2 Chronicles 36

36 ¹The people of the land took Josiah's son Jehoahaz and made him king in Jerusalem in place of his father. ²Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. ³Egypt's king deposed him at Jerusalem and fined the land about 7,500 pounds of silver and 75 pounds of gold. ⁴Egypt's king made his brother Eliakim king over Judah and Jerusalem, renaming him Jehoiakim; Neco took his brother Jehoahaz to Egypt.

Jehoiakim Does Evil Before the Father

⁵Jehoiakim was twenty-five when he became king; he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem, doing evil in our Father's eyes. ⁶Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against him, bound him in bronze chains to take him to Babylon. ⁷Nebuchadnezzar also took some of our Father's house articles to Babylon, putting them in his temple in Babylon. ⁸The rest of Jehoiakim's acts, his detestable things, and the charges against him are written in the Book of Kings of Israel and Judah; his son Jehoiachin reigned in his place.

Jehoiachin's Brief and Evil Reign

⁹Jehoiachin was eight when he became king; he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem, doing evil in our Father's eyes. ¹⁰In spring, King Nebuchadnezzar brought him to Babylon with the precious articles from our Father's house, making Zedekiah, Jehoiachin's relative, king over Judah and Jerusalem.

Zedekiah Hardens His Heart Against the Father

¹¹Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. ¹²He did evil in our Father's eyes, not humbling himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from our Father's mouth. ¹³He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who made him swear by our Father, stiffening his neck and hardening his heart, refusing to return to our Father, God of Israel. ¹⁴All the leading priests and the people grew more and more unfaithful, matching all the nations' detestable practices, and made unclean the house our Father had made holy in Jerusalem.

Jerusalem Falls by the Father's Judgment

¹⁵Our Father, the God of their fathers, sent word repeatedly through his messengers, pitying his people and his dwelling place. ¹⁶But they mocked our Father's messengers, despised his words, mocked his prophets, until our Father's anger rose against his people, past remedy. ^a a v16 Our Father's anger here is the grief of rejected love, not a quick temper—judgment fell only after he sent messenger after messenger, sparing his people as long as there was any hope they would turn home.

¹⁷So he brought Chaldea's king against them, who killed their young men with the sword in their sanctuary, sparing no young man, virgin, elder, or aged. Our Father gave them all into his hand. ¹⁸All the articles of our Father's house, great and small, the treasures of our Father's house and of the king and his officials—all he brought to Babylon. ¹⁹They burned the house of our Father, tore down Jerusalem's wall, burned all its palaces, destroyed everything valuable in it. ²⁰He exiled the sword's survivors to Babylon; they served him and his sons until Persia's kingdom began to reign, ²¹to fulfill our Father's word through Jeremiah: until the land enjoyed its sabbaths, all its desolate days it rested, fulfilling seventy years. ^b b v21 The law required the land to rest every seventh year, but Israel had long neglected this; the years of exile made up the full count.

The Father Stirs the Heart of Cyrus

²²In Cyrus king of Persia's first year, to fulfill our Father's word through Jeremiah, our Father stirred Cyrus king of Persia's spirit to proclaim throughout all his kingdom, and to put it in writing: ²³Cyrus king of Persia says: "The LORD, God of heaven, gave me all earth's kingdoms and charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, in Judah. Any of his people among you—may the LORD his God be with him—let him go up."