Jehoahaz Is King of Judah
2 Chronicles 36, verse 1. Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah, and anointed him and established him as king in his father's place in Jerusalem. 2 Chronicles 36, verse 2. Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem. 2 Chronicles 36, verse 3. And his mother's name was Amital the daughter of Jeremiah from Lobema. 2 Chronicles 36, verse 4. And he did evil before the Lord according to everything his fathers did. 2 Chronicles 36, verse 5. And Pharoah Necho bound him in Deble in the land of Emath, lest he reign in Jerusalem. 2 Chronicles 36, verse 6. The king of Egypt carried him away to Egypt, and he imposed on the land a tribute of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.
Jehoiakim Is King of Judah
2 Chronicles 36, verse 7. Then Pharaoh Necho made Josiah's son Eliakim king over Judah in place of his father Josiah, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. And Pharaoh Necho took Jehoahaz his brother and carried him off to Egypt, where he died. 2 Chronicles 36, verse 8. And he gave silver and gold to Pharaoh. Then the land began to be taxed to give silver to feed Pharaoh, and each one asked as he was able for silver and gold from the people of the land to give to Pharaoh Necho. 2 Chronicles 36, verse 9. Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Zechora the daughter of Neriou from Rama. And as his fathers did, he did evil in the sight of the Lord his God in all things. 2 Chronicles 36, verse 10. In those days, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came to the land, and he served him three years and revolted from him. 2 Chronicles 36, verse 11. And the Lord sent the Chaldeans against them, and bands of robbers from Syria, and bands of robbers from the Moabites, and the sons of Ammon and Samaria. But after this they departed, according to the word of the Lord by the hand of his servants the prophets. 2 Chronicles 36, verse 12. But the wrath of the Lord was on Judah because they rebelled against Him through the sins of Manasseh in all he did, 2 Chronicles 36, verse 13. and in the innocent blood Jehoiakim shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord did not want to destroy him. 2 Chronicles 36, verse 14. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came up against him and bound him in bronze fetters and carried him off to Babylon. 2 Chronicles 36, verse 15. He carried off some of the articles from the house of the Lord to Babylon and put them in his temple in Babylon. 2 Chronicles 36, verse 16. And the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and all he did, are they not written in the Book of the Kings of Judah? And Jehoiakim rested with his fathers and was buried in Ganoza with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place.
Jehoiachin Is King of Judah
2 Chronicles 36, verse 17. Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for three months and ten days. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord. 2 Chronicles 36, verse 18. At the turn of the year, King Nebuchadnezzar summoned him and brought him to Babylon with the costly articles from the house of the Lord, and made Zedekiah, his father's brother, king over Judah and Jerusalem.
Zedekiah Is King of Judah
2 Chronicles 36, verse 19. Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. 2 Chronicles 36, verse 20. He did evil in the sight of the Lord his God and was not ashamed before Jeremiah the prophet, nor because of the word of the Lord. 2 Chronicles 36, verse 21. He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar and broke the oath he swore by God. But he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart, turning against the Lord God of Israel. 2 Chronicles 36, verse 22. Moreover all the nobles of Judah and the leaders and the priests and the people transgressed more and more, following all the abominations of the nations, and defiled the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. 2 Chronicles 36, verse 23. And the Lord God of their fathers sent them warnings by His messengers, rising up early and sending His messengers, because He spared His people and His dwelling place. 2 Chronicles 36, verse 24. But they mocked His messengers, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord rose against His people and there was no remedy. 2 Chronicles 36, verse 25. Therefore He brought against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of His sanctuary, and did not spare Zedekiah or have pity on the virgins, and he led away the aged. He gave everything into their hands. 2 Chronicles 36, verse 26. And all the articles from the house of God, great and small, the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king and his nobles, he took all these to Babylon. 2 Chronicles 36, verse 27. Then he burned the house of God, broke down the wall of Jerusalem, burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all its precious possessions. 2 Chronicles 36, verse 28. And he settled those remaining in Babylon, where they became servants to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of the Medes, 2 Chronicles 36, verse 29. to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate, she kept the Sabbath, until seventy years had passed.
King Cyrus: Go up to Jerusalem
2 Chronicles 36, verse 30. In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, after the fulfillment of the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia and told him to make a proclamation throughout all his kingdom in writing, saying, 2 Chronicles 36, verse 31. “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia to all the kingdoms of the earth: ‘The Lord God of heaven gave to me even a command, to build for Him a house in Jerusalem of Judah. Is there anyone from among you, from among all the people God will be with? Let him go up to Jerusalem.’”
Prayer of King Manasseh
2 Chronicles 36, verse 32. “O Lord Almighty, the God of our fathers, of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their righteous seed; 2 Chronicles 36, verse 33. who made heaven and earth with all their ornamentation; 2 Chronicles 36, verse 34. who set the bounds of the sea by the word of Your command; who closed the abyss and sealed it by Your fearful and glorious name; 2 Chronicles 36, verse 35. before whom all things tremble and fear because of Your power; 2 Chronicles 36, verse 36. for the majesty of Your glory is unbearable, and the wrath of Your threats toward sinners cannot be withstood; 2 Chronicles 36, verse 37. yet Your merciful promise is immeasurable and unsearchable. 2 Chronicles 36, verse 38. For You are the Lord Most High, and are tenderhearted, patient, very merciful, and who repent toward the evils of man. 2 Chronicles 36, verse 39. “Therefore You, O Lord God of the righteous, have not appointed repentance for the righteous, for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who have not sinned against You; but You have appointed repentance for me, a sinner, 2 Chronicles 36, verse 40. because I have sinned more than the number of the sands on the seashore. My lawlessness, O Lord, is multiplied. Yes, my lawlessness is multiplied, and I am not worthy to fix my eyes to behold the heights of heaven because of the multitude of my wrongdoings. 2 Chronicles 36, verse 41. I am bent down with so many iron chains that I shake my head over my sins, neither do I have any relief. For I have provoked Your anger and done evil in your sight. I have set up abominations and multiplied idols. 2 Chronicles 36, verse 42. “Now therefore, I bow the knee of my heart, begging goodness from You. 2 Chronicles 36, verse 43. I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned, and I know my lawlessness. 2 Chronicles 36, verse 44. I ask and beg you: forgive me, O Lord, forgive me, and do not destroy me because of my lawlessness; neither reserve evils for me, nor be wrathful forever; nor condemn me to the lowest parts of the earth; for You are the Lord God of those who repent. 2 Chronicles 36, verse 45. And in me, though I am unworthy, You will show Your goodness, and will save me according to Your great mercy. 2 Chronicles 36, verse 46. Therefore I shall praise You continually all the days of my life, for all the powers of the heavens praise You, and Yours is the glory unto the ages. Amen.”