2 Chronicles 36

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

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

³And the king of Egypt removed him in Jerusalem, and he levied a tribute on the land of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.

⁴And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. And Neco took Joahaz his brother and brought him to Egypt.

⁵Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and he did what was bad in the sight of the LORD his God.

⁶Against him Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and bound him with bronze fetters to take him away to Babylon.

⁷And some of the vessels of the house of the LORD Nebuchadnezzar brought to Babylon, and he put them in his palace in Babylon.

⁸And the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations that he committed, and what was found against him — behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place.

⁹Jehoiachin was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. And he did what is evil in the eyes of the LORD.

¹⁰And at the turn of the year, King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon, along with the precious vessels of the house of the LORD, and made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem.

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

¹²And he did what was evil in the eyes of the LORD his God; he did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, from the mouth of the LORD.

¹³He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. He hardened his neck and strengthened his heart, refusing to return to the LORD, the God of Israel.

¹⁴Also all the chiefs of the priests and the people acted with great unfaithfulness, following all the abominations of the nations; and they defiled the house of the LORD which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.

¹⁵And the LORD, the God of their fathers, sent against them by his messengers again and again, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place.

¹⁶They kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words, and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD rose against his people, until there was no remedy.

¹⁷And he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, on old man or aged; he gave them all into his hand.

¹⁸And all the vessels of the house of God, the great and the small, and the treasuries of the house of the Lord and the treasuries of the king and his officials — all of it he brought to Babylon.

¹⁹And they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; and all its palaces they burned with fire, and all its precious vessels they destroyed.

²⁰And he exiled the remnant who had survived the sword to Babylon, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to reign.

²¹to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had made up its sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it kept sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.

²²And in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, and he issued a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also in writing, saying,

²³Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has commissioned me to build for him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever among you is of all his people — the LORD his God be with him — and let him go up.