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Books of Scripture

2 Chronicles

Solomon's temple to Cyrus' decree

36 chapters

2 Chronicles, the second half of the Hebrew book of Chronicles (in Greek, 2 Paraleipomena), retells the history of David's dynasty from Solomon to the exile. Solomon builds and dedicates the temple and fire falls from heaven; the kingdom divides; and Chronicles then follows only Judah's kings, judging each by the temple, the prophets and the law. It adds what Kings lacks: Abijah's speech, Asa's and Jehoshaphat's reforms, Elijah's letter, Uzziah's incense, Hezekiah's great Passover, Manasseh's repentance, and Josiah's warning from Necho. It ends not with a captive king but with Cyrus' proclamation: "let him go up."

Lessons

  1. 1Solomon's Wisdom at Gibeon2 Chronicles 1 · Solomon goes with all Israel to the tabernacle and bronze altar at Gibeon and offers a thousand burnt offerings. God appears that night: "Ask what I shall give thee." Solomon asks for wisdom and knowledge to lead the people; God grants it, with riches and honor. Solomon gathers chariots and horses; silver and gold become as common as stones in Jerusalem.
  2. 2Labor, Timber and Huram2 Chronicles 2 · Solomon writes to Huram (Hiram) king of Tyre for cedar, cypress and algum timber and for a master craftsman. Huram answers with praise for Israel's God and sends Huram-abi, son of a Danite woman, skilled in every craft. Solomon counts the foreigners living in Israel, 153,600, and sets them to carry, quarry and oversee.
  3. 3The Temple Built on Mount Moriah2 Chronicles 3 · Solomon begins to build in Jerusalem "in mount Moriah," at Ornan's threshing floor. The house is sixty cubits by twenty; the porch is twenty cubits wide and, in the Hebrew, a hundred and twenty high. The most holy place is overlaid with six hundred talents of gold; two cherubim stand there; a veil of blue, purple and crimson hangs before it; two pillars, Jachin and Boaz, stand before the house.
  4. 4The Bronze Sea, Basins and Lampstands2 Chronicles 4 · Solomon makes a bronze altar twenty cubits square, the Sea on twelve oxen holding three thousand baths, ten basins for washing the burnt offerings, ten golden lampstands, ten tables and a hundred gold bowls, the court of the priests and the great court. Huram finishes the bronze work, cast in the clay of the Jordan plain.
  5. 5The Ark Enters the Temple2 Chronicles 5 · The elders and Levites bring the ark into the most holy place. It holds only the two tablets. As the Levite singers, dressed in fine linen, and 120 priests with trumpets sing together "For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever," the cloud fills the house and the priests cannot stand to minister.
  6. 6Solomon's Temple Prayer2 Chronicles 6 · Standing on a bronze platform before the assembly, Solomon kneels and prays the dedication prayer of 1 Kings 8, asking God to hear prayers toward this house in sin, defeat, drought, plague, war and exile, and from foreigners. Chronicles ends the prayer not with the Exodus but with words from Psalm 132: "Arise, O LORD God, into thy resting place… remember the mercies of David thy servant."
  7. 7Fire, Dedication and Warning2 Chronicles 7 · Fire comes down from heaven and consumes the offerings; the glory fills the house; the people bow with faces to the pavement. Solomon dedicates the temple with 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. God appears to him by night: "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
  8. 8Fortifications, Cities and Royal Order2 Chronicles 8 · After twenty years of building, Solomon builds the cities Huram gave him, takes Hamath-zobah, builds Tadmor in the wilderness, the Beth-horons, Baalath and store cities. The remaining Canaanites are made forced laborers; Israelites serve as soldiers and officers. Pharaoh's daughter moves to her own house, away from the holy places. Solomon appoints the priests' and Levites' courses as David ordered, and sends ships from Ezion-geber to Ophir.
  9. 9The Queen of Sheba, Riches and Solomon's Death2 Chronicles 9 · The queen of Sheba visits and praises Solomon's wisdom and his God; Solomon's gold, throne, ships of Tarshish and horses are described. Solomon reigns forty years and dies. Chronicles tells nothing of his many wives, his turning to other gods, or the adversaries God raised against him.
  10. 10Rehoboam and the Division2 Chronicles 10 · At Shechem Israel asks Rehoboam to lighten Solomon's heavy yoke. He rejects the elders' counsel and follows the young men; Israel rebels, "for the cause was of God, that the LORD might perform his word… by the hand of Ahijah." Hadoram, over the forced labor, is stoned. Israel rebels against the house of David "unto this day."
  11. 11Rehoboam Fortifies Judah2 Chronicles 11 · Shemaiah forbids Rehoboam to fight Israel. Rehoboam builds fifteen fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin, from Bethlehem and Tekoa to Lachish, Azekah and Hebron. Priests and Levites from the north, rejected by Jeroboam, come to Jerusalem, with all who seek the LORD. Rehoboam has eighteen wives and sixty concubines and makes Abijah, son of Maachah, his heir.
  12. 12Shishak's Campaign2 Chronicles 12 · When Rehoboam is established, he and Israel forsake the law. In his fifth year Shishak king of Egypt comes with 1,200 chariots, 60,000 horsemen and Lubim, Sukkiim and Cushites, takes Judah's fortified cities and reaches Jerusalem. Shemaiah announces God's word; the princes humble themselves; God grants "some deliverance," but they become Shishak's servants, and he takes the temple's treasures.
  13. 13Abijah versus Jeroboam2 Chronicles 13 · Abijah of Judah, with 400,000 men, faces Jeroboam with 800,000. From Mount Zemaraim Abijah reminds Israel of the LORD's covenant of salt with David and condemns the golden calves and the non-Levite priests. Ambushed from behind, Judah cries out, the priests sound trumpets, and God strikes Israel: 500,000 fall. Jeroboam never recovers.
  14. 14Asa's Reforms and Zerah the Cushite2 Chronicles 14 · Asa removes foreign altars, high places, pillars and Asherim, commands Judah to seek the LORD, and builds fortified cities in ten years of peace. Zerah the Cushite comes with a million men and three hundred chariots to Mareshah. Asa prays: "LORD, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power." The Cushites flee to Gerar.
  15. 15Covenant Assembly and Azariah's Message2 Chronicles 15 · The prophet Azariah son of Oded meets Asa: "The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you." Asa removes idols and renews the altar; people from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon join a covenant assembly in the fifteenth year of his reign, swearing to seek the LORD. He removes his grandmother Maachah for her Asherah image.
  16. 16Asa Allies with Aram and Is Rebuked2 Chronicles 16 · Baasha fortifies Ramah; Asa pays Ben-hadad of Damascus with temple silver to attack Israel. The seer Hanani rebukes him for relying on Aram instead of the LORD. Asa jails the seer and oppresses some of the people. In his last years his feet become diseased, "yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians." He is buried with great honor and spices.
  17. 17Jehoshaphat's Teaching Mission2 Chronicles 17 · Jehoshaphat strengthens Judah, walks in David's early ways, and seeks God. In his third year he sends officials, Levites and priests through the cities of Judah with the book of the law to teach the people. The fear of the LORD falls on the surrounding kingdoms; Philistines and Arabians bring tribute. His army is vast.
  18. 18Jehoshaphat, Ahab and Micaiah2 Chronicles 18 · Jehoshaphat marries his son to Ahab's daughter and joins Ahab against Ramoth-gilead. Four hundred prophets promise victory; Micaiah describes the LORD's heavenly council and a lying spirit. In battle Jehoshaphat cries out, "and the LORD helped him; and God moved them to depart from him." Ahab, disguised, is killed by a random arrow.
  19. 19Jehoshaphat's Justice Reforms2 Chronicles 19 · Jehu son of Hanani rebukes Jehoshaphat for helping Ahab: "Shouldest thou help the ungodly?" Jehoshaphat goes out among the people from Beersheba to Ephraim and appoints judges in every fortified city, warning them to judge without partiality or bribes. In Jerusalem he sets Levites, priests and family heads to judge, with the chief priest over religious cases and the governor of Judah over the king's cases.
  20. 20Jehoshaphat's Prayer and Victory Song2 Chronicles 20 · Moab, Ammon and others come from beyond the Dead Sea to En-gedi. Jehoshaphat proclaims a fast and prays before the people: "we know not what to do: but our eyes are upon thee." The Levite Jahaziel answers: "The battle is not yours, but God's." Singers march ahead of the army; the enemies turn on one another. The valley is named Berachah, "blessing." Later, Jehoshaphat's fleet with Ahaziah of Israel is wrecked.
  21. 21Jehoram, Edom and Elijah's Letter2 Chronicles 21 · Jehoram kills his six brothers when he becomes king, walks in the ways of Ahab's house, and loses Edom and Libnah. A letter from Elijah announces a plague on his people and a disease of his bowels. Philistines and Arabians carry off his household, all but the youngest son. He dies in agony, "to no one's regret."
  22. 22Ahaziah, Athaliah and the Hidden Heir2 Chronicles 22 · Ahaziah becomes king; his mother Athaliah counsels him to do evil. He goes with Joram of Israel against Hazael and visits him at Jezreel, where Jehu, carrying out judgment on Ahab's house, kills Judah's princes and Ahaziah, who is found hiding in Samaria. Athaliah destroys the royal family; Jehoshabeath, wife of the priest Jehoiada, hides the baby Joash in the temple for six years.
