2 Chronicles 36Expanded Bible (EXB)

Jehoahaz King of Judah

36 The people of ·Judah [^Lthe land] ·chose [^Ltook] 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 [^Lone hundred talents] of silver and ·about seventy-five pounds [^Lone 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 [^Cas a prisoner].

Jehoiakim King of Judah

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 [^Lhim], ·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 [^Lhouse] of the Lord, took them to Babylon, and put them in his own ·palace [or temple; ^Lhouse].

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 [^Lare 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

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 [^Levil in the Lord’s sight/eyes]. ¹⁰ ·In the spring [^LAt the turn of the year] King Nebuchadnezzar sent for Jehoiachin and brought him and some valuable ·treasures [articles; vessels] from the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord to Babylon. Then Nebuchadnezzar made Jehoiachin’s ·uncle [relative; ^Lbrother] Zedekiah the king of Judah and Jerusalem.

Zedekiah King of Judah

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 [^Levil in the Lord’s sight/eyes]. The prophet Jeremiah spoke ·messages from [^Lfrom the mouth of] the Lord, but Zedekiah did not ·obey [^Lhumble 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 [^Lstiffened his neck] and ·refused to obey [^Lhardened 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 [^Lhouse] 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 [^Lmessengers] 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 [^Lmessengers] and hated God’s ·messages [^Lwords]. 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/^Lhealer]. ¹⁷ So God brought the king of ·Babylon [the Chaldeans] to attack them. The king ·killed [slaughtered; ^Lkilled with the sword] the young men even when they were in the ·Temple [^Lhouse 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 [^Lhouse] of God, both large and small, and all the treasures from the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord and from the king and his ·officers [officials]. ¹⁹ Nebuchadnezzar and his army ·set fire to [burned down] God’s ·Temple [^Lhouse] and broke down Jerusalem’s wall and burned all the ·palaces [or fortifications; ^Lhouses]. They destroyed every valuable thing in Jerusalem.

²⁰ Nebuchadnezzar took ·captive [into exile] to Babylon the people who ·were left alive [^Lescaped 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 [^Lcame/rose to power]. ²¹ And so ·what the Lord had told Israel through the prophet Jeremiah happened [^Lthe word of the Lord through the mouth of Jeremiah was fulfilled; ^Che 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; ^Ca 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

²² In the first year Cyrus was king of Persia [539–38 bc], the Lord ·had Cyrus [^Lstirred 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 [^TThus says Cyrus king of Persia]: