2 Chronicles 36
Common English Bible
Jehoahaz rules
36 The people of the land took Jehoahaz, Josiah’s son, and made him the next king in Jerusalem. 2 Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king, and he ruled for three months in Jerusalem. 3 The king of Egypt removed him from office in Jerusalem. The Egyptian king imposed a fine on the land totaling one hundred kikkars of silver and one kikkar of gold. 4 Then the king of Egypt made Jehoahaz’s brother Eliakim king of Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. Neco took his brother Jehoahaz prisoner and carried him off to Egypt.
Jehoiakim rules
5 Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became king, and he ruled for eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the Lord’s eyes. 6 Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar attacked him, bound him with bronze chains, and took him to Babylon. 7 Nebuchadnezzar also took some equipment from the Lord’s temple to Babylon and placed them in his own temple there. 8 The rest of Jehoiakim’s deeds, including his detestable practices and all that was charged against him, are written in the official records of Israel’s and Judah’s kings. His son Jehoiachin succeeded him as king.
Jehoiachin rules
9 Jehoiachin was 18[a] years old when he became king, and he ruled for three months[b] in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the Lord’s eyes. 10 In the springtime, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him to be brought to Babylon, along with valuable equipment from the Lord’s temple. Then he made Zedekiah his uncle the next king of Judah and Jerusalem.
Zedekiah rules
11 Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king, and he ruled for eleven years in Jerusalem. 12 He did what was evil in the Lord his God’s eyes and didn’t submit before the prophet Jeremiah, who spoke for the Lord. 13 Moreover, he rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, despite the solemn pledge Nebuchadnezzar had forced him to swear in God’s name. He became stubborn and refused to turn back to the Lord, Israel’s God. 14 All the leaders of the priests and the people also grew increasingly unfaithful, following all the detestable practices of the nations. They polluted the Lord’s temple that God had dedicated in Jerusalem. 15 Time and time again, the Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers because he had compassion on his people and his dwelling. 16 But they made fun of God’s messengers, treating God’s words with contempt and ridiculing God’s prophets to such an extent that there was no hope of warding off the Lord’s rising anger against his people.
Jerusalem destroyed
17 So God brought the Babylonian[c] king against them. The king killed their young men with the sword in their temple’s sanctuary, and showed no pity for young men or for virgins, for the old or for the feeble. God handed all of them over to him. 18 Then the king hauled everything off to Babylon, every item from God’s temple, both large and small, including the treasures of the Lord’s temple and those of the king and his officials. 19 Next the Babylonians burned God’s temple down, demolished the walls of Jerusalem, and set fire to all its palaces, destroying everything of value. 20 Finally, he exiled to Babylon anyone who survived the killing so that they could be his slaves and the slaves of his children until Persia came to power. 21 This is how the Lord’s word spoken by Jeremiah was carried out. The land finally enjoyed its sabbath rest. For as long as it lay empty, it rested, until seventy years were completed.
Cyrus’ decree
22 In the first year of Persia’s King Cyrus, to carry out the Lord’s promise spoken through Jeremiah, the Lord moved Persia’s King Cyrus to issue the following proclamation throughout his kingdom, along with a written decree:
23 This is what Persia’s King Cyrus says: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the earth’s kingdoms and has instructed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Whoever among you belong to God’s people, let them go up, and may the Lord their God be with them!
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 36:9 LXX, 2 Kgs 24:8; MT eight
- 2 Chronicles 36:9 2 Kgs 24:8; MT adds and ten days.
- 2 Chronicles 36:17 Heb Chaldean
2 Chronicles 36
New Catholic Bible
The End of the Kingdom
Chapter 36[a]
Jehoahaz. 1 The people of the land then took Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah, and made him king in Jerusalem as the successor to his father. 2 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he ascended the throne, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem. 3 Then Neco, the king of Egypt, deposed him in Jerusalem and imposed a levy on Judah of one hundred talents of silver and one talent of gold. 4 Following that, the king of Egypt made his brother Eliakim king over Judah and Jerusalem and changed his name to Jehoiakim, but Neco took his brother Jehoahaz and had him brought to Egypt.
Jehoiakim. 5 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord his God. 6 Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, then attacked him and bound him with chains to take him to Babylon. 7 Nebuchadnezzar also carried away to Babylon some of the vessels of the house of the Lord and placed them in his palace in Babylon.
8 The rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, the detestable things that he did, and what happened to him as a consequence, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. His son Jehoiachin succeeded him.
Jehoiachin. 9 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for three months and ten days. He did evil in the sight of the Lord. 10 At the turn of the year, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and had him brought to Babylon, along with the most precious vessels that were in the temple of the Lord, and he appointed his brother Zedekiah as king over Judah and Jerusalem.
11 Zedekiah. Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. 12 He did evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and he did not humble himself before the prophet Jeremiah, who revealed the word of the Lord.
13 Zedekiah also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had compelled him to take an oath in God’s name. He became stubborn and obstinate, and he refused to return to the Lord, the God of Israel. 14 Furthermore, all the leaders of Judah, the priests, and the people became ever more unfaithful, imitating all the shameful practices of the nations and defiling the temple of the Lord which he himself had consecrated in Jerusalem.
15 The Lord, the God of their ancestors, unceasingly sent them word through his messengers because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. 16 However, they continued to ridicule the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord against his people became so fierce that there was no remedy.
