2 Chronicles 36

1 Then the people of Judah chose Josiah’s son Jehoahaz and appointed him as the king in Jerusalem.

The people of the land took Jehoahaz, son of Josiah, and made him king in Jerusalem in succession to his father.

2 Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became the king, but he ruled from Jerusalem for [only] three months.

Jehoahaz was twenty-three when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for three months.

3 King Neco of Egypt [captured him and] prevented him from ruling any longer. He also forced the people of Judah to pay him a tax of almost four tons of silver and about 75 pounds of gold.

Then the king of Egypt removed him from the throne in Jerusalem and imposed a tax on Judah of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.

4 The king of Egypt appointed Jehoahaz’s [younger] brother Eliakim to be the king of Judah. He changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. After Neco captured Jehoahaz, he took him to Egypt.

Neco, king of Egypt, made Eliakim, Jehoahaz's brother, king over Judah and Jerusalem, and he changed Eliakim's name to Jehoiakim. Neco took Eliakim's brother Jehoahaz back with him to Egypt.

5 Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became the king [of Judah], and he ruled from Jerusalem for 11 years. He did things that Yahweh his God considers to be evil.

Jehoiakim was twenty-five when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eleven years. He did evil in the sight of the Lord his God.

6 Then the army of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked Jehoiakim’s army. They [captured Jehoiakim and] bound him with bronze chains and took him to Babylon.

Then Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, attacked Jehoiakim. He captured him and put bronze shackles on him, and brought him to Babylon.

7 Nebuchadnezzar’s soldiers also took valuable things from the temple; they took them to Babylon and put them in king [Nebuchadnezzar’s] palace there.

Nebuchadnezzar also took some items from the Lord's Temple, and he put them in his temple in Babylon.

8 A record of the other things that happened while Jehoiakim was ruling, the detestable things that he did, including the evil things that people said that he did, is written in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Israel and Judah’. After [he was taken to Babylon], his son Jehoiachin became the king [of Judah].

The rest of what Jehoiakim, the disgusting sins he committed, and all the evidence against him, are written down in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. His son Jehoiachin took over as king.

9 Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he became the king [of Judah], and he ruled from Jerusalem for [only] three months and ten days. He did things that Yahweh considers to be evil.

Jehoiachin was eighteen when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for three months and ten days. He did evil in the Lord's sight.

10 During the spring of the next year, King Nebuchadnezzar sent [soldiers] to bring him to Babylon. They also took to Babylon many valuable things from the temple of Yahweh. Then Nebuchadnezzar appointed Jehoiachin’s uncle, Zedekiah, to be the king of Judah.

In the spring of the year, King Nebuchadnezzar summoned him and brought him to Babylon, along with valuable items from the Lord's Temple, and he made Jehoiachin's uncle Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.

11 Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became the king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for 11 years.

Zedekiah was twenty-one when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eleven years.

12 He did many things that Yahweh his God considered to be evil. And he did not humble himself when the prophet Jeremiah gave him a message from Yahweh [to warn him].

He did evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and he refused to admit his pride when the prophet Jeremiah warned him directly from the Lord.

13 He would not return to Yahweh, the God that the people of Israel [said that they worshiped]. Zedekiah also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had forced him to solemnly promise using God’s name [to be loyal to him]. Zedekiah became very stubborn.

He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear an oath of loyalty by God. Zedekiah was arrogant and hard-hearted, and refused to come back to the Lord, the God of Israel.

14 Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and also the people [of Judah] became more wicked again, doing all the detestable things that the people of the other nations did, and causing the temple in Jerusalem that Yahweh had caused to be holy to become [an] unacceptable [place to worship him].

All the leaders of the priests and the people were also totally faithless and sinful, following all the disgusting practices of the heathen nations. They defiled the Lord's Temple that he had set apart as holy in Jerusalem.

15 Yahweh, the God whom the ancestors [of the people of Judah belonged to/worshiped], gave messages to his prophets many times, and the prophets told those messages to the people of Judah. Yahweh did that because he pitied his people and did not want his temple to be destroyed.

Again and again the Lord, the God of their fathers, warned his people through his prophets, because he wanted to show mercy to them and to his Temple.

16 But the people continually made fun of God’s messengers. They despised God’s messages. They ridiculed his prophets, until finally God became extremely angry with his people, with the result that nothing could stop him [from destroying Judah].

But they ridiculed God's messengers, they despised his warnings and mocked his prophets, until the Lord's anger against his people was provoked to such an extent it couldn't be stopped.

17 He incited the king of Babylonia to attack [Judah with his army]. They killed the young men with their swords, even in the temple. They did not spare/pity anyone, young men or young women or old people. God enabled the army of Nebuchadnezzar to kill all of them.

So the Lord brought the king of Babylon to attack them. His army killed by the sword their best young men even in the sanctuary. The Babylonians did not spare young men or young women, the sick or the elderly. God handed them all over to Nebuchadnezzar.

18 His soldiers took to Babylon all the things that were used in God’s temple—big things and little things, all the valuable things, and the valuable things that belonged to the king and his officials.

He took back to Babylon all the articles, large and small, from God's Temple, and from the Temple treasury, and from the king and from his officials.

19 They burned the temple, and they broke down the wall surrounding Jerusalem. They burned all the palaces [in Jerusalem] and destroyed all the remaining valuable things there.

Then the Babylonians burned down God's Temple and demolished Jerusalem's walls. They set fire to all the palaces and destroyed everything that had any value.

20 Nebuchadnezzar’s soldiers took to Babylon the remaining people who had not been killed with their swords. Then those people became the king’s slaves and his son’s slaves, until the [army of the] king of Persia conquered [the army of Babylonia].

Nebuchadnezzar took into exile in Babylon those who had not been killed. They were slaves for himself and his sons, until the kingdom of Persia took over.

21 [Moses had said that every seventh year the people must not plant their fields; they must allow the soil to rest. But the people had not done that. So after the army of Babylonia destroyed Judah, ] the soil was allowed to rest. That continued for 70 years, fulfilling what Yahweh told Jeremiah and what Jeremiah had predicted/prophesied would happen.

So to fulfill the Lord's prophecy given through Jeremiah, the land enjoyed its Sabbaths as rest all the time it was left desolate, keeping the Sabbath until seventy years were completed.

22 During the first year that Cyrus was the king of Persia, in order that what Yahweh told Jeremiah would happen would occur, Yahweh motivated Cyrus to write this and proclaim it throughout his kingdom:

In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, to fulfill the Lord's prophecy given through Jeremiah, the Lord encouraged Cyrus, king of Persia, to issue a proclamation throughout his kingdom and also to put it in writing, saying,

23 “I, Cyrus, the king of Persia, declare that Yahweh, the God [who rules] in heaven, has enabled me to become the ruler of all the kingdoms of this world. And he wants me to [command that my workers] build a temple {a temple be built} for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Any of his people living among you people of Persia are allowed to go to Jerusalem. And I will pray that Yahweh will be with them.”

“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, who has given to me all the kingdoms of the earth, has given me the responsibility to build a Temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Anyone among you who belongs to his people can go there. May the Lord your God be with you.’”