2 Chronicles 36

1 And the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father in Jerusalem. 2 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal, daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. And he did what was evil before the Lord, according to everything his fathers had done. And Pharaoh Neco bound him at Riblah in the land of Hamath, so that he would not reign in Jerusalem; [a] 3 and the king brought him over into Egypt, and laid a tribute on the land: 7,500 pounds of silver and 75 pounds of gold. [c] 4 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim son of Josiah king of Judah in place of Josiah his father, and turned his name to Jehoiakim. And Pharaoh Neco took Jehoahaz his brother and brought him into Egypt, and he died there. And they gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh. It was then that the land began to be taxed, to give the silver at the mouth of Pharaoh; and each man, as he was able, demanded the silver and the gold from the people of the land, to give to Pharaoh Neco.

5 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Zechorah, daughter of Neriah, of Ramah. And he did what was evil before the Lord, according to everything his fathers had done. In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came into the land, and Jehoiakim served him three years, and then turned away from him. And the Lord sent against them the Chaldeans, and raiding bands of the Arameans, and raiding bands of the Moabites, and of the children of Ammon, and of Samaria; and after this word they withdrew, according to the word of the Lord by the hand of his servants the prophets. Yet the anger of the Lord was on Judah, to remove him from his presence, because of the sins of Manasseh in everything he did, and because of the innocent blood that Jehoiakim poured out — he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood — and the Lord was not willing to destroy them. [d]

6 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against him, and bound him in bronze shackles, and led him away to Babylon. 7 And he carried off 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 Jehoiakim, and everything he did — see, are they not written in the book of the daily record of the kings of Judah? And Jehoiakim slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in Ganoza; and Jeconiah his son reigned in his place. [e]

9 Jeconiah was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. And he did what was evil before the Lord. [f] 10 And at the turn of the year king Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon, along with the costly vessels of the house of the Lord; and he made Zedekiah, his father’s brother, king over Judah and Jerusalem. [g]

11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. 12 And he did what was evil before the Lord his God. He was not ashamed before Jeremiah the prophet, or at the mouth of the Lord, 13 in that he broke faith with king Nebuchadnezzar in the matter of the oath he had made him swear by God; and he stiffened his neck and made his heart hard, so as not to turn back to the Lord, the God of Israel. 14 And all the honored men of Judah, and the priests, and the people of the land broke faith again and again, following the detestable things of the nations, and they defiled the house of the Lord that was in Jerusalem.

15 And the Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word by the hand of prophets, rising early and sending his messengers, for he was sparing his people and his sanctuary. [h] 16 But they sneered at his messengers, and made nothing of his words, and mocked his prophets, until the anger of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no healing.

17 And he brought against them the king of the Chaldeans, and he killed their young men with the sword in the house of his sanctuary, and did not spare Zedekiah; and they had no mercy on their virgins, and they led their elders away. He handed everything over into their hands. [i] 18 And all the vessels of the house of God, the great and the small, and the treasures, and all the treasures of the king and of the great men — he brought them all to Babylon. [j] 19 And he burned the house of the Lord, and tore down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned its palaces with fire, and every beautiful vessel he brought to ruin. †

20 And those who were left he carried away into exile to Babylon, and they were slaves to him and to his sons until the kingdom of the Medes, 21 so that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled — until the land had received back its sabbaths and kept sabbath. All the days of its desolation it kept sabbath, until seventy years were complete. [k] †

22 In the first year of Cyrus king of the Persians, after the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah had been fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of the Persians, and he ordered a proclamation to be made in writing throughout all his kingdom, saying: 23 “This is what Cyrus king of the Persians says: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he himself has commanded me to build him a house in Jerusalem, in Judea. Who is there among you, out of all his people? May his God be with him, and let him go up.” [l]