2 Chronicles 36:15-21
New English Translation
The Babylonians Destroy Jerusalem
15 The Lord God of their ancestors[a] continually warned them through his messengers,[b] for he felt compassion for his people and his dwelling place. 16 But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his warnings,[c] and ridiculed his prophets.[d] Finally the Lord got very angry at his people and there was no one who could prevent his judgment.[e] 17 He brought against them the king of the Babylonians, who slaughtered[f] their young men in their temple.[g] He did not spare[h] young men or women, or even the old and aging. God[i] handed everyone over to him. 18 He carried away to Babylon all the items in God’s temple, whether large or small, as well as what was in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the king and his officials. 19 They burned down God’s temple and tore down the wall of Jerusalem. They burned all its fortified buildings and destroyed all its valuable items. 20 He deported to Babylon all who escaped the sword. They served him and his sons until the Persian kingdom rose to power. 21 This took place to fulfill the Lord’s message spoken through Jeremiah[j] and lasted until the land experienced[k] its sabbatical years.[l] All the time[m] of its desolation the land rested in order to fulfill the seventy years.[n]
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- 2 Chronicles 36:15 tn Heb “fathers.”
- 2 Chronicles 36:15 tn Heb “and the Lord God of their fathers sent against them by the hand of his messengers, getting up early and sending.”
- 2 Chronicles 36:16 tn Heb “his words.”
- 2 Chronicles 36:16 tn All three verbal forms (“mocked,” “despised,” and “ridiculed”) are active participles in the Hebrew text, indicating continual or repeated action. They made a habit of rejecting God’s prophetic messengers.
- 2 Chronicles 36:16 tn Heb “until the anger of the Lord went up against his people until there was no healer.”
- 2 Chronicles 36:17 tn Heb “killed with the sword.”
- 2 Chronicles 36:17 tn Heb “in the house of their sanctuary.”
- 2 Chronicles 36:17 tn Or “show compassion to.”
- 2 Chronicles 36:17 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- 2 Chronicles 36:21 tn Heb “by the mouth of Jeremiah.”
- 2 Chronicles 36:21 tn The verb may be seen as either of two homophonous roots רָצָה (ratsah) meaning “to restore” or “to accept, take pleasure in.”
- 2 Chronicles 36:21 sn According to Lev 25:4, the land was to remain uncultivated every seventh year. Lev 26:33-35 warns that the land would experience a succession of such sabbatical rests if the people disobeyed God, for he would send them away into exile.
- 2 Chronicles 36:21 tn Heb “days of.”
- 2 Chronicles 36:21 sn Concerning the seventy years see Jer 25:11. Cyrus’ edict (see vv. 22-23) occurred about fifty years after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 b.c., which is most naturally understood as the beginning point of the “days of desolation” mentioned in v. 21. The number “seventy” is probably used in a metaphorical sense, indicating a typical lifetime and suggesting a thorough or complete judgment that would not be lifted until an entirely new generation emerged.
2 Chronicles 36:15-21
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
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,(A) 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.(B)
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.(C) 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.(D) 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.(E) 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,(F) 21 to fulfill 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 fulfill seventy years.(G)
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