2 Chronicles 36
New Century Version
Jehoahaz King of Judah
36 The people of Judah chose 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 in Jerusalem for three months. 3 Then King Neco of Egypt removed Jehoahaz from being king in Jerusalem. Neco made the people of Judah pay about seventy-five hundred pounds of silver and about seventy-five pounds 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.
Jehoiakim King of Judah
5 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he was king in Jerusalem for eleven years. He did what the Lord his God said was wrong. 6 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked Judah, captured Jehoiakim, put bronze chains on him, and took him to Babylon. 7 Nebuchadnezzar removed some of the things from the Temple of the Lord, took them to Babylon, and put them in his own palace.
8 The other things Jehoiakim did as king, the hateful things he did, and everything he was guilty of doing, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiakim’s son Jehoiachin became king in his place.
Jehoiachin King of Judah
9 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king of Judah, and he was king in Jerusalem for three months and ten days. He did what the Lord said was wrong. 10 In the spring King Nebuchadnezzar sent for Jehoiachin and brought him and some valuable treasures from the Temple of the Lord to Babylon. Then Nebuchadnezzar made Jehoiachin’s uncle 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 in Jerusalem for eleven years. 12 Zedekiah did what the Lord his God said was wrong. The prophet Jeremiah spoke messages from the Lord, but Zedekiah did not obey. 13 Zedekiah turned against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had forced him to swear in God’s name to be loyal to him. But Zedekiah became stubborn and refused to obey the Lord, the God of Israel. 14 Also, all the leaders of the priests and the people of Judah became more wicked, following the evil example of the other nations. The Lord had made the Temple in Jerusalem holy, but the leaders made it unholy.
The Fall of Jerusalem
15 The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent prophets again and again to warn his people, because he had pity on them and on his Temple. 16 But they made fun of God’s prophets and hated God’s messages. They refused to listen to the prophets until, finally, the Lord became so angry with his people that he could not be stopped. 17 So God brought the king of Babylon to attack them. The king killed the young men even when they were in the Temple. He had no mercy on the young men or women, the old men or those who were sick. God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar. 18 Nebuchadnezzar carried away to Babylon all the things from the Temple of God, both large and small, and all the treasures from the Temple of the Lord and from the king and his officers. 19 Nebuchadnezzar and his army set fire to God’s Temple and broke down Jerusalem’s wall and burned all the palaces. They took or destroyed every valuable thing in Jerusalem.
20 Nebuchadnezzar took captive to Babylon the people who were left alive, and he forced them to be slaves for him and his descendants. They remained there as slaves until the Persian kingdom defeated Babylon. 21 And so what the Lord had told Israel through the prophet Jeremiah happened: The country was an empty wasteland for seventy years to make up for the years of Sabbath rest[a] that the people had not kept.
22 In the first year Cyrus was king of Persia, the Lord had Cyrus send an announcement to his whole kingdom. This happened so the Lord’s message spoken by Jeremiah would come true. He wrote:
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 a Temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Now may the Lord your God be with all of you who are his people. You are free to go to Jerusalem.
Footnotes
- 36:21 Sabbath rest The law said that every seventh year the land was not to be farmed. See Leviticus 25:1–7.
2 Chronicles 36
English Standard Version
Judah's Decline
36 (A)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 (B)laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent[a] 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 (C)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 (D)Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon (E)and bound him in chains (F)to take him to Babylon. 7 (G)Nebuchadnezzar also carried part of the vessels of the house of the Lord to Babylon and put them in his palace in Babylon. 8 (H)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 (I)Jehoiachin was eighteen[b] 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 (J)the spring of the year King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon, (K)with the precious vessels of the house of the Lord, and made his brother (L)Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.
11 (M)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 (N)Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the Lord. 13 (O)He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. (P)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, (Q)sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. 16 (R)But they kept mocking the messengers of God, (S)despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, (T)until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no remedy.
Jerusalem Captured and Burned
17 (U)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 (V)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 (W)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 (X)took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, (Y)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 (Z)enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate (AA)it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.
The Proclamation of Cyrus
22 (AB)Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, (AC)that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, (AD)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.’”
Footnotes
- 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
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
