2 Kings 24

Jehoiakim’s Rebellion and Death

24During ^oJehoiakim’s reign, ^pNebuchadnezzar ^qking of Babylon ^rattacked. ^sJehoiakim became his vassal for three years, and then he turned and rebelled against him. ²The Lord sent Chaldean, Aramean, ^tMoabite, ^uand Ammonite raiders against Jehoiakim. He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord He had spoken through His servants the prophets. ^v3Indeed, this happened to Judah at the Lord’s command to remove them from His sight. ^wIt was because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all he had done, ^x4and also because of all the innocent blood he had shed. He had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, ^yand the Lord would not forgive.

⁵The rest of the events of Jehoiakim’s reign, along with all his accomplishments, are written in the Historical Record of Judah’s Kings. ^z6Jehoiakim rested with his fathers, and his son Jehoiachin became king in his place. ^a

⁷Now the king of Egypt did not march out of his land again, ^bfor the king of Babylon took everything that belonged to the king of Egypt, ^cfrom the Brook of Egypt to the Euphrates River. ^d

Judah’s King Jehoiachin

⁸Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he became king and reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan, from Jerusalem. ^e9He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight as his father had done.

Deportations to Babylon

¹⁰At that time ^fthe servants of Nebuchadnezzar ^gking of Babylon marched up to Jerusalem, and the city came under siege. ¹¹Then King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it. ¹²Jehoiachin king of Judah, along with his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his officials, surrendered to the king of Babylon. ^h

So the king of Babylon took him captive in the eighth year of his reign. ¹³He also carried off from there all the treasures of the Lord’s temple and the treasures of the king’s palace, and he cut into pieces all the gold articles that Solomon king of Israel had made ⁱfor the Lord’s sanctuary, just as God had predicted. ^j14Then he deported all Jerusalem and all the commanders and all the fighting men, ^k10,000 captives, ^land all the craftsmen and metalsmiths. ^mExcept for the poorest people of the land, ⁿno one remained.

¹⁵Nebuchadnezzar deported Jehoiachin to Babylon. Also, he took the king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officials, and the leading men of the land into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. ^o16The king of Babylon also brought captive into Babylon all 7,000 fighting men and 1,000 craftsmen and metalsmiths—all strong and fit for war. 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