2 Kings 24:1–25:7

Jehoiakim Rebels Against Nebuchadnezzar

^1aIn his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years; then he turned and rebelled against him.

²And Yahweh sent against him ^amarauding bands of Chaldeans, ^bmarauding bands of Arameans, ^cmarauding bands of Moabites, and marauding bands of Ammonites. So He sent them against Judah to destroy it, ^daccording to the word of Yahweh which He had spoken by the hand of His slaves the prophets.

^3aSurely at the ¹command of Yahweh it came upon Judah, to remove them from His presence ^bbecause of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done,

⁴and ^aalso for the innocent blood which he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; and Yahweh was not willing to pardon.

⁵Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

Jehoiachin Reigns over Judah

⁶So ^aJehoiakim slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son became king in his place.

^7aAnd the king of Egypt did not go out of his land again, ^bfor the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from ^cthe brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates.

^8aJehoiachin was ^beighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.

⁹And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, ^aaccording to all that his father had done.

Judah Exiled to Babylon

¹⁰At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon went up to Jerusalem, and the city came under siege.

¹¹And Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came to the city, while his servants were besieging it.

^12aThen Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he and his mother and his servants and his commanders and his officials. So ^bthe king of Babylon took him captive in the eighth year of his reign.

^13aAnd he brought out from there all the treasures of the house of Yahweh, and the treasures of the king’s house, and ^bcut in pieces all the vessels of gold ^cwhich Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of Yahweh, just as Yahweh had spoken.

¹⁴Then ^ahe took away into exile all Jerusalem and all the commanders and all the mighty men of valor, ^b10,000 captives, and ^call the craftsmen and the smiths. None was left ^dexcept the poorest people of the land.

¹⁵So ^ahe took Jehoiachin away into exile to Babylon; also the king’s mother and the king’s wives and his officials and the leading men of the land, he led away into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

¹⁶Now all the valiant men, ^aseven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths, one thousand, all mighty men who could wage war, and these the king of Babylon brought into exile to Babylon.

Zedekiah Reigns over Judah

^17aThen the king of Babylon made ¹his uncle Mattaniah king in his place and changed his name to Zedekiah.

^18aZedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was ^bHamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

¹⁹And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, ^aaccording to all that Jehoiakim had done.

²⁰For ^athrough the anger of Yahweh this came about in Jerusalem and Judah until He cast them out from His presence. And ^bZedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

CHAPTER 25

Nebuchadnezzar Besieges Jerusalem

^1aNow in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, ^bNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his military force, against Jerusalem, and he camped against it and ^cbuilt a siege wall all around ¹it.

²So the city came under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.

³On the ninth day of the fourth month ^athe famine was so strong in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.

^4aThen the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls beside ^bthe king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. And ¹they went by way of the Arabah.

⁵But the military force of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho and all his military force was scattered from him.

⁶Then ^athey seized the king and ^bbrought him up to the king of Babylon at ^cRiblah, and they spoke their judgment on him.

^7aAnd they slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; then he ^bblinded the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon.