2 Chronicles 31-36

Complete Jewish Bible

31 After all this was over, all Isra’el who were there went out to the cities of Y’hudah and smashed the standing-stones, chopped down the sacred poles, and broke down the high places and altars throughout Y’hudah, Binyamin, Efrayim and M’nasheh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the people of Isra’el returned to their own cities, each to his own possession.

² Hizkiyahu re-established the divisions of the cohanim and L’vi’im in accordance with the way the divisions had been before, with each man assigned his task, both the cohanim and the L’vi’im, for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to serve, to give thanks and to praise at the gates of Adonai’s camp. ³ He determined a portion of the king’s property to be given for the burnt offerings, that is, for the morning and evening burnt offerings and for burnt offerings on Shabbats, Rosh-Hodesh and the designated times, as prescribed by the Torah of Adonai. ⁴ He also ordered the people living in Yerushalayim to contribute the portion meant for the cohanim and L’vi’im, so that they would be submitting themselves to the Torah of Adonai. ⁵ As soon as the order was issued, the people of Isra’el gave in abundance from the firstfruits of the grain, wine, olive oil, honey and other agricultural produce; they brought the required tenth and more. ⁶ The people of Isra’el and Y’hudah living in the cities of Y’hudah also brought the required tenth of oxen and sheep and the required tenth of consecrated gifts that had been dedicated to Adonai their God, and piled them in heaps. ⁷ They began accumulating these heaps in the third month and completed them in the seventh month. ⁸ When Hizkiyahu and the leaders came and saw the heaps, they blessed Adonai and his people Isra’el. ⁹ When Hizkiyahu asked the cohanim and L’vi’im about the heaps, ¹⁰ ‘Azaryahu the chief cohen, from the house of Tzadok, answered him, “Ever since the people began bringing offerings into the house of Adonai, we have had enough to eat and plenty left over; for Adonai has blessed his people, and what is left over is this massive supply.”

¹¹ Then Hizkiyahu ordered storerooms prepared in the house of Adonai. After preparing them, ¹² they faithfully brought in the offerings, the required tenths and the consecrated things. Konanyahu the Levi was put in charge of them, with Shim‘i his brother as his assistant. ¹³ Hizkiyahu the king and ‘Azaryahu the ruler of the house of God appointed Yechi’el, ‘Azazyahu, Nachat, ‘Asah’el, Yerimot, Yozavad, Eli’el, Yismachyah, Machat and B’nayahu as supervisors to serve under Konanyah and Shim‘i his brother. ¹⁴ Kore the son of Yimnah the Levi, gatekeeper at the East Gate, was responsible for the voluntary offerings to God; he had to distribute the offerings made to Adonai and the especially holy gifts. ¹⁵ Under him were ‘Eden, Minyamin, Yeshua, Sh’ma‘yahu, Amaryahu and Sh’khanyahu, in the cities of the cohanim, faithfully making the distributions to their kinsmen by divisions, to great and small alike. ¹⁶ Every male three years and older entitled to enter the house of Adonai was given his daily share for performing his duties according to his division, regardless of how he was recorded in the genealogies. ¹⁷ Likewise, those recorded in the genealogies of the cohanim by clans received shares, as did the L’vi’im twenty years and older who were performing their duties in their assigned divisions. ¹⁸ When shares were assigned, all their little ones, wives, sons and daughters were also recorded in the genealogies, throughout the entire community; for in their faithfulness to this task they consecrated themselves. ¹⁹ Finally, shares were assigned to the descendants of Aharon, the cohanim, who lived in the pasture-lands surrounding their cities — in each city they were mentioned by name. Thus portions were distributed to all the males among the cohanim and to all whose genealogies showed that they belonged to the L’vi’im.

²⁰ This is what Hizkiyahu did throughout all Y’hudah. He accomplished things that were good, right and faithful before Adonai his God. ²¹ Every project that he undertook in order to seek his God, whether in the service of the house of God or in connection with the Torah and the mitzvot, he did with all his heart; and so he succeeded.

