Day 243 of 365

Chronicles: the fall and Cyrus's decree · Psalms of the destruction …

Scripture in WEBWorld English Bible — Protestant EditionAbout 11 min

These psalms lament the destruction of the sanctuary or the end of the kings, and are read after the fall of Jerusalem.

2 Chronicles 36 WEB

¹Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father’s place in Jerusalem. ²Joahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. ³The king of Egypt removed him from office at Jerusalem, and fined the land one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. ⁴The king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. Neco took Joahaz his brother, and carried him to Egypt. ⁵Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did that which was evil in the LORD his God’s sight. ⁶Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against him, and bound him in fetters to carry him to Babylon. ⁷Nebuchadnezzar also carried some of the vessels of the LORD’s house to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon. ⁸Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations which he did, and that which was found in him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah; and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place. ⁹Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight. ¹⁰At the return of the year, King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon, with the valuable vessels of the LORD’s house, and made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem. ¹¹Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. ¹²He did that which was evil in the LORD his God’s sight. He didn’t humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the LORD’s mouth. ¹³He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God; but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD, the God of Israel. ¹⁴Moreover all the chiefs of the priests and the people trespassed very greatly after all the abominations of the nations; and they polluted the LORD’s house which he had made holy in Jerusalem. ¹⁵The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent to them by his messengers, rising up early and sending, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place; ¹⁶but they mocked the messengers of God, despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until the LORD’s wrath arose against his people, until there was no remedy. ¹⁷Therefore he brought on them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or infirm. He gave them all into his hand. ¹⁸All the vessels of God’s house, great and small, and the treasures of the LORD’s house, and the treasures of the king and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon. ¹⁹They burned God’s house, broke down the wall of Jerusalem, burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all of its valuable vessels. ²⁰He carried those who had escaped from the sword away to Babylon, and they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia, ²¹to fulfill the LORD’s word by Jeremiah’s mouth, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. As long as it lay desolate, it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years. ²²Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the LORD’s word by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, ²³“Cyrus king of Persia says, ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given all the kingdoms of the earth to me; and he has commanded me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all his people, the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.’”

Psalm 74 WEB

¹God, why have you rejected us forever? Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture? ²Remember your congregation, which you purchased of old, which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your inheritance: Mount Zion, in which you have lived. ³Lift up your feet to the perpetual ruins, all the evil that the enemy has done in the sanctuary. ⁴Your adversaries have roared in the middle of your assembly. They have set up their standards as signs. ⁵They behaved like men wielding axes, cutting through a thicket of trees. ⁶Now they break all its carved work down with hatchet and hammers. ⁷They have burned your sanctuary to the ground. They have profaned the dwelling place of your Name. ⁸They said in their heart, “We will crush them completely.” They have burned up all the places in the land where God was worshiped. ⁹We see no miraculous signs. There is no longer any prophet, neither is there among us anyone who knows how long. ¹⁰How long, God, shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme your name forever? ¹¹Why do you draw back your hand, even your right hand? Take it from your chest and consume them! ¹²Yet God is my King of old, working salvation throughout the earth. ¹³You divided the sea by your strength. You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters. ¹⁴You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces. You gave him as food to people and desert creatures. ¹⁵You opened up spring and stream. You dried up mighty rivers. ¹⁶The day is yours, the night is also yours. You have prepared the light and the sun. ¹⁷You have set all the boundaries of the earth. You have made summer and winter. ¹⁸Remember this, that the enemy has mocked you, LORD. Foolish people have blasphemed your name. ¹⁹Don’t deliver the soul of your dove to wild beasts. Don’t forget the life of your poor forever. ²⁰Honor your covenant, for haunts of violence fill the dark places of the earth. ²¹Don’t let the oppressed return ashamed. Let the poor and needy praise your name. ²²Arise, God! Plead your own cause. Remember how the foolish man mocks you all day. ²³Don’t forget the voice of your adversaries. The tumult of those who rise up against you ascends continually.

Psalm 79 WEB

¹God, the nations have come into your inheritance. They have defiled your holy temple. They have laid Jerusalem in heaps. ²They have given the dead bodies of your servants to be food for the birds of the sky, the flesh of your saints to the animals of the earth. ³They have shed their blood like water around Jerusalem. There was no one to bury them. ⁴We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scoffing and derision to those who are around us. ⁵How long, LORD? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire? ⁶Pour out your wrath on the nations that don’t know you, on the kingdoms that don’t call on your name, ⁷for they have devoured Jacob, and destroyed his homeland. ⁸Don’t hold the iniquities of our forefathers against us. Let your tender mercies speedily meet us, for we are in desperate need. ⁹Help us, God of our salvation, for the glory of your name. Deliver us, and forgive our sins, for your name’s sake. ¹⁰Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Let it be known among the nations, before our eyes, that vengeance for your servants’ blood is being poured out. ¹¹Let the sighing of the prisoner come before you. According to the greatness of your power, preserve those who are sentenced to death. ¹²Pay back to our neighbors seven times into their bosom their reproach with which they have reproached you, Lord. ¹³So we, your people and sheep of your pasture, will give you thanks forever. We will praise you forever, to all generations.