  23. 23Jehoiada's Coup and Joash's Enthronement2 Chronicles 23 · In the seventh year Jehoiada makes a covenant with the captains, who gather the Levites and family heads from all Judah. Only priests and Levites enter the temple; armed Levites surround the young king. Joash is crowned and given the testimony. Athaliah cries "Treason!" and is killed outside the temple. Baal's temple is torn down, and Jehoiada restores the priestly and Levitical courses.
  24. 24Joash, the Temple Chest and the Death of Zechariah2 Chronicles 24 · Joash does right all the days of Jehoiada. He restores the temple with a chest at the gate for Moses' tax; the people give gladly. After Jehoiada dies at 130 and is buried among the kings, the princes lead Joash into idolatry. Zechariah son of Jehoiada rebukes them and is stoned in the temple court at the king's command: "The LORD look upon it, and require it." Aram invades; Joash is wounded and murdered in his bed.
  25. 25Amaziah, Edom and the War with Israel2 Chronicles 25 · Amaziah hires 100,000 Israelite soldiers; a man of God tells him to send them home, though he loses the hundred talents. He defeats Edom in the Valley of Salt; ten thousand captives are thrown from a cliff. He brings back Edom's gods and worships them. Proud, he challenges Joash of Israel, is defeated at Beth-shemesh, and is later killed at Lachish.
  26. 26Uzziah's Prosperity and Skin Disease2 Chronicles 26 · Uzziah seeks God in the days of Zechariah, who instructs him, and prospers: he defeats the Philistines, Arabs and Meunim, builds towers and cisterns, loves farming, and equips his army with engines for shooting arrows and stones. Proud, he enters the temple to burn incense. The priest Azariah and eighty priests resist him; skin disease breaks out on his forehead, and he lives isolated until his death.
  27. 27Jotham's Construction2 Chronicles 27 · Jotham does right, though he does not enter the temple as his father had; the people still act corruptly. He builds the upper gate of the temple, works on the wall of Ophel, builds cities in the hill country and forts in the forests, and makes the Ammonites pay tribute for three years.
  28. 28Ahaz, Invasion and the Mercy of Samaria2 Chronicles 28 · Ahaz burns his children in the fire and worships everywhere. Aram defeats him; Pekah of Israel kills 120,000 Judahites in one day and takes 200,000 women and children captive to Samaria. The prophet Oded and leaders of Ephraim send them home, clothed, fed and anointed, to Jericho. Ahaz asks Assyria for help, but Tiglath-pileser "distressed him, but strengthened him not." Ahaz sacrifices to Damascus's gods and shuts the temple doors.
  29. 29Hezekiah Cleanses the Temple2 Chronicles 29 · In the first month of his first year Hezekiah reopens the temple doors and tells the Levites to sanctify themselves and carry out the filth. In sixteen days they cleanse the temple. Hezekiah offers sin offerings for the kingdom, the sanctuary and Judah, "for all Israel," with Levite musicians playing David's instruments; the people bring so many offerings that the Levites help the priests.
  30. 30A Passover for North and South2 Chronicles 30 · Hezekiah invites all Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, including the remnant of the north after Assyria's conquest, to keep the Passover in Jerusalem, in the second month because the priests and people were not ready. Many in Ephraim mock the couriers, but some come. Many eat without purification; Hezekiah prays for them. The feast is extended a second week: "since the time of Solomon… there was not the like in Jerusalem."
  31. 31Contributions, Tithes and Storehouses2 Chronicles 31 · After the Passover, Israel breaks down the high places throughout Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim and Manasseh. Hezekiah reestablishes the priestly and Levitical divisions and asks the people to bring the priests' portions. Firstfruits and tithes pile up in heaps from the third to the seventh month. Storerooms are prepared and Levites appointed to distribute the provisions fairly, including to families and children.
  32. 32Sennacherib's Siege and Hezekiah's Waterworks2 Chronicles 32 · Sennacherib invades Judah. Hezekiah stops the springs outside the city, builds up the wall, and encourages the people: "With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God." Sennacherib's servants mock God; Hezekiah and Isaiah pray; an angel cuts off the Assyrian army's leaders, and Sennacherib returns in shame and is killed by his sons. Hezekiah recovers from illness, shows pride, humbles himself, and diverts the Gihon to the west side of the city of David.
