2 Kings 24:1–25:7

Babylon Controls Jehoiakim

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

²The Lord sent against him ^abands of Chaldeans, ^bbands of Arameans, ^cbands of Moabites, and bands of Ammonites. So He sent them against Judah to destroy it, ^daccording to the word of the Lord which He had spoken through His servants the prophets.

^3aSurely at the ¹command of the Lord it came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight ^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 the Lord would not forgive.

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

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

^7aThe king of Egypt did not come 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.

⁹He did evil in the sight of the Lord, ^aaccording to all that his father had done.

Deportation 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.

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

^13aHe carried out from there all the treasures of the house of the Lord, 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 the Lord, just as the Lord had said.

¹⁴Then ^ahe led away into exile all Jerusalem and all the captains and all the mighty men of valor, ^bten thousand captives, and ^call the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained ^dexcept the poorest people of the land.

¹⁵So ^ahe led 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.

¹⁶All the men of valor, ^aseven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths, one thousand, all strong and fit for war, and these the king of Babylon brought into exile to Babylon.

Zedekiah Made King

^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.

¹⁹He did evil in the sight of the Lord, ^aaccording to all that Jehoiakim had done.

²⁰For ^athrough the anger of the Lord 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 army, against Jerusalem, camped against it and ^cbuilt a siege wall all around ¹it.

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

³On the ninth day of the fourth month ^athe famine was so severe 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 army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho and all his army was scattered from him.

⁶Then ^athey captured the king and ^bbrought him to the king of Babylon at ^cRiblah, and ¹he passed sentence on him.

^7aThey slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, then ^bput out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon.