2 Chronicles 36
Legacy Standard Bible
Joahaz Reigns over Judah
36 (A)Then the people of the land took [a](B)Joahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in place of his father in Jerusalem. 2 [b]Joahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. 3 Then the king of Egypt had him removed in Jerusalem and imposed on the land a fine of one hundred [c]talents of silver and one talent of gold. 4 Then the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But (C)Neco took Joahaz his brother and brought him to Egypt.
Jehoiakim Reigns over Judah
5 (D)Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh his God. 6 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up (E)against him and (F)bound him with bronze chains to lead him off to Babylon. 7 (G)Nebuchadnezzar also brought some of the articles of the house of Yahweh to Babylon and put them in his temple at Babylon. 8 (H)Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and [d]the abominations which 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 became king in his place.
Jehoiachin Reigns over Judah
9 (I)Jehoiachin was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem, and he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh. 10 (J)And at the turn of the year King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon with the valuable articles of the house of Yahweh, and he made his relative (K)Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.
Zedekiah Reigns over Judah
11 (L)Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. 12 And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh his God; (M)he did not humble himself (N)before Jeremiah the prophet who spoke from the mouth of Yahweh. 13 (O)He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar who had made him swear allegiance by God. But (P)he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to Yahweh, the God of Israel. 14 Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people were very unfaithful following all the abominations of the nations; and they defiled the house of Yahweh which He had set apart as holy in Jerusalem.
The Chaldeans Destroy Jerusalem
15 And Yahweh, the God of their fathers, (Q)sent word to them [e]again and again by the hand of His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His habitation; 16 but they continually (R)mocked the messengers of God, (S)despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, (T)until the wrath of Yahweh arose against His people, until there was no remedy. 17 (U)Therefore He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans who killed their choice men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on choice man or virgin, old man or infirm; He gave them all into his hand. 18 (V)And all the articles of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of Yahweh, and the treasures of the king and of his officials, he brought them all to Babylon. 19 Then (W)they burned the house of God and tore down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its palaces with fire and destroyed all its valuable articles. 20 And those who had escaped from the sword he (X)took away into exile to Babylon; and (Y)they were slaves to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, 21 (Z)to fulfill the word of Yahweh by the mouth of Jeremiah, until (AA)the land had made up for its sabbaths. (AB)All the days of its desolation it kept sabbath [f](AC)until seventy years were fulfilled.
The Proclamation of Cyrus
22 (AD)Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia—in order to complete the word of Yahweh (AE)by the mouth of Jeremiah—Yahweh (AF)stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he had a proclamation pass throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, 23 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia,
‘Yahweh, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all His people, may Yahweh his God be with him, and let him go up!’”
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 36:1 Lit Jehoahaz, cf. 36:2; 2 Kin 23:30
- 2 Chronicles 36:2 Shortened form of Jehoahaz, cf. 36:1; 2 Kin 23:30
- 2 Chronicles 36:3 A talent was approx. 75 lb. or 34 kg
- 2 Chronicles 36:8 Lit his
- 2 Chronicles 36:15 Lit rising up early and sending them out
- 2 Chronicles 36:21 Lit to fulfill seventy years
2 Chronicles 36
EasyEnglish Bible
Jehoahaz rules Judah as king
36 The people of Judah chose Josiah's son, Jehoahaz, to become king in Jerusalem after his father. 2 Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king. He ruled as king in Jerusalem for three months.
3 The king of Egypt stopped Jehoahaz from ruling in Jerusalem. He made Judah pay tax to him. It was 3,400 kilograms of silver and 34 kilograms of gold. 4 The king of Egypt chose Eliakim, Jehoahaz's brother, to rule as king over Judah and Jerusalem. He changed Eliakim's name to Jehoiakim. But Necho took Jehoiakim's brother Jehoahaz away to Egypt.
5 Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became king.[a] He ruled for 11 years as king in Jerusalem. He did things that the Lord his God said were evil. 6 While he was king, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked Judah. He took hold of King Jehoiakim. He tied bronze chains around him and he took him away to Babylon. 7 King Nebuchadnezzar took some valuable things from the Lord's temple. He took them to Babylon and he put them in his palace there.
8 The other things that happened while Jehoiakim was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of the kings of Israel and Judah’. It tells about the disgusting sins that he was guilty of.
Jehoiakim's son Jehoiachin became king after him.
Jehoiachin rules Judah as king
9 Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he became king. He ruled as king in Jerusalem for three months and ten days. He did things that the Lord said were evil. 10 In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar sent his soldiers to bring Jehoiachin to Babylon. They also took to Babylon some valuable things from the Lord's temple. Nebuchadnezzar chose Jehoiachin's relative, Zedekiah, to be king of Judah and Jerusalem.
