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2 Chronicles 35 - Ezra 1
English Standard Version
2 Chronicles 35 - Ezra 1
English Standard Version
Josiah Keeps the Passover
35 (A)Josiah kept a Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem. And they slaughtered the Passover lamb (B)on the fourteenth day of the first month. 2 He appointed the priests to their offices (C)and encouraged them in the service of the house of the Lord. 3 And he said to the Levites (D)who taught all Israel and who were holy to the Lord, “Put the holy ark in the house that Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built. You need not carry it on your shoulders. Now serve the Lord your God and his people Israel. 4 Prepare yourselves (E)according to your fathers' houses by your divisions, (F)as prescribed in the writing of David king of Israel (G)and the document of Solomon his son. 5 And (H)stand in the Holy Place (I)according to the groupings of the fathers' houses of your brothers the lay people, and according to the division of the Levites by fathers' household. 6 And slaughter the Passover lamb, and (J)consecrate yourselves, and prepare for your brothers, to do according to the word of the Lord by[a] Moses.”
7 Then Josiah contributed to the lay people, as Passover offerings for all who were present, lambs and young goats from the flock to the number of 30,000, and 3,000 bulls; (K)these were from the king's possessions. 8 And his officials contributed willingly to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites. (L)Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the chief officers of the house of God, gave to the priests for the Passover offerings 2,600 Passover lambs and 300 bulls. 9 Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethanel his brothers, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, the chiefs of the Levites, gave to the Levites for the Passover offerings 5,000 lambs and young goats and 500 bulls.
10 When the service had been prepared for, the priests (M)stood in their place, (N)and the Levites in their divisions according to the king's command. 11 (O)And they slaughtered the Passover lamb, and the priests (P)threw the blood that they received from them (Q)while the Levites flayed the sacrifices. 12 And they set aside the burnt offerings that they might distribute them according to the groupings of the fathers' houses of the lay people, to offer to the Lord, as it is written in the Book of Moses. And so they did with the bulls. 13 (R)And they roasted the Passover lamb with fire according to the rule; and they (S)boiled the holy offerings in pots, in cauldrons, and in pans, and carried them quickly to all the lay people. 14 And afterward they prepared for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the sons of Aaron, were offering the burnt offerings and the fat parts until night; so the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron. 15 The singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their place (T)according to the command of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king's (U)seer; (V)and the gatekeepers were at each gate. They did not need to depart from their service, for their brothers the Levites prepared for them.
16 So all the service of the Lord was prepared that day, to keep the Passover and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord, according to the command of King Josiah. 17 And the people of Israel who were present kept the Passover at that time, (W)and the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days. 18 (X)No Passover like it had been kept in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of Israel had kept such a Passover as was kept by Josiah, and the priests and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 19 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah this Passover was kept.
Josiah Killed in Battle
20 (Y)After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Neco king of Egypt went up to fight at (Z)Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to meet him. 21 But he sent envoys to him, saying, “What have we to do with each other, king of Judah? I am not coming against you this day, but against the house with which I am at war. And God has commanded me to hurry. Cease opposing God, who is with me, lest he destroy you.” 22 Nevertheless, Josiah did not turn away from him, but (AA)disguised himself in order to fight with him. He did not listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God, but came to fight in the plain of (AB)Megiddo. 23 And the archers shot King Josiah. And the king said to his servants, (AC)“Take me away, for I am badly wounded.” 24 So his servants took him out of the chariot and carried him in his second chariot and brought him to Jerusalem. And he died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. (AD)All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. 25 (AE)Jeremiah also uttered a lament for Josiah; and all (AF)the singing men and singing women have spoken of Josiah in their laments to this day. They made these a rule in Israel; behold, they are written in the Laments. 26 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his good deeds according to what is written in the Law of the Lord, 27 and his acts, first and last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.
Judah's Decline
36 (AG)The people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and made him king in his father's place in Jerusalem. 2 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. 3 Then the king of Egypt deposed him in Jerusalem and (AH)laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent[b] of gold. 4 And 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 (AI)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 (AJ)Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon (AK)and bound him in chains (AL)to take him to Babylon. 7 (AM)Nebuchadnezzar also carried part of the vessels of the house of the Lord to Babylon and put them in his palace in Babylon. 8 (AN)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 (AO)Jehoiachin was eighteen[c] 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. 10 In (AP)the spring of the year King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon, (AQ)with the precious vessels of the house of the Lord, and made his brother (AR)Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.
11 (AS)Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. 12 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God. He did not humble himself before (AT)Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the Lord. 13 (AU)He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. (AV)He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord, the God of Israel. 14 All 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.
15 The Lord, the God of their fathers, (AW)sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. 16 (AX)But they kept mocking the messengers of God, (AY)despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, (AZ)until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no remedy.
