerusalem Captured and Burned

¹⁷^(U)Therefore he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or aged. He gave them all into his hand. ¹⁸^(V)And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon. ¹⁹^(W)And they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem and burned all its palaces with fire and destroyed all its precious vessels. ²⁰He ^(X)took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, ^(Y)and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, ²¹to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had ^(Z)enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate ^(AA)it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.

The Proclamation of Cyrus

²²^(AB)Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, ^(AC)that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, ^(AD)the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: ²³“Thus says Cyrus king 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.’”

Footnotes

2 Chronicles 36:3 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms
2 Chronicles 36:9 Septuagint (compare 2 Kings 24:8); most Hebrew manuscripts eight

Isaiah 66

English Standard Version

The Humble and Contrite in Spirit

66 ^(A)Thus says the Lord:
^(B)“Heaven is my throne,
    and the earth is my footstool;
what is the house that you would build for me,
    and what is the place of my rest?
²^(C)All these things my hand has made,
    and so all these things came to be,
declares the Lord.
^(D)But this is the one to whom I will look:
    he who is humble and contrite in spirit
    and trembles at my word.

³^(E)“He who slaughters an ox is like one who kills a man;
    he who sacrifices a lamb, like one who breaks a dog's neck;
he who presents a grain offering, like one who offers ^(F)pig's blood;
    he who makes a memorial offering of frankincense, like one who blesses an idol.
^(G)These have chosen their own ways,
    and their soul delights in their abominations;
⁴^(H)I also will choose harsh treatment for them
    and bring ^(I)their fears upon them,
^(J)because when I called, no one answered,
    when I spoke, they did not listen;
^(K)but they did what was evil in my eyes
    and chose that in which I did not delight.”

⁵Hear the word of the Lord,
    you who tremble at his word:
“Your brothers who hate you
    and cast you out for my name's sake
have said, ^(L)‘Let the Lord be glorified,
    that we may see your joy’;
    but it is they who shall be put to shame.

⁶“The sound of an uproar from the city!
A sound from the temple!
The sound of the Lord,
^(M)rendering recompense to his enemies!

Rejoice with Jerusalem

⁷^(N)“Before she was in labor
    she gave birth;
before her pain came upon her
    she delivered a son.
⁸Who has heard such a thing?
    Who has seen such things?
Shall a land be born in one day?
    Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment?
For ^(O)as soon as Zion was in labor
    she brought forth her children.
⁹Shall I bring to the point of birth and not cause to bring forth?”
    says the Lord;
“shall I, who cause to bring forth, shut the womb?”
    says your God.

¹⁰^(P)“Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her,
    all you who love her;
rejoice with her in joy,
    all you who mourn over her;
¹¹that you may nurse and be satisfied
    from her consoling breast;
that you may drink deeply with delight
    from her glorious abundance.”^[a]

¹²For thus says the Lord:
^(Q)“Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river,
    and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;
and ^(R)you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip,
    and bounced upon her knees.
¹³As one whom his mother comforts,
    so ^(S)I will comfort you;
    you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
¹⁴You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice;
    ^(T)your bones shall flourish like the grass;
and ^(U)the hand of the Lord shall be known to his servants,
    and he shall show his indignation against his enemies.

Final Judgment and Glory of the Lord

¹⁵“For behold, ^(V)the Lord will come in fire,
    and ^(W)his chariots like the whirlwind,
to render his anger in fury,
    and his rebuke with flames of fire.
¹⁶For ^(X)by fire ^(Y)will the Lord enter into judgment,
    and by his sword, with all flesh;
    and those slain by the Lord shall be many.

¹⁷^(Z)“Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one in the midst, ^(AA)eating pig's flesh and the abomination and mice, shall come to an end together, declares the Lord.

¹⁸“For I know^[b] their works and their thoughts, and the time is coming^[c] ^(AB)to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my glory, ¹⁹and I will set a sign among them. And from them ^(AC)I will send survivors to the nations, to ^(AD)Tarshish, ^(AE)Pul, and ^(AF)Lud, who draw the bow, to ^(AG)Tubal and ^(AH)Javan, ^(AI)to the coastlands far away, ^(AJ)that have not heard my fame or seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory among the nations. ²⁰^(AK)And they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations ^(AL)as an offering to the Lord, on horses and in chariots and in litters and on mules and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, just as the Israelites bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. ²¹^(AM)And some of them also I will take for priests and for Levites, says the Lord.

²²“For as ^(AN)the new heavens and the new earth
    that I make
shall remain before me, says the Lord,
    so ^(AO)shall your offspring and your name remain.
²³^(AP)From new moon to new moon,
    and from Sabbath to Sabbath,
all flesh shall come to worship before me,
declares the Lord.

²⁴“And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For ^(AQ)their worm shall not die, ^(AR)their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”