Sign in for free

2 Chronicles 36

New International Reader’s Version

1 The people of the land went and got Jehoahaz. He was the son of Josiah. The people made Jehoahaz king in Jerusalem in place of his father. 



2 Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for three months. 3 The king of Egypt removed him from his throne in Jerusalem. The king of Egypt made the people of Judah pay him a huge tax. The tax was almost 4 tonnes of silver and 36 kilograms of gold. 4 Necho, the king of Egypt, made Eliakim king over Judah and Jerusalem. Eliakim was a brother of Jehoahaz. Necho changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Necho took Eliakim’s brother Jehoahaz with him to Egypt. 



5 Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 11 years. He did what was evil in the eyes of the LORD his God. 6 Nebuchadnezzar attacked him. Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon. He put Jehoiakim in bronze chains. And he took him to Babylon. 7 Nebuchadnezzar also took to Babylon objects from the LORD’s temple. He put them in his own temple there. 8 The other events of Jehoiakim’s rule are written in the records of the kings of Israel and Judah. He did things the LORD hated. Those things and everything that happened to him are also written in those records. Jehoiakim’s son Jehoiachin became the next king after him. 



9 Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for three months and ten days. He did what was evil in the eyes of the LORD. 10 In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him. He brought him to Babylon. He also brought things of value from the LORD’s temple. He made Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem. Zedekiah was Jehoiachin’s uncle. 



11 Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 11 years. 12 He did what was evil in the eyes of the LORD his God. He didn’t pay any attention to the message the LORD spoke through Jeremiah the prophet. 13 Zedekiah also refused to remain under the control of King Nebuchadnezzar. The king had forced Zedekiah to make a promise in God’s name. But Zedekiah’s heart became very stubborn. He wouldn’t turn to the LORD, the God of Israel. 14 And that’s not all. The people and all the leaders of the priests became more and more unfaithful. They followed all the practices of the nations. The LORD hated those practices. The people and leaders made the LORD’s temple ‘unclean’. The LORD had set the temple in Jerusalem apart in a special way for himself. 



15 The LORD, the God of Israel, sent word to his people through his messengers. He sent it to them again and again. He took pity on his people. He also took pity on the temple where he lived. 16 But God’s people made fun of his messengers. They hated his words. They laughed at his prophets. Finally the LORD’s great anger was stirred up against his people. Nothing could save them. 17 The LORD brought the king of the Babylonians against them. The Babylonian army killed their young people with their swords at the temple. They didn’t spare young men or young women. They didn’t spare the old people or weak people either. God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar. 18 Nebuchadnezzar carried off to Babylon all the objects from God’s temple. Some of those things were large. Others were small. He carried off the treasures of the temple. He also carried off the treasures that belonged to the king and his officials. 19 The Babylonians set God’s temple on fire. They broke down the wall of Jerusalem. They burned all the palaces. They destroyed everything of value there. 20 Nebuchadnezzar took the rest of the people to Babylon as prisoners. They had escaped from being killed by swords. They served him and those who ruled after him. That lasted until the kingdom of Persia came to power. 21 The land of Israel enjoyed its sabbath years. It rested. That deserted land wasn’t farmed for a full 70 years. What the LORD had spoken through Jeremiah came true. 22 It was the first year of the rule of Cyrus. He was king of Persia. The LORD inspired him to send a message all through his kingdom. It happened so that what the LORD had spoken through Jeremiah would come true. The message was written down. It said, 23 ‘Cyrus, the king of Persia, says, ‘ “The LORD is the God of heaven. He has given me all the kingdoms on earth. He has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem. And may the LORD their God be with them.” ’ 

Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV® (Anglicised)
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used with permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

“Biblica”, “International Bible Society” and the Biblica Logo are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc. Used with permission.

2 Chronicles 36

English Standard Version



1 The people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and made him king in his father’s place in Jerusalem. (2Ki 23:30) 2 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. 3 Then the king of Egypt deposed him in Jerusalem and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent[1] of gold. (De 22:19) 4 And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Jehoahaz his brother and carried him to Egypt. 5 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God. (2Ki 23:36) 6 Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and bound him in chains to take him to Babylon. (2Ki 24:1; 2Ki 24:6; 2Ch 33:11; Jer 22:18; Jer 36:30) 7 Nebuchadnezzar also carried part of the vessels of the house of the Lord to Babylon and put them in his palace in Babylon. (2Ki 24:13; 2Ch 36:10; 2Ch 36:18; Ezr 1:7; Da 1:1; Da 5:2) 8 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and the abominations that he did, 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. (2Ki 24:5) 9 Jehoiachin was eighteen[2] years old when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. (2Ki 24:8) 10 In the spring of the year King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon, with the precious vessels of the house of the Lord, and made his brother Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem. (2Sa 11:1; 2Ki 24:17; 2Ch 36:7; 2Ch 36:18; Jer 37:1) 11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. (2Ki 24:18; Jer 52:1) 12 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the Lord. (Jer 21:3; Jer 27:12; Jer 32:1; Jer 37:6; Jer 38:17) 13 He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord, the God of Israel. (2Ch 30:8; Jer 52:3; Eze 17:15; Eze 17:18) 14 All the officers of the priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations. And they polluted the house of the Lord that he had made holy in Jerusalem. 15 The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. (Jer 7:13; Jer 7:25; Jer 11:7; Jer 25:3; Jer 26:5; Jer 29:19; Jer 32:33; Jer 35:15; Jer 44:4) 16 But they 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. (Ezr 5:12; Pr 1:25; Pr 1:30; Jer 5:12) 



17 Therefore 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, old man or aged. He gave them all into his hand. (De 28:49; 2Ki 25:1; Ezr 9:7) 18 And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon. (2Ki 25:13; 2Ch 36:7; 2Ch 36:10) 19 And they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem and burned all its palaces with fire and destroyed all its precious vessels. (2Ki 25:9) 20 He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, (2Ki 25:11; Jer 27:7) 21 to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years. (Le 25:4; Le 26:34; Le 26:43; Da 9:2) 



22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: (Ezr 1:1; Isa 44:28; Jer 25:12; Jer 29:10; Jer 33:10; Jer 33:14) 23 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the Lord his God be with him. Let him go up.’” 

The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.

The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) is adapted from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. All rights reserved.