2 Chronicles 36

New American Standard Bible

Joahaz, Jehoiakim, Then Jehoiachin Rule

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. ²Joahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem. ³Then the king of Egypt deposed him in Jerusalem, and imposed a fine on the land of ^[b]a hundred talents of silver and ^[c]one talent of gold. ⁴The king of Egypt made ^[d]Joahaz’s brother Eliakim king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But ^(C)Neco took his brother Joahaz and brought him to Egypt.

⁵^(D)Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem; and he did evil in the sight of the Lord his God. ⁶Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up ^(E)against him and ^(F)bound him with bronze chains to take him to Babylon. ⁷^(G)Nebuchadnezzar also brought some of the articles of the house of the Lord to Babylon, and he put them in his temple in Babylon. ⁸^(H)Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and ^[e]the abominations which he committed, and what was found against him, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. And his son Jehoiachin became king in his place.

⁹^(I)Jehoiachin was ^[f]eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned for three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did evil in the sight of the Lord.

Captivity in Babylon Begun

¹⁰^(J)At the turn of the year King Nebuchadnezzar sent men and had him brought to Babylon with the valuable articles of the house of the Lord; and he made his relative ^(K)Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.

Zedekiah Rules in Judah

¹¹^(L)Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. ¹²He did evil in the sight of the Lord his God; ^(M)he did not humble himself ^(N)before Jeremiah the prophet ^[g]who spoke for the Lord. 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 the Lord God of Israel. ¹⁴Furthermore, all the officials of the priests and the people were very unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations; and they defiled the house of the Lord which He had sanctified in Jerusalem.

¹⁵Yet the Lord, the God of their fathers, ^(Q)sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place; ¹⁶but they continually ^(R)mocked the messengers of God, ^(S)despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, ^(T)until the wrath of the Lord rose against His people, until there was no remedy. ¹⁷^(U)So 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 frail; He handed them all over to him. ¹⁸^(V)He brought all the articles of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and his officers, to Babylon. ¹⁹Then ^(W)they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its fortified buildings with fire and destroyed all its valuable articles. ²⁰He ^(X)took into exile those who had escaped from the sword to Babylon; and ^(Y)they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, ²¹^(Z)to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until ^(AA)the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. ^(AB)All the days of its desolation it kept the Sabbath ^[h]^(AC)until seventy years were complete.

Cyrus Permits Return

²²^(AD)Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia—in order to fulfill the word of the Lord ^(AE)by the mouth of Jeremiah—the Lord ^(AF)stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia so that he sent a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, 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 me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all His people, may the Lord his God be with him; ^[i]go up then!’”

Footnotes

2 Chronicles 36:1 I.e., short form of Jehoahaz
2 Chronicles 36:3 About 3.75 tons or 3.4 metric tons
2 Chronicles 36:3 About 75 lb. or 34 kg
2 Chronicles 36:4 Lit his
2 Chronicles 36:8 Lit his
2 Chronicles 36:9 As in LXX and some Heb mss; MT eight years
2 Chronicles 36:12 Lit from the mouth of the Lord
2 Chronicles 36:21 Lit to fulfill seventy years
2 Chronicles 36:23 Lit and he is to go up; i.e., go to Jerusalem

2 Chronicles 36

Revised Standard Version

Reign of Jehoahaz

36 The people of the land took Jeho′ahaz the son of Josi′ah and made him king in his father’s stead in Jerusalem. ²Jeho′ahaz 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 laid upon the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. ⁴And the king of Egypt made Eli′akim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoi′akim; but Neco took Jeho′ahaz his brother and carried him to Egypt.

Reign and Captivity of Jehoiakim

⁵Jehoi′akim 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. ⁶Against him came up Nebuchadnez′zar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters to take him to Babylon. ⁷Nebuchadnez′zar also carried part of the vessels of the house of the Lord to Babylon and put them in his palace in Babylon. ⁸Now the rest of the acts of Jehoi′akim, and 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 Jehoi′achin his son reigned in his stead.

Reign and Captivity of Jehoiachin

⁹Jehoi′achin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. ¹⁰In the spring of the year King Nebuchadnez′zar sent and brought him to Babylon, with the precious vessels of the house of the Lord, and made his brother Zedeki′ah king over Judah and Jerusalem.

Reign of Zedekiah

¹¹Zedeki′ah 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 Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the Lord. ¹³He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnez′zar, who had made him swear by God; he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁴All the leading priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations; and they polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.

The Fall of Jerusalem

¹⁵The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place; ¹⁶but they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words, and scoffing at his prophets, till the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, till there was no remedy.

¹⁷Therefore he brought up against them the king of the Chalde′ans, who slew 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. ¹⁸And 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. ¹⁹And 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 took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, ²¹to fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept sabbath, to fulfil seventy years.

Cyrus Proclaims Liberty for the Exiles

²²Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, 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.’”

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

New American Standard Bible is made available by The Lockman Foundation

Revised Standard Version (RSV)

Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

2 Chronicles 36 New American Standard Bible