2 Kings 24:17–25:7

¹⁷Then the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s ^puncle, ^qking in his place and changed his name to Zedekiah. ^r

Judah’s King Zedekiah

¹⁸Zedekiah ^swas 21 years old when he became king ^tand reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal ^udaughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah. ¹⁹Zedekiah did what was evil in the Lord’s sight just as Jehoiakim had done. ^v20Because of the Lord’s anger, ^wit came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that He finally banished them from His presence. ^xThen, Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. ^y

Nebuchadnezzar’s Siege of Jerusalem

25In the ninth year ^zof Zedekiah’s reign, ^aon the tenth day of the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem with his entire army. ^bThey laid siege to the city and built a siege wall against it all around. ^c2The city was under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year.

³By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that the people of the land had no food. ^d4Then the city was broken into, ^eand all the warriors fled ^fby night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, ^geven though the Chaldeans surrounded the city. As the king made his way along the route to the Arabah, ^h5the Chaldean army pursued him and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. Zedekiah’s entire army was scattered from him. ⁱ⁶The Chaldeans seized the king ^jand brought him up to the king of Babylon ^kat Riblah, ^land they passed sentence on him. ⁷They slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes. Finally, the king of Babylon blinded Zedekiah, bound him in bronze chains, and took him to Babylon. ^m