2 Chronicles 36:1-16

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.