Jerusalem Captured and Burned
17 (BA)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 (BB)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 (BC)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. 20 He (BD)took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, (BE)and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, 21 to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had (BF)enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate (BG)it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.
The Proclamation of Cyrus
22 (BH)Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, (BI)that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, (BJ)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.’”
The Proclamation of Cyrus
1 (BK)In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, (BL)that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so (BM)that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:
2 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and (BN)he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—(BO)he is the God who is in Jerusalem. 4 And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”
5 Then rose up the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, (BP)everyone whose spirit (BQ)God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem. 6 And all who were about them (BR)aided them with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts, and with costly wares, besides all that was freely offered. 7 (BS)Cyrus the king also brought out the vessels of the house of the Lord that (BT)Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods. 8 Cyrus king of Persia brought these out in the charge of (BU)Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to (BV)Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. 9 And this was the number of them: (BW)30 basins of gold, 1,000 basins of silver, 29 censers, 10 30 bowls of gold, 410 bowls of silver, and 1,000 other vessels; 11 all the vessels of gold and of silver were 5,400. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up, when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 35:6 Hebrew by the hand of
- 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
2 Chronicles 35 - Ezra 1
New International Version
2 Chronicles 35 - Ezra 1
New International Version
Josiah Celebrates the Passover(A)
35 Josiah celebrated the Passover(B) to the Lord in Jerusalem, and the Passover lamb was slaughtered on the fourteenth day of the first month. 2 He appointed the priests to their duties and encouraged them in the service of the Lord’s temple. 3 He said to the Levites, who instructed(C) all Israel and who had been consecrated to the Lord: “Put the sacred ark in the temple that Solomon son of David king of Israel built. It is not to be carried about on your shoulders. Now serve the Lord your God and his people Israel. 4 Prepare yourselves by families in your divisions,(D) according to the instructions written by David king of Israel and by his son Solomon.
5 “Stand in the holy place with a group of Levites for each subdivision of the families of your fellow Israelites, the lay people. 6 Slaughter the Passover lambs, consecrate yourselves(E) and prepare the lambs for your fellow Israelites, doing what the Lord commanded through Moses.”
7 Josiah provided for all the lay people who were there a total of thirty thousand lambs and goats for the Passover offerings,(F) and also three thousand cattle—all from the king’s own possessions.(G)
8 His officials also contributed(H) voluntarily to the people and the priests and Levites. Hilkiah,(I) Zechariah and Jehiel, the officials in charge of God’s temple, gave the priests twenty-six hundred Passover offerings and three hundred cattle. 9 Also Konaniah(J) along with Shemaiah and Nethanel, his brothers, and Hashabiah, Jeiel and Jozabad,(K) the leaders of the Levites, provided five thousand Passover offerings and five hundred head of cattle for the Levites.
10 The service was arranged and the priests stood in their places with the Levites in their divisions(L) as the king had ordered.(M) 11 The Passover lambs were slaughtered,(N) and the priests splashed against the altar the blood handed to them, while the Levites skinned the animals. 12 They set aside the burnt offerings to give them to the subdivisions of the families of the people to offer to the Lord, as it is written in the Book of Moses. They did the same with the cattle. 13 They roasted the Passover animals over the fire as prescribed,(O) and boiled the holy offerings in pots, caldrons and pans and served them quickly to all the people. 14 After this, they made preparations for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the descendants of Aaron, were sacrificing the burnt offerings and the fat portions(P) until nightfall. So the Levites made preparations for themselves and for the Aaronic priests.
15 The musicians,(Q) the descendants of Asaph, were in the places prescribed by David, Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun the king’s seer. The gatekeepers at each gate did not need to leave their posts, because their fellow Levites made the preparations for them.
16 So at that time the entire service of the Lord was carried out for the celebration of the Passover and the offering of burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord, as King Josiah had ordered. 17 The Israelites who were present celebrated the Passover at that time and observed the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days. 18 The Passover had not been observed like this in Israel since the days of the prophet Samuel; and none of the kings of Israel had ever celebrated such a Passover as did Josiah, with the priests, the Levites and all Judah and Israel who were there with the people of Jerusalem. 19 This Passover was celebrated in the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign.
The Death of Josiah(R)
20 After all this, when Josiah had set the temple in order, Necho king of Egypt went up to fight at Carchemish(S) on the Euphrates,(T) and Josiah marched out to meet him in battle. 21 But Necho sent messengers to him, saying, “What quarrel is there, king of Judah, between you and me? It is not you I am attacking at this time, but the house with which I am at war. God has told(U) me to hurry; so stop opposing God, who is with me, or he will destroy you.”
22 Josiah, however, would not turn away from him, but disguised(V) himself to engage him in battle. He would not listen to what Necho had said at God’s command but went to fight him on the plain of Megiddo.
23 Archers(W) shot King Josiah, and he told his officers, “Take me away; I am badly wounded.” 24 So they took him out of his chariot, put him in his other chariot and brought him to Jerusalem, where he died. He was buried in the tombs of his ancestors, and all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him.