Zedekiah rules Judah as king
11 Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king.[b] He ruled in Jerusalem for 11 years. 12 He did things that the Lord said were evil. The prophet Jeremiah spoke the Lord's message to Zedekiah. But Zedekiah was too proud to listen to him. 13 King Nebuchadnezzar had made Zedekiah promise in God's name that he would be faithful to Nebuchadnezzar. But Zedekiah turned against Nebuchadnezzar. He was very proud and he refused to change. He refused to turn back to the Lord, Israel's God. 14 All the leaders of the priests and the people also turned away from the Lord more and more. They did the same disgusting sins that the people in other nations did. They made the Lord's temple an unclean place. That was the place that the Lord himself had chosen as his special home in Jerusalem.
Babylon's army attacks Jerusalem
15 The Lord sent his servants many times to warn his people. He wanted to be kind to them. He wanted to keep his temple safe. 16 But they laughed at the men that God sent to them. They did not think that his messages were important. They insulted his prophets. Finally, the Lord became very angry with his people. Nothing could stop him from punishing them.
17 Then the Lord sent the king of Babylon to attack them.[c] His soldiers killed Jerusalem's young men in the temple, where they thought that they would be safe. They were not kind to anybody, the young men or women, or even the very old people. God put all the people of Jerusalem under the king of Babylon's power.
18 The king took away to Babylon all the things that were in God's temple. He took everything, big things and small things. He took all the valuable things that were in the Lord's temple. He also took the valuable things of the king and his officers. He took them all away to Babylon. 19 Nebuchadnezzar's men destroyed the Lord's temple with fire. They knocked down the walls around Jerusalem. They burned all the important buildings. They destroyed all the valuable things in the city.
20 Nebuchadnezzar took away to Babylon all the people in Jerusalem who were still alive. They worked as slaves for him and for his sons until the kingdom of Persia became powerful. 21 In this way, the Lord's message that his prophet Jeremiah had spoken became true. The land of Judah was empty for 70 years. It was finally able to rest, like the rest on a Sabbath day.[d]
King Cyrus of Persia
22 In the first year that Cyrus, king of Persia, was ruling Babylon, the Lord put a thought in his mind.[e] King Cyrus decided to send a message to everybody who lived in his kingdom. His message would cause what God had already spoken to his prophet Jeremiah to become true.[f] The message was written down and people took it all over Cyrus's kingdom. It said:
23 ‘This is what Cyrus, the king of Persia, says:
The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me power over all the kingdoms of the earth. He has said that I must build a temple for him in Jerusalem, the city that is in Judah. Any of God's people who live among you may now return to Jerusalem. I pray that the Lord their God will be with them.’
Footnotes
- 36:5 Jehoiakim ruled from about 609 to 598 BC.
- 36:11 Zedekiah was a son of Josiah. He became king at the age of 21 in about 597 BC. He was the last of the 20 rulers of the kingdom of Judah.
- 36:17 Jeremiah 39:1-14 describes how Babylon's army took Jerusalem for themselves. In 587 BC, the soldiers from Babylon broke down the walls of the city.
- 36:21 Farmers should have allowed their land to rest every seven years. See Leviticus 25:1-7. If they did not do that, God had promised to send the people away from their land. See Leviticus 26:33-35.
- 36:22 In 539 BC, the army of King Cyrus of Persia fought against Babylon's army and won. So Cyrus became king of Babylon. See Ezra 1:1-3.
- 36:22 See Jeremiah 29:10
2 Chronicles 36
Expanded Bible
Jehoahaz King of Judah(A)
36 The people of ·Judah [L the land] ·chose [L took] Josiah’s son Jehoahaz and made him king in Jerusalem in his father’s place.
2 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he ·was king [reigned] in Jerusalem for three months. 3 Then King Neco of Egypt ·removed Jehoahaz from being king [dethroned/deposed him] in Jerusalem. Neco made the people of Judah pay a ·tax [or fine] of ·about seventy-five hundred pounds [L one hundred talents] of silver and ·about seventy-five pounds [L one talent] of gold. 4 The king of Egypt made Jehoahaz’s brother Eliakim the king of Judah and Jerusalem and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took his brother Jehoahaz to Egypt [C as a prisoner].
Jehoiakim King of Judah(B)
5 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ·was king [reigned] in Jerusalem for eleven years. He did ·what the Lord said was wrong [evil in the Lord’s sight/eyes]. 6 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked ·Judah [L him], ·captured Jehoiakim [bound him], put bronze chains on him, and ·took him [carried him away] to Babylon. 7 Nebuchadnezzar removed some of the ·things [articles; vessels] from the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord, took them to Babylon, and put them in his own ·palace [or temple; L house].
