2 Chronicles 36 - Ezra 3
New International Version - UK
36 1 And the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and made him king in Jerusalem in place of his father.
Jehoahaz king of Judah
2 Jehoahaz[a] was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for three months. 3 The king of Egypt dethroned him in Jerusalem and imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents[b] of silver and a talent[c] of gold. 4 The king of Egypt made Eliakim, a brother of Jehoahaz, king over Judah and Jerusalem and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Necho took Eliakim’s brother Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt.
Jehoiakim king of Judah
5 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eleven years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God. 6 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked him and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon. 7 Nebuchadnezzar also took to Babylon articles from the temple of the Lord and put them in his temple[d] there.
8 The other events of Jehoiakim’s reign, the detestable things he did and all that was found against him, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin his son succeeded him as king.
Jehoiachin king of Judah
9 Jehoiachin was eighteen[e] years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for three months and ten days. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. 10 In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and brought him to Babylon, together with articles of value from the temple of the Lord, and he made Jehoiachin’s uncle,[f] Zedekiah, king over Judah and Jerusalem.
Zedekiah king of Judah
11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eleven years. 12 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke the word of the Lord. 13 He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him take an oath in God’s name. He became stiff-necked and hardened his heart and would not turn to the Lord, the God of Israel. 14 Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful, following all the detestable practices of the nations and defiling the temple of the Lord, which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.
The fall of Jerusalem
15 The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling-place. 16 But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy. 17 He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians,[g] who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and did not spare young men or young women, the elderly or the infirm. God gave them all into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. 18 He carried to Babylon all the articles from the temple of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the Lord’s temple and the treasures of the king and his officials. 19 They set fire to God’s temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value there.
20 He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his successors until the kingdom of Persia came to power. 21 The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfilment of the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah.
22 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfil the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:
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. Any of his people among you may go up, and may the Lord their God be with them.”’
Cyrus helps the exiles to return
1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfil the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:
2 ‘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. 3 Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them. 4 And in any locality where survivors may now be living, the people are to provide them with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.”’
5 Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites – everyone whose heart God had moved – prepared to go up and build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. 6 All their neighbours assisted them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings.
7 Moreover, King Cyrus brought out the articles belonging to the temple of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his god.[h] 8 Cyrus king of Persia had them brought by Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.
9 This was the inventory:
gold dishes | 30 |
silver dishes | 1,000 |
silver pans[i] | 29 |
10 gold bowls | 30 |
matching silver bowls | 410 |
other articles | 1,000 |
11 In all, there were 5,400 articles of gold and of silver. Sheshbazzar brought all these along with the exiles when they came up from Babylon to Jerusalem.
The list of the exiles who returned
2 Now these are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken captive to Babylon (they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to their own town, 2 in company with Zerubbabel, Joshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum and Baanah):
The list of the men of the people of Israel:
3 the descendants of Parosh | 2,172 |
4 of Shephatiah | 372 |
5 of Arah | 775 |
6 of Pahath-Moab (through the line of Jeshua and Joab) | 2,812 |
7 of Elam | 1,254 |
8 of Zattu | 945 |
9 of Zakkai | 760 |
10 of Bani | 642 |
11 of Bebai | 623 |
12 of Azgad | 1,222 |
13 of Adonikam | 666 |
14 of Bigvai | 2,056 |
15 of Adin | 454 |
16 of Ater (through Hezekiah) | 98 |
17 of Bezai | 323 |
18 of Jorah | 112 |
19 of Hashum | 223 |
20 of Gibbar | 95 |
21 the men of Bethlehem | 123 |
22 of Netophah | 56 |
23 of Anathoth | 128 |
24 of Azmaveth | 42 |