  33. 33Manasseh's Exile, Prayer and Return2 Chronicles 33 · Manasseh rebuilds the high places, worships the host of heaven, practices sorcery and puts an idol in the temple. The Assyrian commanders take him in hooks and chains to Babylon. In distress he humbles himself and prays; God hears and restores him to Jerusalem. He removes the foreign gods, restores the altar, builds the outer wall and fortifies the cities. His son Amon undoes it and is assassinated.
  34. 34Josiah's Reforms, the Law Book and Huldah2 Chronicles 34 · Josiah begins to seek God at sixteen and to purge Judah at twenty, before any book is found, breaking altars as far north as Naphtali. In his eighteenth year, during temple repairs supervised by Levites (some of them musicians), Hilkiah finds "the book of the law of the LORD given by Moses." Huldah confirms the coming disaster but promises Josiah peace. The king reads the book to all the people and makes a covenant.
  35. 35Josiah's Passover and Death at Megiddo2 Chronicles 35 · Josiah keeps a great Passover on the fourteenth of the first month: the ark is returned to the temple, Levites slaughter and serve, singers stand in their places; "there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel." Later Necho of Egypt marches to Carchemish and warns Josiah not to oppose him, "for God commanded me to make haste." Josiah disguises himself, fights at Megiddo, is shot by archers, and dies in Jerusalem; Jeremiah laments him.
  36. 36Judah's Last Kings, the Fall and Cyrus' Proclamation2 Chronicles 36 · In quick succession Jehoahaz is deposed by Necho, Jehoiakim is taken by Nebuchadnezzar, Jehoiachin is exiled, and Zedekiah rebels and will not humble himself before Jeremiah. God sends messengers "rising up betimes," but they mock them "till there was no remedy." The Chaldeans kill young and old, burn the temple and break down the walls; survivors go to Babylon "to fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths… seventy years." Then Cyrus king of Persia proclaims: build the house in Jerusalem; "let him go up."
  37. 37Evidence Case: External Evidence for Judah's Kings2 Chronicles 10–36 · Kings of Judah named in 2 Chronicles appear in Egyptian, Assyrian and Babylonian records, on seals and in archaeology. This lesson gathers the evidence already investigated elsewhere on the site, with a short statement of what each object shows and what it does not.
  38. 38Temple Worship, Priests and Law across the Centuries2 Chronicles 2–8; 15; 17; 19; 23; 29–31; 34–35 · Chronicles measures every king by the temple: whether he repaired or neglected it, kept its feasts, honored its priests and Levites, and sought God there. Following the temple through the book shows a cycle of neglect and renewal, and the growing role of Levites, singers and teachers of the law.
  39. 39Who Tells History? Comparing Chronicles and Kings2 Chronicles 1–36; 1 Kings 3 – 2 Kings 25 · Kings follows both kingdoms and explains the exile; Chronicles follows Judah and explains how to seek God after the exile. Chronicles omits the north, adds speeches, prophets and reforms, and repeatedly shows repentance leading to restoration. Its differences from Kings are of several kinds, which the site keeps distinct.
  40. 40Difficult Kings, Repentance and Violence2 Chronicles 12–36 · Chronicles reports massacres, executions, a death penalty for refusing the covenant, a murdered prophet, and burned children. It also tells of kings who humble themselves and are restored, captives freed by northern Israelites, and a Passover where grace overrides ritual. This lesson gathers both, without softening either.

How 2 Chronicles came to us

Who wrote it, how it was copied, and how it reached the Bible you hold. These lessons follow the book through history.

  1. ★How 2 Chronicles Came to Us2 Chronicles is the second half of one Hebrew book. It closes the Hebrew Bible in most Jewish orders, with Cyrus' "let him go up." It cites many prophetic and royal records that do not survive. At Qumran only the disputed fragment 4Q118 relates to it. The Greek Paraleipomena translates it; 1 Esdras independently retells its last chapters with Ezra.
  2. 3Prophets, Priests, and ScribesAs Israel became a kingdom, royal scribes kept records, prophets' words were written down, and a lost book of the law was found in the Temple.
  3. 6The SeptuagintJews in Egypt translated their Scriptures into Greek, creating the Bible of the early church and of the New Testament writers.
  4. 8Hebrew, Greek, and SamaritanThree ancient lines of copying, Hebrew, Greek, and Samaritan, let us compare the text and see where it was preserved and where it changed.
  5. 13Scribes, Jerome, and the MasoretesJerome gave the West its Latin Bible; Jewish scholars called the Masoretes guarded the Hebrew text letter by letter.

Journey of a Passage