32 After these events and this faithfulness of [Hizkiyahu’s], Sancheriv king of Ashur came, invaded Y’hudah and besieged the fortified cities, thinking that he would break in [and capture] them. ² When Hizkiyahu saw that Sancheriv had come and intended to attack Yerushalayim, ³ he consulted his leading men and military advisers about sealing off the water in the springs outside the city. After gaining their support, ⁴ a large crowd was gathered to block all the springs and the stream flowing through the countryside. They reasoned, “Why should the kings of Ashur come and find an ample supply of water?” ⁵ Then, taking courage, he rebuilt all the broken sections of the wall, raised towers on it, built another wall outside that, strengthened the Millo in the City of David, and made a large quantity of spears and shields. ⁶ He appointed military commanders over the people, then gathered them before him in the open space at the city gate and spoke these words of encouragement to them: ⁷ “Be strong! Take courage! Don’t be afraid or distressed on account of the king of Ashur or all the horde he brings with him. For the One with us is greater than the one with him — ⁸ he has human strength, but we have Adonai our God to help us and fight our battles!” The people took heart at the words of Hizkiyahu king of Y’hudah.

⁹ After this, while Sancheriv and all his army were besieging Lakhish, he sent his envoys to Yerushalayim, to Hizkiyahu king of Y’hudah and to all Y’hudah who were there in Yerushalayim, with this message: ¹⁰ “This is what Sancheriv king of Ashur says: ‘What gives you the confidence that you can endure a siege against Yerushalayim? ¹¹ Hasn’t Hizkiyahu deluded you? Isn’t he condemning you to death by starvation and thirst when he says, “Adonai our God will save us from the king of Ashur”? ¹² Isn’t this the same Hizkiyahu who removed [your God’s] high places and altars and ordered Y’hudah and Yerushalayim to worship before one altar and offer sacrifices only on it? ¹³ Don’t you realize what I and my ancestors have done to all the peoples of the other countries? Were the gods of these nations able to do a thing to rescue their country from me? ¹⁴ Who of all the gods of those nations that my ancestors completely destroyed was able to rescue his people from me? How then will your God rescue you from me? ¹⁵ Don’t let Hizkiyahu mislead you or delude you this way, don’t believe him. For no god of any nation or kingdom has ever been able to rescue his people from me or my ancestors; how much less will your God rescue you from me!’”

¹⁶ His envoys kept on speaking against Adonai, God; and against his servant Hizkiyahu. ¹⁷ He also wrote a letter insulting Adonai the God of Isra’el and speaking against him; it said, “Just as the gods of the nations of the other countries could not rescue their people from me, likewise Hizkiyahu’s God will not rescue his people from me.”

¹⁸ They were shouting loudly in the language of the Judeans to the people of Yerushalayim who were on the wall in order to terrify them and make them fearful, so that they could capture the city. ¹⁹ They spoke about the God of Yerushalayim in the same way as about the gods of the other peoples of the earth, which are merely human artifacts. ²⁰ Because of this, Hizkiyahu the king and Yesha‘yahu the prophet, the son of Amotz, prayed and cried out to heaven. ²¹ Then Adonai sent an angel, who cut down the valiant warriors, the leaders and the officers in the king of Ashur’s camp, so that he had to return shamefaced to his own country. When he entered the house of his god, his own sons, whom he himself had fathered, put him to death with the sword there.

²² In this way Adonai rescued Hizkiyahu and those living in Yerushalayim from Sancheriv the king of Ashur and from everyone, caring for them in every respect. ²³ Many people brought gifts to Adonai in Yerushalayim and items of value to Hizkiyahu king of Y’hudah, so that from then on he was regarded highly by all the nations.

²⁴ Around this time, Hizkiyahu became ill to the point of death. But he prayed to Adonai, who answered him, even giving him a sign. ²⁵ However, Hizkiyahu did not respond commensurately with the benefit done for him, because he had grown proud; thus he brought anger on himself and on Y’hudah and Yerushalayim as well. ²⁶ But Hizkiyahu then humbled himself for his pride, both he and the people living in Yerushalayim, so that Adonai’s anger did not strike them during Hizkiyahu’s lifetime.

²⁷ Hizkiyahu had vast riches and great honor. He provided himself with storage places for silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields and all kinds of valuable articles; ²⁸ also storehouses for the harvest of grain, wine and olive oil; and stalls for all kinds of livestock and pens for the flocks. ²⁹ He provided cities for himself and purchased flocks and herds in abundance, for God had made him extremely wealthy.

³⁰ It was this same Hizkiyahu who blocked the upper outlet of the Gichon Spring and diverted the water straight down on the west side of the City of David.

Hizkiyahu succeeded in all that he did. ³¹ However, in the matter of the ambassadors from the princes of Bavel, who sent to him to learn of the marvel that had taken place in the land, God left him by himself, in order to test him, so that he might know everything that was in his heart.

