2 Chronicles 36

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

And the people of the land took Jehoachaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father's stead in Jerusalem.

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

Twenty and three years old was Joachaz when he became king, and three months did he reign in Jerusalem.

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.

And the king of Egypt deposed him at Jerusalem, and imposed a fine on the land 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.

And the king of Egypt made Elyakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoyakim. And Joachaz his brother did Necho take away, and bring 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.

Twenty and five years old was Jehoyakim when he became king, and eleven years did he reign in Jerusalem: and he did what is evil in the eyes 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.

Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and he bound him with fetters, to carry him away 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.

And some of the vessels of the house of the Lord did Nebuchadnezzar carry to Babylon, and he placed them in his temple at 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].

And the rest of the acts of Jehoyakim, and his abominable deeds which he did, and that which was found concerning him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoyachin his son became king in his stead.

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.

Eight years old was Jehoyachin when he became king, and three months and ten days did he reign in Jerusalem: and he did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord.

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.

And with the expiration of the year did king Nebuchadnezzar send and had him brought to Babylon, with the costly vessels of the house of the Lord: and he made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem,

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

Twenty and one years old was Zedekiah when he became king, and eleven years did he reign in Jerusalem.

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].

And he did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord his God: he humbled himself not before Jeremiah the prophet, according to the order of 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.

And also against king Nebuchadnezzar did he rebel, who had made him swear by God; but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart so as not to return unto 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].

Also all the chiefs of the priests and the people committed manifold trespasses, like all the abominable acts of the [foreign] nations: and they defiled the house of the Lord which he had hallowed 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.

And the Lord the God of their fathers sent to them by means of his messengers, making [them] rise early, and sending [them]: because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling-place;

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 mocked at the messengers of God, and despised his words, and scorned his prophets, until the fury of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy.

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.

And he brought over them the king of the Chaldeans, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or virgin, the old man, and the aged: all did he give up into his hand.

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.

And all the vessels of the house of God, the great and the small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and of his princes, —all these did he carry to Babylon.

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.

And they burnt the house of God, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and all her palaces they burnt with fire, and all her costly vessels they gave up to destruction.

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].

And those that had escaped from the sword did he carry into exile to Babylon: and they were servants to him and to his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to the government:

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.

To fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had satisfied its sabbaths: all the days of its desolation it rested, till 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:

And in the first year of Cyrus the king of Persia, at the completion of the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, did the Lord stir up the spirit of Cyrus the king of Persia, so that he caused a proclamation to be made throughout all his kingdom, and also by means of 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.”

Thus hath said Cyrus the king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the Lord the God of heaven given me, and he hath charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all his people, may the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up.