Psalm 89 WEB

¹I will sing of the loving kindness of the LORD forever. With my mouth, I will make known your faithfulness to all generations. ²I indeed declare, “Love stands firm forever. You established the heavens. Your faithfulness is in them.” ³“I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David, my servant, ⁴‘I will establish your offspring forever, and build up your throne to all generations.’” Selah. ⁵The heavens will praise your wonders, LORD, your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones. ⁶For who in the skies can be compared to the LORD? Who among the sons of the heavenly beings is like the LORD, ⁷a very awesome God in the council of the holy ones, to be feared above all those who are around him? ⁸LORD, God of Armies, who is a mighty one, like you? LORD, your faithfulness is around you. ⁹You rule the pride of the sea. When its waves rise up, you calm them. ¹⁰You have broken Rahab in pieces, like one of the slain. You have scattered your enemies with your mighty arm. ¹¹The heavens are yours. The earth also is yours, the world and its fullness. You have founded them. ¹²You have created the north and the south. Tabor and Hermon rejoice in your name. ¹³You have a mighty arm. Your hand is strong, and your right hand is exalted. ¹⁴Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. Loving kindness and truth go before your face. ¹⁵Blessed are the people who learn to acclaim you. They walk in the light of your presence, LORD. ¹⁶In your name they rejoice all day. In your righteousness, they are exalted. ¹⁷For you are the glory of their strength. In your favor, our horn will be exalted. ¹⁸For our shield belongs to the LORD, our king to the Holy One of Israel. ¹⁹Then you spoke in vision to your saints, and said, “I have given strength to the warrior. I have exalted a young man from the people. ²⁰I have found David, my servant. I have anointed him with my holy oil, ²¹with whom my hand shall be established. My arm will also strengthen him. ²²No enemy will tax him. No wicked man will oppress him. ²³I will beat down his adversaries before him, and strike those who hate him. ²⁴But my faithfulness and my loving kindness will be with him. In my name, his horn will be exalted. ²⁵I will set his hand also on the sea, and his right hand on the rivers. ²⁶He will call to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation!’ ²⁷I will also appoint him my firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. ²⁸I will keep my loving kindness for him forever more. My covenant will stand firm with him. ²⁹I will also make his offspring endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven. ³⁰If his children forsake my law, and don’t walk in my ordinances; ³¹if they break my statutes, and don’t keep my commandments; ³²then I will punish their sin with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. ³³But I will not completely take my loving kindness from him, nor allow my faithfulness to fail. ³⁴I will not break my covenant, nor alter what my lips have uttered. ³⁵Once I have sworn by my holiness, I will not lie to David. ³⁶His offspring will endure forever, his throne like the sun before me. ³⁷It will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky.” Selah. ³⁸But you have rejected and spurned. You have been angry with your anointed. ³⁹You have renounced the covenant of your servant. You have defiled his crown in the dust. ⁴⁰You have broken down all his hedges. You have brought his strongholds to ruin. ⁴¹All who pass by the way rob him. He has become a reproach to his neighbors. ⁴²You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries. You have made all of his enemies rejoice. ⁴³Yes, you turn back the edge of his sword, and haven’t supported him in battle. ⁴⁴You have ended his splendor, and thrown his throne down to the ground. ⁴⁵You have shortened the days of his youth. You have covered him with shame. Selah. ⁴⁶How long, LORD? Will you hide yourself forever? Will your wrath burn like fire? ⁴⁷Remember how short my time is, for what vanity you have created all the children of men! ⁴⁸What man is he who shall live and not see death, who shall deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah. ⁴⁹Lord, where are your former loving kindnesses, which you swore to David in your faithfulness? ⁵⁰Remember, Lord, the reproach of your servants, how I bear in my heart the taunts of all the mighty peoples, ⁵¹With which your enemies have mocked, LORD, with which they have mocked the footsteps of your anointed one. ⁵²Blessed be the LORD forever more. Amen, and Amen.

Place in the chronology Exile and Return

On the timeline Jehoiachin taken to Babylon The fall of Jerusalem Cyrus allows the return

People Jeremiah

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