2 Chronicles 36
New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition
Reign of Jehoahaz
36 The people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and made him king to succeed his father in Jerusalem. 2 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign; he reigned for three months in Jerusalem. 3 Then the king of Egypt deposed him in Jerusalem and laid on the land a tribute of one hundred talents of silver and one talent of gold. 4 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 carried him to Egypt.
Reign and Captivity of Jehoiakim
5 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God. 6 Against him King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came up, and bound him with fetters to take him to Babylon. 7 Nebuchadnezzar also carried some of the vessels of the house of the Lord to Babylon and put them in his palace in Babylon. 8 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and the abominations that he did, and what was found against him, are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah; and his son Jehoiachin succeeded him.
Reign and Captivity of Jehoiachin
9 Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign; he reigned for three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. 10 In the spring of the year King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon, along with the precious vessels of the house of the Lord, and made his brother Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.
Reign of Zedekiah
11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign; he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. 12 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God. He did not humble himself before the prophet Jeremiah who spoke from the mouth of the Lord. 13 He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God; he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord, the God of Israel. 14 All the leading priests and the people also were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations; and they polluted the house of the Lord that he had consecrated in Jerusalem.
The Fall of Jerusalem
15 The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling-place; 16 but they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words, and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord against his people became so great that there was no remedy.
17 Therefore he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their youths with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or young woman, the aged or the feeble; he gave them all into his hand. 18 All the vessels of the house of God, large and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and of his officials, all these he brought to Babylon. 19 They burned the house of God, broke down the wall of Jerusalem, burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all its precious vessels. 20 He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, 21 to fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had made up for its sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept sabbath, to fulfil seventy years.
Cyrus Proclaims Liberty for the Exiles
22 In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in fulfilment of the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia so that he sent a herald throughout all his kingdom and also declared in a written edict: 23 ‘Thus says King Cyrus 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.’
2 Chronicles 36
1599 Geneva Bible
36 After Josiah reigneth Jehoahaz. 4 After Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim. 8 After him Jehoiachin. 11 After him Zedekiah. 14, 17 In whose time all the people were carried away to Babel for contemning the Admonition of the Prophets, 22 and were restored again the seventieth year after by king Cyrus.
1 Then (A)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 three and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three [a]months in Jerusalem.
3 And the king of Egypt took him away at Jerusalem, and condemned the land in an [b]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 five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem, and did [c]evil in the sight of the Lord his God.
6 Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel, and bound him with chains to carry him to Babel.
7 Nebuchadnezzar also (B)carried of the vessels of the house of the Lord to Babel, and put them in his temple at Babel.
8 Concerning the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations which he did, and [d]that which was found upon 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 [e]eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem, and did evil in the sight of the Lord.
10 And when the year was out, king Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babel, with the precious vessels of the house of the Lord, and he made Zedekiah his [f]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 (C)And he did evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the Prophet at the commandment of the Lord.
13 But he rebelled moreover against Nebuchadnezzar, which had caused him to swear by God: and he hardened his neck and made his heart obstinate, that he might not return to the Lord God of Israel.
14 All the chief of the Priests also and of the people trespassed wonderfully, according to all the abominations of the heathen, and polluted the houses of the Lord which he had sanctified in Jerusalem.
15 Therefore the Lord God of their fathers sent to them [g]by his messengers, [h]rising early and sending: for he had compassion on his people, and on his habitation.
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, and till there was no [i]remedy.
17 For he brought upon them the king of the Chaldeans, who slew their young men with the sword [j]in the house of their Sanctuary, and spared neither young man nor virgin, ancient, nor aged. God [k]gave 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 carried he to Babel.
19 And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and all the precious vessels thereof, to destroy all.
20 And they that were left by the sword, carried he away to Babel, and they were servants to him, and to his sons, until the kingdom of the [l]Persians had rule,
21 To fulfill the word of the Lord by the [m]mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had her fill of her Sabbaths: for all the days that she lay desolate, she kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.
22 ¶ (D)But in the [n]first year of Cyrus king of Persia (when the word of the Lord, spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah, was finished) the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, and he made a proclamation through all his kingdom, and also by writing, saying,
23 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the Lord God of heaven given me, and hath [o]commanded me to build him an house in Jerusalem, that is in Judah. Who is among you of all his people, with whom the Lord his God is? let him go up.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 36:2 For three months after the death of Josiah, came Necho to Jerusalem, and so the plagues began, which Huldah and the Prophetess forewarned should come upon Jerusalem.
- 2 Chronicles 36:3 To pay this as a yearly tribute.
- 2 Chronicles 36:5 Because he and the people turned not to God by his first plague, he brought a new upon him, and at length rooted them out.
- 2 Chronicles 36:8 He meaneth superstitious marks which were found upon his body, when he was dead, which thing declared how deeply idolatry was rooted in his heart, seeing he bare the marks in his flesh.
- 2 Chronicles 36:9 That is, he began his reign at eight years old, and reigned ten years when his father was alive, and after his father’s death, which was the eighteenth year of his age, he reigned alone three months and ten days.
- 2 Chronicles 36:10 Or, uncle.
- 2 Chronicles 36:15 Hebrew, by the hand of his.
- 2 Chronicles 36:15 By this phrase the Scripture meaneth, oftentimes, and diligently, as Jer. 11:7 and 25:3 and 26:5 and 32:33.
- 2 Chronicles 36:16 Till God could no longer suffer their sins, but must needs punish them.
- 2 Chronicles 36:17 Whither they fled, thinking to have been saved for the holiness thereof.
- 2 Chronicles 36:17 Which is not because God approveth him, which yet is the minister of his justice, but because God would by his just judgment punish this people: for this king was led with ambition and vain glory, whereunto were joined fury and cruelty: therefore his work was condemnable, notwithstanding it was just and holy on God’s part, who used this wicked instrument to declare his justice.
- 2 Chronicles 36:20 When Cyrus King of Persia had made the Babylonians subject.
- 2 Chronicles 36:21 Who threatened the vengeance of God and seventy years captivity, which he calleth the Sabbaths or rest of the land, Jer. 25:11.
- 2 Chronicles 36:22 In the first year that he reigned over the Chaldeans, Ezra 1:1.
- 2 Chronicles 36:23 God had so forewarned by his Prophet above an hundred years before Cyrus was born, Isa. 44:28, that Jerusalem and the Temple should be built again by Cyrus his anointed: so called, because God used his service for a time to deliver his Church.
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