2 Chronicles 36

¹ The people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and made him king in Jerusalem in place of his father.

² Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months.

³ The king of Egypt removed him from the throne in Jerusalem and imposed on the land a fine of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.

⁴ The king of Egypt made Eliakim, the brother of Jehoahaz, king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But Necho took Eliakim's brother Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt.

⁵ Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD his God.

⁶ Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against him and bound him in bronze shackles to take him to Babylon.

⁷ Nebuchadnezzar also took some of the articles of the temple of the LORD to Babylon and put them in his palace there.

⁸ The rest of the 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 his son Jehoiachin succeeded him as king.

⁹ Jehoiachin was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem 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 the treasured articles from the temple of the LORD, and he made Jehoiachin's relative Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.

¹¹ Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years.

¹² He did evil in the eyes of the LORD his God and did not humble himself before the prophet Jeremiah, who spoke the word of the LORD.

¹³ He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear an oath in God's name. He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart rather than turn to the LORD, the God of Israel.

¹⁴ All the leaders of the priests and the people also grew more and more unfaithful, following all the detestable practices of the nations, and they defiled the temple of the LORD, which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.

¹⁵ The LORD, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them again and again through his messengers, because he had compassion 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 rose against his people and there was no remedy.

¹⁷ So he brought up against them the king of the Babylonians, who killed their young men with the sword in their own sanctuary and spared neither young man nor young woman, neither the elderly nor the frail. God handed them all over to him.

¹⁸ He carried off to Babylon all the articles of the temple of God, both large and small, along with the treasures of the temple of the LORD and the treasures of the king and his officials.

¹⁹ They set fire to the temple of God and tore down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all its palaces and destroyed everything of value there.

²⁰ He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant who escaped the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power.

²¹ This fulfilled the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah: the land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the days of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed.

²² In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to send a proclamation throughout his kingdom, 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 him a temple at Jerusalem in Judah. Whoever among you belongs to his people, may the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.'