³² Other activities of Hizkiyahu and his good deeds are recorded in the vision of Yesha‘yahu the prophet, the son of Amotz, and in the Annals of the Kings of Y’hudah and Isra’el. ³³ Then Hizkiyahu slept with his ancestors, and they buried him by the path leading up to the tombs of the descendants of David. All Y’hudah and the people living in Yerushalayim honored him when he died, after which M’nasheh his son took his place as king.

33 M’nasheh was twelve years old when he began his reign, and he ruled for fifty-five years in Yerushalayim. ² He did what was evil from Adonai’s perspective, following the disgusting practices of the nations whom Adonai had expelled ahead of the people of Isra’el. ³ For he rebuilt the high places which Hizkiyahu his father had smashed; he erected altars for the ba‘alim, made sacred poles and worshipped all the army of heaven and served them. ⁴ He erected altars in the house of Adonai, concerning which Adonai had said, “My name will be in Yerushalayim forever.” ⁵ He erected altars for all the army of heaven in the two courtyards of the house of Adonai. ⁶ He made his children pass through the fire [as a sacrifice] in the Ben-Hinnom Valley. He practiced soothsaying, divination and sorcery; and he appointed mediums and persons who used spirit guides. He did much that was evil from Adonai’s perspective, thus provoking him to anger. ⁷ He set the carved image of the idol he had made in the house of God, concerning which God had told David and Shlomo his son, “In this house and in Yerushalayim, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Isra’el, I will put my name forever. ⁸ Also I will not remove the feet of Isra’el from the land I assigned your ancestors, if only they will take heed to obey every order I have given them, that is, all the Torah, laws and rulings that came through Moshe.” ⁹ M’nasheh caused Y’hudah and the people of Yerushalayim to go astray, so that they did even worse things than the nations whom Adonai destroyed ahead of the people of Isra’el.

¹⁰ Adonai spoke to M’nasheh and to his people, but they paid no attention. ¹¹ Therefore Adonai brought against them the commanders of the king of Ashur’s army. They took M’nasheh captive with hooks, bound him in chains and carried him off to Bavel. ¹² Then, when he was in distress, he began to appease the anger of Adonai, abjectly humbling himself before the God of his ancestors. ¹³ He prayed to him; and God was moved by his plea, paid attention to his entreaty and brought him back to Yerushalayim, to his kingly office. Then M’nasheh understood that Adonai really is God.

¹⁴ After this he built an outer wall for the City of David on the west side of Gichon, in the valley, extending as far as the entrance at the Fish Gate; it encompassed the ‘Ofel, and he built it very high. He stationed army commanders in all the fortified cities of Y’hudah. ¹⁵ He removed the foreign gods and the idol from the house of Adonai and all the altars he had built on the hill of the house of Adonai and in Yerushalayim, and threw them out of the city. ¹⁶ He repaired the altar of Adonai and offered on it sacrifices as peace offerings and for thanksgiving; and he ordered Y’hudah to serve Adonai the God of Isra’el. ¹⁷ However, the people continued sacrificing on the high places, although only to Adonai their God.

¹⁸ Other activities of M’nasheh, his prayer to his God and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of Adonai the God of Isra’el are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Isra’el. ¹⁹ Also his prayer and how God was moved by his plea, all his sin and disloyalty, and the locations where he built high places and set up the sacred poles and carved images before he humbled himself are written in the History of the Seers.

²⁰ Then M’nasheh slept with his ancestors and was buried at his own house, and Amon his son took his place as king.

²¹ Amon was twenty-two years old when he began his reign, and he ruled for two years in Yerushalayim. ²² He did what was evil from Adonai’s perspective, as had M’nasheh his father. Amon sacrificed to all the carved images that M’nasheh his father had made, and served them. ²³ He did not humble himself before Adonai, as M’nasheh his father had done; rather, this Amon kept adding to his guilt.

²⁴ His servants conspired against him and put the king to death in his own palace. ²⁵ But the people of the land put to death all those who had been part of the conspiracy against King Amon. Then the people of the land made Yoshiyahu his son king in place of him.

34 Yoshiyahu was eight years old when he began his reign, and he ruled for thirty-one years in Yerushalayim. ² He did what was right from Adonai’s perspective, living entirely in the manner of David his ancestor and turning away neither to the right nor to the left.

