2 Chronicles 36:15–21

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,^x for he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. ¹⁶But they kept ridiculing God’s messengers,^y despising his words,^z and scoffing at his prophets, until the Lord’s wrath was so stirred up against his people that there was no remedy.^{aa 17}So he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans,^ab 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.^a 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 Persian^A kingdom.^{b 21}This fulfilled the word of the Lord through Jeremiah,^c and the land enjoyed its Sabbath rest all the days of the desolation^d until seventy years were fulfilled.