Judah’s King Jehoahaz
1Then36:1–4 2Kg 23:30–34 the common people36:1 Lit the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and made him king in Jerusalem in place of his father.
2Jehoahaz36:2 = Joahaz, also in v. 4 was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.
3The king of Egypt deposed him in Jerusalem and fined the land seventy-five hundred pounds36:3 Lit 100 talents of silver and seventy-five pounds36:3 Lit one talent of gold.
Judah’s King Jehoiakim
4Then King Neco of Egypt made Jehoahaz’s brother Eliakim king over Judah and Jerusalem and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took his brother Jehoahaz and brought him to Egypt.36:4 Jr 22:10–12
5Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God.36:5 2Kg 23:36–37; Jr 22:13–18
6Now King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked him36:6 2Kg 24:1 and bound him in bronze36:6 2Ch 33:11 shackles to take him to Babylon.36:6 Jr 22:18–19
7Also Nebuchadnezzar took some of the articles of the Lord’s temple to Babylon and put them in his temple in Babylon.36:7 2Kg 24:1–4; Jr 22:13–19; 25:1–9; Dn 1:1; Hab 1:6
8The rest of the deeds of Jehoiakim,36:8 2Kg 24:5–6 the detestable actions he committed, and what was found against him, are written in the Book of Israel’s Kings. His son Jehoiachin became king in his place.
Judah’s King Jehoiachin
9Jehoiachin was eighteen36:9 Some Hb mss, LXX; 2Kg 24:8; other Hb mss read eight years old36:9–10 2Kg 24:8–17 when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight.
Judah’s King Zedekiah
11Zedekiah was twenty-one years old36:11–13 2Kg 24:18–20; Jr 52:1–3 when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.
12He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God and did not humble himself36:12 2Ch 33:23 before the prophet Jeremiah at the Lord’s command.36:12 Jr 21:3–7
13He also rebelled against36:13 Ezk 17:15 King Nebuchadnezzar who had made him swear allegiance by God. He became obstinate36:13 Lit He stiffened his neck36:13 2Ch 30:8 and hardened his heart against returning to the Lord, the God of Israel.
14All the leaders of the priests and the people multiplied their unfaithful deeds, imitating all the detestable practices of the nations, and they defiled the Lord’s temple that he had consecrated in Jerusalem.
The Destruction of Jerusalem
15But the Lord, the God of their ancestors sent word against them by the hand of his messengers, sending them time and time again,36:15 Jr 7:13; 25:3,11–12 for he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place.
16But they kept ridiculing God’s messengers,36:16 2Ch 30:10; Jr 5:12–13 despising his words,36:16 Pr 1:24–32 and scoffing at his prophets, until the Lord’s wrath was so stirred up against his people that there was no remedy.36:16 Ezr 5:12
17So he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans,36:17 2Kg 25:1–7; Jr 52:4–11 who killed their fit young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary. He had no pity on young men or young women, elderly or aged; he handed them all over to him.
18He took everything to Babylon — all the articles of God’s temple, large and small, the treasures of the Lord’s temple, and the treasures of the king and his officials.
19Then the Chaldeans burned God’s temple.36:19–20 2Kg 25:9–11; Jr 52:13–15 They tore down Jerusalem’s wall, burned all its palaces, and destroyed all its valuable articles.
20He deported those who escaped from the sword to Babylon, and they became servants to him and his sons until the rise of the Persian36:20 LXX reads Median kingdom.36:20 Jr 27:7
21This fulfilled the word of the Lord through Jeremiah,36:21 Jr 25:11–12; 29:10 and the land enjoyed its Sabbath rest all the days of the desolation36:21 Lv 25:4; 26:33 until seventy years were fulfilled.
The Decree of Cyrus
22In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia,36:22–23 Ezr 1:1–3 in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken through36:22 Lit Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah,36:22 Jr 25:11–14; 27:22; 29:10–14; 33:7–10 the Lord roused the spirit of King Cyrus36:22 Is 44:28; 45:1 of Persia to issue a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom and also to put it in writing:
23This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: The Lord, the God of the heavens, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has appointed me to build him a temple at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up, and may the Lord his God be with him.
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