³ For in the eighth year of his reign, when he was still young, he began seeking after the God of David his father; and in the twelfth year, he began cleansing Y’hudah and Yerushalayim from the high places, the sacred poles, and the carved and cast metal images. ⁴ In his presence they broke down the altars of the ba‘alim, and he chopped down the pillars for sun-worship mounted above them. He smashed the sacred poles and the carved and cast metal images, grinding them to dust, which he threw on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. ⁵ He burned the bones of the priests on their altars, thus cleansing Y’hudah and Yerushalayim. ⁶ He did likewise in the cities of M’nasheh, Efrayim, Shim‘on and even as far as Naftali, in their surrounding ruins. ⁷ He broke down the altars, beat the sacred poles and carved images to powder and chopped down the pillars for sun-worship throughout all the land of Isra’el. Then he returned to Yerushalayim.

⁸ In the eighteenth year of his reign, after he had cleansed the land and the house, he sent Shafan the son of Atzalyahu, Ma‘aseiyah the governor of the city and Yo’ach the son of Yo’achaz the recorder to repair the house of Adonai his God. ⁹ They went to Hilkiyahu the cohen hagadol and handed over to him the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the L’vi’im who guarded the doors had collected from M’nasheh, Efrayim, the rest of Isra’el and all Y’hudah and Binyamin. Then they returned to Yerushalayim. ¹⁰ They gave it to the supervisors of the work being done in the house of Adonai; and those doing the work in the house of Adonai used it to repair and restore the house — ¹¹ that is, they gave it to the carpenters and construction-workers to purchase worked stone, timber for the crossbeams and roof beams for the houses which the kings of Y’hudah had destroyed. ¹² The men did the work faithfully. Their supervisors were Yachat and ‘Ovadyahu, L’vi’im from the descendants of M’rari, also Z’kharyah and Meshulam from the descendants of the K’hatim to give direction; and other L’vi’im, all of whom could accompany singing with musical instruments. ¹³ They supervised those carrying the loads and everyone doing any kind of work; and there were also L’vi’im who were secretaries, officials and gatekeepers.

¹⁴ While bringing out the money that had been brought into the house of Adonai, Hilkiyahu the cohen found the scroll of the Torah of Adonai given by Moshe. ¹⁵ Hilkiyahu said to Shafan the secretary, “I have found the scroll of the Torah in the house of Adonai.” Hilkiyahu gave the scroll to Shafan. ¹⁶ Shafan the secretary brought the scroll to the king.

Turning to the king, he gave him this report: “Your servants are doing everything you ordered them to do. ¹⁷ They have poured out the money found in the house of Adonai and handed it over to the supervisors and workers.” ¹⁸ Then Shafan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiyahu the cohen hagadol gave me a scroll.” Shafan read it aloud before the king. ¹⁹ After the king had heard what was written in the Torah, he tore his clothes. ²⁰ Then the king issued this order to Hilkiyahu, Achikam the son of Shafan, ‘Avdon the son of Mikhah, Shafan the secretary and ‘Asayah the king’s servant: ²¹ “Go, and consult Adonai for me and for the people left in Isra’el and Y’hudah in regard to what is written in this scroll which has been found. For Adonai must be furious at us, since our ancestors did not observe the word of Adonai and do everything written in this scroll.” ²² So Hilkiyahu and those the king had ordered went to Huldah the prophet, the wife of Shalum the son of Tok’hat, the son of Hasrat, keeper of the wardrobe — she lived in the Second Quarter of Yerushalayim — and spoke with her about this. ²³ She told them, “Adonai the God of Isra’el says to tell the man who sent you to me ²⁴ that Adonai says this: ‘I am going to bring calamity on this place and on its inhabitants, all the curses written in the scroll they read to the king of Y’hudah; ²⁵ because they have abandoned me and offered to other gods, in order to provoke me with everything they do. Therefore my anger is poured out on this place and will not be quenched.’

²⁶ “But you are to tell the king of Y’hudah, who sent you to consult Adonai, that Adonai the God of Isra’el also says this: ‘In regard to the words you have heard, ²⁷ because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants — you humbled yourself before me, tore your clothes and cried before me — I have also heard you,’ says Adonai. ²⁸ ‘Here, I will gather you to your ancestors; you will go to your grave in peace; and your eyes will not see all the calamity I am going to bring on this place and its inhabitants.’” So they brought back word to the king.

²⁹ Then the king summoned and assembled all the leaders of Y’hudah and Yerushalayim. ³⁰ The king went up to the house of Adonai with all the men of Y’hudah, those living in Yerushalayim, the cohanim, the L’vi’im and all the people, both great and small; and he read in their hearing everything written in the scroll of the covenant that had been found in the house of Adonai. ³¹ The king stood in his place and made a covenant in the presence of Adonai to live following Adonai, observing his mitzvot, instructions and laws wholeheartedly and with all his being, so as to perform the words of the covenant written in this scroll. ³² Then, after he had all the people in Yerushalayim and Binyamin stand in affirmation of it, the inhabitants of Yerushalayim acted in accordance with the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors.