8 The ·other things Jehoiakim did as king [rest of the events/acts/history of Jehoiakim], the ·hateful [detestable; abominable] things he did, and everything ·he was guilty of doing [found against him], ·are [L are they not…?] written in the ·book [scroll] of the kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiakim’s son Jehoiachin became king in his place.
Jehoiachin King of Judah(C)
9 Jehoiachin was ·eight [or eighteen; 2 Kin. 24:8] years old when he became king of Judah, and he ·was king [reigned] in Jerusalem for three months and ten days. He did ·what the Lord said was wrong [L evil in the Lord’s sight/eyes]. 10 ·In the spring [L At the turn of the year] King Nebuchadnezzar sent for Jehoiachin and brought him and some valuable ·treasures [articles; vessels] from the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord to Babylon. Then Nebuchadnezzar made Jehoiachin’s ·uncle [relative; L brother] Zedekiah the king of Judah and Jerusalem.
Zedekiah King of Judah(D)
11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king of Judah, and he ·was king [reigned] in Jerusalem for eleven years. 12 Zedekiah did ·what the Lord said was wrong [L evil in the Lord’s sight/eyes]. The prophet Jeremiah spoke ·messages from [L from the mouth of] the Lord, but Zedekiah did not ·obey [L humble himself]. 13 Zedekiah turned against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had forced him to ·swear [vow; take an oath] in God’s name to be loyal to him. But Zedekiah ·became stubborn [L stiffened his neck] and ·refused to obey [L hardened his heart against seeking] the Lord, the God of Israel. 14 Also, all the ·leaders [officials] of the priests and the people of Judah became more ·wicked [unfaithful], following the ·evil example [detestable/abominable practices] of the other nations. The Lord had ·made holy [consecrated; sanctified] the ·Temple [L house] in Jerusalem, but the leaders ·made it unholy [defiled/polluted it].
The Fall of Jerusalem
15 The Lord, the God of their ·ancestors [fathers], sent ·prophets [L messengers] again and again to warn his people, because he had ·pity [compassion] on them and on his ·Temple [dwelling place]. 16 But they ·made fun of [mocked] God’s ·prophets [L messengers] and hated God’s ·messages [L words]. They ·refused to listen to the [ridiculed/scoffed at his] prophets until, finally, the Lord became so angry with his people that ·he could not be stopped [there was no remedy/L healer]. 17 So God brought the king of ·Babylon [the Chaldeans] to attack them. The king ·killed [slaughtered; L killed with the sword] the young men even when they were in the ·Temple [L house of their sanctuary]. He had no ·mercy [pity; compassion] on the young men or women, the old men or those who were ·sick [infirm]. God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar. 18 Nebuchadnezzar carried away to Babylon all the ·things [articles; vessels] from the ·Temple [L house] of God, both large and small, and all the treasures from the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord and from the king and his ·officers [officials]. 19 Nebuchadnezzar and his army ·set fire to [burned down] God’s ·Temple [L house] and broke down Jerusalem’s wall and burned all the ·palaces [or fortifications; L houses]. They destroyed every valuable thing in Jerusalem.
20 Nebuchadnezzar took ·captive [into exile] to Babylon the people who ·were left alive [L escaped the sword], and he forced them to be ·slaves [servants] for him and his descendants. They remained there as ·slaves [servants] until the Persian kingdom ·defeated Babylon [L came/rose to power]. 21 And so ·what the Lord had told Israel through the prophet Jeremiah happened [L the word of the Lord through the mouth of Jeremiah was fulfilled; C he prophesied the fall of Jerusalem]: The country ·was an empty wasteland [lay desolate/fallow] for seventy years ·to make up for the years of Sabbath rest [Lev. 25:1–7] that the people had not kept [or enjoying its sabbath rest; C a bitter observation that the land experienced an ironic “rest” while the Israelites were in exile; Lev. 25:4, 26:33–35].
The Return from Exile(E)
22 In the first year Cyrus was king of Persia [539–38 bc], the Lord ·had Cyrus [L stirred the heart/spirit of Cyrus to] send an ·announcement to [decree/proclamation throughout] his whole kingdom. This happened ·so the Lord’s message spoken by Jeremiah would come true [to fulfill the word of the Lord in the mouth of Jeremiah]. He wrote:
23 ·This is what Cyrus king of Persia says [T Thus says Cyrus king of Persia]:
The Lord, the God of ·heaven [the heavens], has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has appointed me to build a ·Temple [L house] for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Now may the Lord your God ·be with [accompany; fill] all of you who are his people. You are free to go [C back to Jerusalem at the end of the exile; Ezra 1].
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