25 of Kiriath Jearim,[j] Kephirah and Beeroth | 743 |
26 of Ramah and Geba | 621 |
27 of Mikmash | 122 |
28 of Bethel and Ai | 223 |
29 of Nebo | 52 |
30 of Magbish | 156 |
31 of the other Elam | 1,254 |
32 of Harim | 320 |
33 of Lod, Hadid and Ono | 725 |
34 of Jericho | 345 |
35 of Senaah | 3,630 |
36 The priests:
the descendants of Jedaiah (through the family of Jeshua) | 973 |
37 of Immer | 1,052 |
38 of Pashhur | 1,247 |
39 of Harim | 1,017 |
40 The Levites:
the descendants of Jeshua and Kadmiel (of the line of Hodaviah) | 74 |
41 The musicians:
the descendants of Asaph | 128 |
42 The gatekeepers of the temple:
the descendants of | |
Shallum, Ater, Talmon, | |
Akkub, Hatita and Shobai | 139 |
43 The temple servants:
the descendants of |
Ziha, Hasupha, Tabbaoth, |
44 Keros, Siaha, Padon, |
45 Lebanah, Hagabah, Akkub, |
46 Hagab, Shalmai, Hanan, |
47 Giddel, Gahar, Reaiah, |
48 Rezin, Nekoda, Gazzam, |
49 Uzza, Paseah, Besai, |
50 Asnah, Meunim, Nephussim, |
51 Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur, |
52 Bazluth, Mehida, Harsha, |
53 Barkos, Sisera, Temah, |
54 Neziah and Hatipha |
55 The descendants of the servants of Solomon:
the descendants of | |
Sotai, Hassophereth, Peruda, | |
56 Jaala, Darkon, Giddel, | |
57 Shephatiah, Hattil, | |
Pokereth-Hazzebaim and Ami | |
58 The temple servants and the descendants of the servants of Solomon | 392 |
59 The following came up from the towns of Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Kerub, Addon and Immer, but they could not show that their families were descended from Israel:
60 The descendants of | |
Delaiah, Tobiah and Nekoda | 652 |
61 And from among the priests:
The descendants of |
Hobaiah, Hakkoz and Barzillai (a man who had married a daughter of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by that name). |
62 These searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. 63 The governor ordered them not to eat any of the most sacred food until there was a priest ministering with the Urim and Thummim.
64 The whole company numbered 42,360, 65 besides their 7,337 male and female slaves; and they also had 200 male and female singers. 66 They had 736 horses, 245 mules, 67 435 camels and 6,720 donkeys.
68 When they arrived at the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, some of the heads of the families gave freewill offerings towards the rebuilding of the house of God on its site. 69 According to their ability they gave to the treasury for this work 61,000 darics[k] of gold, 5,000 minas[l] of silver and 100 priestly garments.
70 The priests, the Levites, the musicians, the gatekeepers and the temple servants settled in their own towns, along with some of the other people, and the rest of the Israelites settled in their towns.
Rebuilding the altar
3 When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, the people assembled together as one in Jerusalem. 2 Then Joshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. 3 Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening sacrifices. 4 Then in accordance with what is written, they celebrated the Festival of Tabernacles with the required number of burnt offerings prescribed for each day. 5 After that, they presented the regular burnt offerings, the New Moon sacrifices and the sacrifices for all the appointed sacred festivals of the Lord, as well as those brought as freewill offerings to the Lord. 6 On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, though the foundation of the Lord’s temple had not yet been laid.
Rebuilding the temple
7 Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters, and gave food and drink and olive oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, so that they would bring cedar logs by sea from Lebanon to Joppa, as authorised by Cyrus king of Persia.
8 In the second month of the second year after their arrival at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak and the rest of the people (the priests and the Levites and all who had returned from the captivity to Jerusalem) began the work. They appointed Levites twenty years old and older to supervise the building of the house of the Lord. 9 Joshua and his sons and brothers and Kadmiel and his sons (descendants of Hodaviah[m]) and the sons of Henadad and their sons and brothers – all Levites – joined together in supervising those working on the house of God.
10 When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the Lord, as prescribed by David king of Israel. 11 With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord:
‘He is good;
his love towards Israel endures for ever.’
And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. 12 But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. 13 No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 36:2 Hebrew Joahaz, a variant of Jehoahaz; also in verse 4
- 2 Chronicles 36:3 That is, about 3.4 metric tons
- 2 Chronicles 36:3 That is, about 34 kilograms
- 2 Chronicles 36:7 Or palace
- 2 Chronicles 36:9 One Hebrew manuscript, some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac (see also 2 Kings 24:8); most Hebrew manuscripts eight
- 2 Chronicles 36:10 Hebrew brother, that is, relative (see 2 Kings 24:17)
- 2 Chronicles 36:17 Or Chaldeans
- Ezra 1:7 Or gods
- Ezra 1:9 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Ezra 2:25 See Septuagint (see also Neh. 7:29); Hebrew Kiriath Arim.
- Ezra 2:69 That is, about 500 kilograms
- Ezra 2:69 That is, about 2.8 metric tons
- Ezra 3:9 Hebrew Yehudah, probably a variant of Hodaviah
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