³³ Yoshiyahu removed all the abominable idols from all the territories belonging to the people of Isra’el, and he made everyone in Isra’el serve Adonai their God. Throughout his lifetime, they did not stop following Adonai, the God of their ancestors.

35 Yoshiyahu kept Pesach to Adonai in Yerushalayim. They slaughtered the Pesach lamb on the fourteenth day of the first month. ² He assigned the cohanim to their posts and encouraged them to perform the service of the house of Adonai. ³ To the L’vi’im who were teaching all Isra’el and were holy for Adonai he said, “Put the holy ark in the house which Shlomo the son of David, king of Isra’el, built; after this, you will not have to carry it again. Now serve Adonai your God and his people Isra’el. ⁴ Organize yourselves by clans and duty divisions according to the arrangement written down by David king of Isra’el and Shlomo his son. ⁵ Stand in the Holy Place according to the divisions of the clans of your kinsmen the ordinary people, with part of a clan of L’vi’im serving each clan [of Isra’el]. ⁶ Then slaughter the Pesach lamb, consecrate yourselves, prepare what your kinsmen need, and act according to the word of Adonai given through Moshe.”

⁷ Yoshiyahu gave the ordinary people, to all who were present, 30,000 lambs and kids from the flock, all of them for Pesach offerings, and 3,000 bulls. These were from the king’s personal property. ⁸ Also his leading men voluntarily gave to the people and to the cohanim and L’vi’im. Hilkiyah, Z’kharyahu and Yechi’el, the rulers of the house of God, gave the cohanim 2,600 [lambs and kids] and 300 oxen for Pesach offerings. ⁹ Konanyah, his brothers Sh’ma‘yah and N’tan’el, and Hashavyah, Ye‘i’el and Yozavad, the head L’vi’im, gave the L’vi’im 5,000 [lambs and kids] and 500 oxen for Pesach offerings.

¹⁰ So the service was prepared; the cohanim stood at their posts; and the L’vi’im worked in their divisions, in keeping with the king’s order. ¹¹ They slaughtered the Pesach lamb; the cohanim splashed [the blood, which they received from the L’vi’im], and the L’vi’im skinned and butchered them. ¹² They removed the portions to be burned, in order to give them to the divisions of the clans of the ordinary people to present to Adonai, as written in the scroll of Moshe. They did the same with the oxen. ¹³ They roasted the Pesach lamb over fire, according to the rule; while they boiled the holy offerings in pots, kettles and pans and carried them quickly to all the ordinary people. ¹⁴ Afterwards, they prepared food for themselves and for the cohanim; because the cohanim, the descendants of Aharon, were busy till nightfall offering the fat and the portions to be burned up; this is why the L’vi’im prepared food both for themselves and for the cohanim the descendants of Aharon.

¹⁵ The singers the sons of Asaf were at their posts, as ordered by David — Asaf, Heman and Y’dutun the king’s seer. The gatekeepers were at every gate, and they did not need to leave their posts, because their brothers the L’vi’im prepared [food] for them.

¹⁶ Thus all the service of Adonai was prepared the same day for observing Pesach and offering burnt offerings on the altar of Adonai, in accordance with the order of King Yoshiyahu. ¹⁷ The people of Isra’el who were present observed the Pesach at that time and the festival of Matzot for seven days. ¹⁸ No Pesach like that had been kept in Isra’el since the days of Sh’mu’el the prophet, and none of the kings of Isra’el observe a Pesach such as Yoshiyahu observed, with the cohanim, L’vi’im, all Y’hudah, those of Isra’el who were present, and the inhabitants of Yerushalayim. ¹⁹ This Pesach was observed in the eighteenth year of Yoshiyahu.

