¹⁸Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 11 years. His mother’s name was Hamutal. She was the daughter of Jeremiah. She was from Libnah.

¹⁹Zedekiah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did just as Jehoiakim had done. ²⁰The enemies of Jerusalem and Judah attacked them because the Lord was angry. In the end he threw them out of his land.

Nebuchadnezzar Destroys Jerusalem

Zedekiah also refused to remain under the control of Nebuchadnezzar.

25Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylonia. He marched out against Jerusalem. All of his armies went with him. It was in the ninth year of the rule of Zedekiah. It was on the tenth day of the tenth month. Nebuchadnezzar set up camp outside the city. He brought in war machines all around it. ²It was surrounded until the 11th year of King Zedekiah’s rule.

³By the ninth day of the fourth month, there wasn’t any food left in the city. So the people didn’t have anything to eat.

⁴Then the Babylonians broke through the city wall. Judah’s whole army ran away at night. They went out through the gate between the two walls that were near the king’s garden. They escaped even though the Babylonians surrounded the city. Judah’s army ran toward the Arabah Valley.

⁵But the armies of Babylonia chased King Zedekiah. They caught up with him in the flatlands near Jericho. All of his soldiers were separated from him. They had scattered in every direction.

⁶The king was captured. He was taken to the king of Babylonia at Riblah. That’s where Nebuchadnezzar decided how he would be punished. ⁷His men killed the sons of Zedekiah. They forced him to watch it with his own eyes. Then they poked out his eyes. They put him in bronze chains. And they took him to Babylon.

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