The End of the Kingdom
Chapter 36[a]
Jehoahaz. 1 The people of the land then took Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah, and made him king in Jerusalem as the successor to his father. 2 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he ascended the throne, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem. 3 Then Neco, the king of Egypt, deposed him in Jerusalem and imposed a levy on Judah of one hundred talents of silver and one talent of gold. 4 Following that, the king of Egypt made his brother Eliakim king over Judah and Jerusalem and changed his name to Jehoiakim, but Neco took his brother Jehoahaz and had him brought to Egypt.
Jehoiakim. 5 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord his God. 6 Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, then attacked him and bound him with chains to take him to Babylon. 7 Nebuchadnezzar also carried away to Babylon some of the vessels of the house of the Lord and placed them in his palace in Babylon.
8 The rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, the detestable things that he did, and what happened to him as a consequence, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. His son Jehoiachin succeeded him.
Jehoiachin. 9 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for three months and ten days. He did evil in the sight of the Lord. 10 At the turn of the year, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and had him brought to Babylon, along with the most precious vessels that were in the temple of the Lord, and he appointed his brother Zedekiah as king over Judah and Jerusalem.
11 Zedekiah. Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. 12 He did evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and he did not humble himself before the prophet Jeremiah, who revealed the word of the Lord.
13 Zedekiah also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had compelled him to take an oath in God’s name. He became stubborn and obstinate, and he refused to return to the Lord, the God of Israel. 14 Furthermore, all the leaders of Judah, the priests, and the people became ever more unfaithful, imitating all the shameful practices of the nations and defiling the temple of the Lord which he himself had consecrated in Jerusalem.
15 The Lord, the God of their ancestors, unceasingly sent them word through his messengers because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. 16 However, they continued to ridicule the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord against his people became so fierce that there was no remedy.
17 Therefore, the Lord God brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who slew their young men with the sword in the sanctuary and spared neither young man nor maiden, neither the aged nor the feeble. God gave them all into his power.
18 All the vessels of the house of God, both large and small and all the treasures of the Lord’s house and of the king and his princes—all these Nebuchadnezzar brought to Babylon. 19 They set fire to the house of God, demolished the walls of Jerusalem, and burned all its palaces to the ground along with its cherished possessions until everything there of value was destroyed.
20 In addition, Nebuchadnezzar deported to Babylon all those who had escaped the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the Persians came to power. 21 During the time that the land lay desolate, it enjoyed its Sabbath rests to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah: “Until the land has atoned for its lost Sabbaths, it will lie fallow until seventy years are fulfilled.”
22 Decree of Cyrus.[b] In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in fulfillment of the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord inspired King Cyrus to issue this edict throughout his kingdom, announced by a herald and also stated in a written edict: 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 also appointed me to build him a temple in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Therefore, whoever among you belongs to his people, may the Lord, his God be with him. Let him go up!”
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 36:1 These kings simply make an appearance and are tossed about by events. The only personages who stand out in these hours of chaos are the prophets: Jeremiah and Baruch. Despite everything, they foretell that the faith has a future.
- 2 Chronicles 36:22 Chronicles does not end with the tragic outcome (i.e., the deportation to Babylon). By adding the edict of Cyrus that authorizes the return to Jerusalem, the author makes it clear that the history of God’s chosen people will continue; the sins of human beings cannot cause the cancellation of the divine plan of salvation. This short ending, so moving in its sobriety, is also the beginning of the Book of Ezra. This shows that the latter is by the same author.