2 Kings 24

First Invasion of Nebuchadnezzar; Jehoiakim Submits

24In his days, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up because Jehoiakim had become his servant for three years; then he turned and rebelled against him. ²So Yahweh sent against him raiding bands of Chaldeans, raiding bands of Aram, raiding bands of Moab, and raiding bands of the Ammonites.^a He had sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of Yahweh that he had spoken by the hand of his servants the prophets. ³Surely, it was on the command^b of Yahweh against Judah to remove them from his sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done. ⁴Also, for the blood of the innocent that he had shed—and he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood—Yahweh was not willing to forgive. ⁵The remainder of the acts of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah? ⁶So Jehoiakim slept with his ancestors,^c and Jehoiachin his son became king in his place. ⁷The king of Egypt did not again come out from his land, for the king of Babylon had taken, from the Wadi of Egypt to the Euphrates River, all that belonged to the king of Egypt.

Jehoichin Succeeds Jehoiakim

⁸Jehoiachin was eighteen years old^d when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan from Jerusalem. ⁹He did evil in the eyes of Yahweh according to all that his father had done.

Second Invasion of Nebuchadnezzar

¹⁰At that time, the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and the city came under the siege. ¹¹Then Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city while his servants were besieging it. ¹²Jehoiachin king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his court officials. The king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign. ¹³Then he took from there all of the treasures of the temple of Yahweh and the treasures of the palace of the king. He cut up all of the vessels of gold which Solomon the king of Israel had made in the temple of Yahweh, as Yahweh had foretold. ¹⁴He deported all of Jerusalem: all of the commanders, and all of the skilled warriors,^e ten thousand captives, and all of the skilled craftsmen and the artisans; no one was left over except the poorest of the people of the land. ¹⁵He deported Jehoiachin to Babylon; the mother of the king, the wives of the king, his court officials, and the citizenry of the land he caused to go into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: ¹⁶of all of the skilled men, seven thousand, and of the skilled craftsmen and the artisans, one thousand. All of the mighty warriors fit for war^f the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon. ¹⁷Then the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his uncle king in his place and changed his name to Zedekiah.

Zedekiah Replaces Jehoiachin

¹⁸Zedekiah was twenty-one years old^g when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah. ¹⁹He did evil in the eyes of Yahweh just like all that Jehoiakim had done. ²⁰For it happened because of the anger of Yahweh, in Jerusalem and in Judah, until they were cast out from his presence. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.