25 Jeremiah composed laments for Josiah, and to this day all the male and female singers commemorate Josiah in the laments.(X) These became a tradition in Israel and are written in the Laments.(Y)
26 The other events of Josiah’s reign and his acts of devotion in accordance with what is written in the Law of the Lord— 27 all the events, from beginning to end, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. 36 1 And the people(Z) of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and made him king in Jerusalem in place of his father.
Jehoahaz King of Judah(AA)
2 Jehoahaz[a] was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. 3 The king of Egypt dethroned him in Jerusalem and imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents[b] of silver and a talent[c] of gold. 4 The king of Egypt made Eliakim, a brother of Jehoahaz, king over Judah and Jerusalem and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Necho(AB) took Eliakim’s brother Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt.(AC)
Jehoiakim King of Judah(AD)
5 Jehoiakim(AE) was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God. 6 Nebuchadnezzar(AF) king of Babylon attacked him and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon.(AG) 7 Nebuchadnezzar also took to Babylon articles from the temple of the Lord and put them in his temple[d] there.(AH)
8 The other events of Jehoiakim’s reign, the detestable things he did and all that was found against him, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin his son succeeded him as king.
Jehoiachin King of Judah(AI)
9 Jehoiachin(AJ) was eighteen[e] years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. 10 In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and brought him to Babylon,(AK) together with articles of value from the temple of the Lord, and he made Jehoiachin’s uncle,[f] Zedekiah, king over Judah and Jerusalem.
Zedekiah King of Judah(AL)
11 Zedekiah(AM) was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. 12 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord(AN) his God and did not humble(AO) himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke the word of the Lord. 13 He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him take an oath(AP) in God’s name. He became stiff-necked(AQ) and hardened his heart and would not turn to the Lord, the God of Israel. 14 Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful,(AR) following all the detestable practices of the nations and defiling the temple of the Lord, which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.
The Fall of Jerusalem(AS)(AT)
15 The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers(AU) again and again,(AV) because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. 16 But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed(AW) at his prophets until the wrath(AX) of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy.(AY) 17 He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians,[g](AZ) who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and did not spare young men(BA) or young women, the elderly or the infirm.(BB) God gave them all into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar.(BC) 18 He carried to Babylon all the articles(BD) from the temple of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the Lord’s temple and the treasures of the king and his officials. 19 They set fire(BE) to God’s temple(BF) and broke down the wall(BG) of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed(BH) everything of value there.(BI)
20 He carried into exile(BJ) to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants(BK) to him and his successors until the kingdom of Persia came to power. 21 The land enjoyed its sabbath rests;(BL) all the time of its desolation it rested,(BM) until the seventy years(BN) were completed in fulfillment of the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah.
22 In the first year of Cyrus(BO) king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:
23 “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:
“‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed(BP) me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up, and may the Lord their God be with them.’”
Cyrus Helps the Exiles to Return(BQ)
1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah,(BR) the Lord moved the heart(BS) of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:
2 “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:
“‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed(BT) me to build(BU) a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. 3 Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them. 4 And in any locality where survivors(BV) may now be living, the people are to provide them with silver and gold,(BW) with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings(BX) for the temple of God(BY) in Jerusalem.’”(BZ)
5 Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin,(CA) and the priests and Levites—everyone whose heart God had moved(CB)—prepared to go up and build the house(CC) of the Lord in Jerusalem. 6 All their neighbors assisted them with articles of silver and gold,(CD) with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings.
7 Moreover, King Cyrus brought out the articles belonging to the temple of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his god.[h](CE) 8 Cyrus king of Persia had them brought by Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar(CF) the prince of Judah.
9 This was the inventory:
| gold dishes | 30 |
| silver dishes | 1,000 |
| silver pans[i] | 29 |
| 10 gold bowls | 30 |
| matching silver bowls | 410 |
| other articles | 1,000 |
11 In all, there were 5,400 articles of gold and of silver. Sheshbazzar brought all these along with the exiles when they came up from Babylon to Jerusalem.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 36:2 Hebrew Joahaz, a variant of Jehoahaz; also in verse 4
- 2 Chronicles 36:3 That is, about 3 3/4 tons or about 3.4 metric tons
- 2 Chronicles 36:3 That is, about 75 pounds or about 34 kilograms
- 2 Chronicles 36:7 Or palace
- 2 Chronicles 36:9 One Hebrew manuscript, some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac (see also 2 Kings 24:8); most Hebrew manuscripts eight
- 2 Chronicles 36:10 Hebrew brother, that is, relative (see 2 Kings 24:17)
- 2 Chronicles 36:17 Or Chaldeans
- Ezra 1:7 Or gods
- Ezra 1:9 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
English Standard Version (ESV) 
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New International Version (NIV) 
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