2 *Chronicles 36

₁The people of the land_of_Judah made Jehoahaz, son of Josiah, king in Jerusalem after his father. ₂Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king and he was king in Jerusalem for only 3 months. ₃Then the king of Egypt caught Jehoahaz and he chose another king in place of him. He told the people of Judah to pay taxes. They had to pay 100 talents of silver and one talent of gold. ₄The king of Egypt chose Jehoahaz's brother, Eliakim, and made him king_of_Judah and Jerusalem. He changed Eliakim's name. The king gave him the name Jehoiakim. Necho took Jehoiakim's brother, Jehoahaz, to Egypt as a prisoner.

₅Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became king and he was king in Jerusalem for 11 years. He did what the Lord said was wrong. ₆King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came and attacked Jehoiakim and caught him. He tied Jehoiakim with chains and took him to Babylon. ₇Nebuchadnezzar also took a lot of things that were in the temple to Babylon and he put them in his palace. ₈The other things that Jehoiakim did, the things he did which the Lord hated and everything that happened to him, are written in the book of kings_of_Israel and Judah. His son, Jehoiachin, became king after him.

₉Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he became king and he was king in Jerusalem for 3 months and 10 days. He did what the Lord said was wrong. ₁₀When it was spring, King Nebuchadnezzar sent people to catch Jehoiachin and take him to Babylon. They also took some of the precious things of the temple with them. Nebuchadnezzar then made Zedekiah king. He was Jehoiachin's brother.

₁₁Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king and he was king in Jerusalem for 11 years. ₁₂He did what the Lord his God said was wrong and he did not listen or humble himself when the prophet Jeremiah told him what the Lord said. ₁₃Zedekiah promised that he would do what King Nebuchadnezzar said and he said God was his Witness, but he rebelled_against Nebuchadnezzar. Zedekiah was stubborn. He did not want to change his life and turn to the Lord, the God of Israel. ₁₄The chief_priests and the people of Judah became more and more unfaithful to God. They did things that the people of other nations did, things which the Lord hates. The Lord had consecrated the temple in Jerusalem to Himself, but they made it impure.

₁₅The Lord, the God of the forefathers of the people of Israel, sent his messengers to them again and again because He wanted to be gracious to his people and to the temple. ₁₆But the people laughed at the messengers of God and mocked them. They did not listen to God's messages and they mocked his prophets. Then the Lord became so angry with his people that He did not want to save them again. ₁₇The Lord sent the king of the Babylonians to attack the people of Judah. He killed the young men at their holy temple. He did not feel sorry for anyone. He killed the young men and young women, the old people, the sick and weak people. The Lord gave them all to Nebuchadnezzar. ₁₈Nebuchadnezzar took everything that was in the temple to Babylon, the big and small things and everything in the store rooms of the temple and in the store rooms of the king and his officials. ₁₉They burnt down the temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem. They burnt down all the beautiful houses and they destroyed everything that was precious. ₂₀Nebuchadnezzar did not kill all the people. He kept some of them alive and he took them away to Babylon. They were his slaves and the slaves of the kings after him, until the kings of Persia started to rule. ₂₁It all happened as the Lord had said to the prophet Jeremiah. The Lord said: ‘The land will be destroyed until enough Sabbath days have gone by. The land will have time to rest for 70 years.’

₂₂Many years after that, Cyrus became king of the land of Persia. Long before this the Lord had sent Jeremiah and told him what would happen. Then, in the first year after Cyrus became king, it happened as the Lord had said it would. The Lord made Cyrus decide to send a message to all the people in his kingdom. He said:

₂₃‘King Cyrus of Persia says: “The Lord God of heaven gave me all the lands on earth and He told me to build a temple in Jerusalem in the land_of_Judah. Any one of you who belongs to the people of the Lord may go back to Jerusalem. I pray that the Lord his God will be with him.” ’