²⁰ After all this, and after Yoshiyahu had restored the house, N’kho king of Egypt went up to attack Kark’mish by the Euphrates River. King Yoshiyahu went out to oppose him; ²¹ but N’kho sent envoys to him with this message: “Do I have a conflict with you, king of Y’hudah? No, I am not coming today to attack you, but to attack the dynasty with whom I am at war. God has ordered to speed me along; so don’t meddle with God, who is with me; so that he won’t destroy you.” ²² Nevertheless, Yoshiyahu was determined to go after him. He disguised himself in order to fight against him and wouldn’t listen to what N’kho said, which was from the mouth of God. Then he went to fight in the Megiddo Valley. ²³ There archers shot King Yoshiyahu. The king said to his servants, “Take me away, because I’m badly wounded.” ²⁴ So his servants took him out of the chariot, transferred him to his second chariot and brought him to Yerushalayim. But he died, and he was buried in the tombs of his ancestors. All Y’hudah and Yerushalayim mourned Yoshiyahu. ²⁵ Yirmeyahu composed a lament for Yoshiyahu; and all the men and women singers have sung of Yoshiyahu in their laments till this day. They made singing them a law in Isra’el, and they are recorded in the Laments.

²⁶ Other activities of Yoshiyahu and all his good deeds in keeping with what is written in the Torah of Adonai, ²⁷ also his accomplishments from beginning to end, are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Isra’el and Y’hudah.

36 Then the people of the land took Y’ho’achaz the son of Yoshiyahu and made him king in his father’s place, in Yerushalayim.

² Y’ho’achaz was twenty-three years old when he began his reign, and he ruled for three months in Yerushalayim. ³ But the king of Egypt deposed him in Yerushalayim and imposed a penalty on the land of three-and-a-third tons of silver and sixty-six pounds of gold. ⁴ Then the king of Egypt made Elyakim his brother king over Y’hudah and Yerushalayim, changing his name to Y’hoyakim; N’kho took Yo’achaz his brother and carried him off to Egypt.

⁵ Y’hoyakim was twenty-five years old when he began his reign, and he ruled for eleven years in Yerushalayim. He did what was evil from the perspective of Adonai his God. ⁶ N’vukhadnetzar king of Bavel attacked him and bound him in chains to carry him off to Bavel. ⁷ N’vukhadnetzar also carried the articles in the house of Adonai away to Bavel and put them in his temple in Bavel. ⁸ Other activities of Y’hoyakim, including all the abominations he did publicly and those discovered later, are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Isra’el and Y’hudah. Then Y’hoyakhin his son took his place as king.

⁹ Y’hoyakhin was eight years old when he began his reign, and he ruled in Yerushalayim for three months and ten days. He did what was evil from Adonai’s perspective. ¹⁰ In the spring, King N’vukhadnetzar sent and had him brought to Bavel together with the valuable articles from the house of Adonai, and made Tzedekyah his brother king over Y’hudah and Yerushalayim.

¹¹ Tzedekyah was twenty-one years old when he began his reign, and he ruled for eleven years in Yerushalayim. ¹² He did what was evil from the perspective of Adonai his God. He did not humble himself before Yirmeyahu the prophet speaking on behalf of Adonai.

¹³ He also rebelled against King N’vukhadnetzar, who had made him swear loyalty to him by God; instead, he became stiffnecked and hardhearted, refusing to turn to Adonai the God of Isra’el. ¹⁴ In addition, the chief cohanim and the people grew increasingly unfaithful, following all the abominable practices of the other nations; and they polluted the house of Adonai, which he had consecrated in Yerushalayim. ¹⁵ Time after time, and frequently, Adonai, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers; because he had compassion on his people and on the place where he lived. ¹⁶ But they ridiculed God’s messengers, treating his words with contempt and scoffing at his prophets, until the anger of Adonai rose up against his people to the extent that there was no longer any remedy.

¹⁷ Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Kasdim, who put their young men to the sword in the house of their sanctuary. They had no compassion on either young men or young women, old men or gray-haired; God handed all of them over to him. ¹⁸ All the articles in the house of God, great and small; the supplies in the house of Adonai; and the supplies of the king and his leading men — all these he brought to Bavel. ¹⁹ Then they burned down the house of God, broke down the wall of Yerushalayim, put to flames all its palaces and destroyed everything in it of worth. ²⁰ Those who had escaped the sword he carried off to Bavel, and they became slaves to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia. ²¹ Thus was fulfilled the word of Adonai spoken by Yirmeyahu, “until the land has been paid her Shabbats” — for as long as it lay desolate, it kept Shabbat, until seventy years had passed.

²² Now in the first year of Koresh king of Persia, so that the word of Adonai spoken by Yirmeyahu might be fulfilled, Adonai activated the spirit of Koresh king of Persia to proclaim throughout his entire kingdom, and put in writing as well: ²³ “Here is what Koresh king of Persia says: Adonai, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms on earth, and he has charged me to build him a house in Yerushalayim, in Y’hudah. Whoever there is among you of all his people, may Adonai his God be with him! He may go up . . . .”