2 Chronicles 36
1 And the people of the land took
Joachaz the son of Josias, and anointed him, and made him king over Jerusalem
in the room of his father. 2 Joachaz
was twenty-three years old when he began to reign,
and he reigned three months in Jerusalem:
2a and his mother's name was Amital,
daughter of Jeremiah of Lobna. 2b And
he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his
fathers had done. 2c And Pharao Nechao
bound him in Deblatha in the land of Æmath, that he might not reign in
Jerusalem. 3 And the king brought him
over to Egypt; and imposed a tribute on the land, a hundred talents of silver
and a talent of gold. 4 And Pharao
Nechao made Eliakim the son of Josias king over Juda in the room of his father
Josias, and changed his name to Joakim. And Pharao
Nechao took his brother Joachaz and brought him into Egypt, and he died there:
4a but he had
given the silver and the gold to Pharao. At that time the land began to be
taxed to give the money at the command of Pharao; and every one as he could
borrowed the silver and the gold of the people of the land, to give to Pharao
Nechao.
5 Joachim was twenty-five years old
when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and his
mother's name was Zechora, daughter of Nerias of
Rama. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to
all that his fathers did. 5a In his
days came Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon into the land, and he served him
three years, and then revolted from him.
5b And the Lord sent against them the
Chaldeans, and plundering parties of Syrians, and plundering parties of the
Moabites, and of the children of Ammon, and of Samaria; but after this they
departed, according to the word of the Lord by the hand of his servants the
prophets. 5c Nevertheless the wrath of
the Lord was upon Juda, so that they should be removed from his presence,
because of the sins of Manasses in all that he did,
5d and for the innocent blood which
Joakim shed, for he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; yet the Lord
would not utterly destroy them. 6 And
Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon came up against him, and bound him with brazen
fetters, and carried him away to Babylon.
7 And he carried away a part of the
vessels of the house of the Lord to Babylon, and put them in his temple in
Babylon.
8 And the rest of the acts of Joakim,
and all that he did, behold, are not these things
written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Juda? And Joakim slept
with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in Ganozae: and Jechonias
his son reigned in his stead.
9 Jechonias
was eight years old when he began to reign, and he
reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem, and did that which was evil in
the sight of the Lord. 10 And at the
turn of the year, king Nabuchodonosor sent, and brought him to Babylon, with
the precious vessels of the house of the Lord, and made Sedekias his father's
brother king over Juda and Jerusalem.
11 Sedekias
was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and
he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.
12 And he did that which was evil in
the sight of the Lord his God: he was not ashamed before the prophet Jeremiah,
nor because of the word of the Lord;
13 in that he rebelled against king
Nabuchodonosor, which he adjured him by God
not to do: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened
his heart, so as not to return to the Lord God of Israel.
14 And all the great men of Juda, and
the priests, and the people of the land transgressed abundantly in the
abominations of the heathen, and polluted the house of the Lord which
was in Jerusalem.
15 And the Lord God of their fathers
sent by the hand of his prophets; rising early and sending his messengers, for
he spared his people, and his sanctuary.
16 Nevertheless they sneered at his
messengers, and set at nought his words, and mocked his prophets, until the
wrath of the Lord rose up against his people, till there was no remedy.
17 And he brought against them the
king of the Chaldeans, and slew their young men with the sword in the house of
his sanctuary, and did not spare Sedekias, and had no mercy upon their
virgins, and they led away their old men: he delivered all things into their
hands. 18 And all the vessels of the
house of God, the great and the small, and the treasures of the house of the
Lord, and all the treasures of the king and the great men; he brought all to
Babylon.
19 And he burnt the house of the
Lord, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt its palaces with fire,
and utterly destroyed every beautiful vessel.
20 And he carried away the remnant to
Babylon; and they were servants to him and to his sons until
the establishment of the kingdom of the Medes.
21 That the word of the Lord by the
mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, until the land should enjoy its sabbaths
in resting and sabbath keeping all the days of its
desolation, till the accomplishment of seventy years.
22 In the first year of Cyrus king of
the Persians, after the fulfilment of the word of the Lord by the mouth of
Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of the Persians, and
told him to make proclamation in writing throughout all his kingdom, saying,
23 Thus says Cyrus king of the
Persians to all the kingdoms of the earth, The Lord God of heaven has given me
power, and he has commanded me to build a house to
him in Jerusalem, in Judea. Who is there of you of
all his people? his God shall be with him, and let him go up.