17 Therefore, the Lord God brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who slew their young men with the sword in the sanctuary and spared neither young man nor maiden, neither the aged nor the feeble. God gave them all into his power.
18 All the vessels of the house of God, both large and small and all the treasures of the Lord’s house and of the king and his princes—all these Nebuchadnezzar brought to Babylon. 19 They set fire to the house of God, demolished the walls of Jerusalem, and burned all its palaces to the ground along with its cherished possessions until everything there of value was destroyed.
20 In addition, Nebuchadnezzar deported to Babylon all those who had escaped the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the Persians came to power. 21 During the time that the land lay desolate, it enjoyed its Sabbath rests to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah: “Until the land has atoned for its lost Sabbaths, it will lie fallow until seventy years are fulfilled.”
22 Decree of Cyrus.[b] In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in fulfillment of the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord inspired King Cyrus to issue this edict throughout his kingdom, announced by a herald and also stated in a written edict: 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 also appointed me to build him a temple in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Therefore, whoever among you belongs to his people, may the Lord, his God be with him. Let him go up!”
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 36:1 These kings simply make an appearance and are tossed about by events. The only personages who stand out in these hours of chaos are the prophets: Jeremiah and Baruch. Despite everything, they foretell that the faith has a future.
- 2 Chronicles 36:22 Chronicles does not end with the tragic outcome (i.e., the deportation to Babylon). By adding the edict of Cyrus that authorizes the return to Jerusalem, the author makes it clear that the history of God’s chosen people will continue; the sins of human beings cannot cause the cancellation of the divine plan of salvation. This short ending, so moving in its sobriety, is also the beginning of the Book of Ezra. This shows that the latter is by the same author.
2 Chronicles 36
King James Version
36 Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father's stead in Jerusalem.
2 Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.
3 And the king of Egypt put him down at Jerusalem, and condemned the land in an hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.
4 And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and turned his name to Jehoiakim. And Necho took Jehoahaz his brother, and carried him to Egypt.
5 Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God.
6 Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon.
7 Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of the Lord to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon.
8 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations which he did, and that which was found in him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.
9 Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.
10 And when the year was expired, king Nebuchadnezzar sent, and brought him to Babylon, with the goodly vessels of the house of the Lord, and made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem.
11 Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.
12 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the Lord.
13 And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the Lord God of Israel.
14 Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.
15 And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place:
16 But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy.
17 Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand.
18 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 And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.
20 And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:
21 To fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.
22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,
23 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the Lord God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The Lord his God be with him, and let him go up.
2 Chronicles 36
Legacy Standard Bible
Joahaz Reigns over Judah
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. 2 [b]Joahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. 3 Then the king of Egypt had him removed in Jerusalem and imposed on the land a fine of one hundred [c]talents of silver and one talent of gold. 4 Then the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But (C)Neco took Joahaz his brother and brought him to Egypt.
Jehoiakim Reigns over Judah
5 (D)Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh his God. 6 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up (E)against him and (F)bound him with bronze chains to lead him off to Babylon. 7 (G)Nebuchadnezzar also brought some of the articles of the house of Yahweh to Babylon and put them in his temple at Babylon. 8 (H)Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and [d]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 Jehoiachin his son became king in his place.
Jehoiachin Reigns over Judah
9 (I)Jehoiachin was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem, and he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh. 10 (J)And at the turn of the year King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon with the valuable articles of the house of Yahweh, and he made his relative (K)Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.
Zedekiah Reigns over Judah
11 (L)Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. 12 And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh his God; (M)he did not humble himself (N)before Jeremiah the prophet who spoke from the mouth of Yahweh. 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 Yahweh, the God of Israel. 14 Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people were very unfaithful following all the abominations of the nations; and they defiled the house of Yahweh which He had set apart as holy in Jerusalem.
The Chaldeans Destroy Jerusalem
15 And Yahweh, the God of their fathers, (Q)sent word to them [e]again and again by the hand of His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His habitation; 16 but they continually (R)mocked the messengers of God, (S)despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, (T)until the wrath of Yahweh arose against His people, until there was no remedy. 17 (U)Therefore He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans who killed their choice men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on choice man or virgin, old man or infirm; He gave them all into his hand. 18 (V)And all the articles of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of Yahweh, and the treasures of the king and of his officials, he brought them all to Babylon. 19 Then (W)they burned the house of God and tore down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its palaces with fire and destroyed all its valuable articles. 20 And those who had escaped from the sword he (X)took away into exile to Babylon; and (Y)they were slaves to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, 21 (Z)to fulfill the word of Yahweh by the mouth of Jeremiah, until (AA)the land had made up for its sabbaths. (AB)All the days of its desolation it kept sabbath [f](AC)until seventy years were fulfilled.
The Proclamation of Cyrus
22 (AD)Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia—in order to complete the word of Yahweh (AE)by the mouth of Jeremiah—Yahweh (AF)stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he had a proclamation pass throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, 23 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia,
‘Yahweh, 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 Yahweh his God be with him, and let him go up!’”
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 36:1 Lit Jehoahaz, cf. 36:2; 2 Kin 23:30
- 2 Chronicles 36:2 Shortened form of Jehoahaz, cf. 36:1; 2 Kin 23:30
- 2 Chronicles 36:3 A talent was approx. 75 lb. or 34 kg
- 2 Chronicles 36:8 Lit his
- 2 Chronicles 36:15 Lit rising up early and sending them out
- 2 Chronicles 36:21 Lit to fulfill seventy years
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Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
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