Joahaz, Jehoiakim, Then Jehoiachin Rule

36 ^(A)Then the people of the land took ^[a](B)Joahaz the son of Josiah and made him king in place of his father in Jerusalem. ² Joahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem. ³ Then the king of Egypt deposed him in Jerusalem, and imposed a fine on the land of ^[b]a hundred talents of silver and ^[c]one talent of gold. ⁴ The king of Egypt made ^[d]Joahaz’s brother Eliakim king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But ^(C)Neco took his brother Joahaz and brought him to Egypt.

^31 (A)Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was ^(B)Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ³² He did evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(C)in accordance with all that his forefathers had done. ³³ And ^(D)Pharaoh Neco imprisoned him at ^(E)Riblah in the land of ^(F)Hamath, so that he would not reign in Jerusalem; and he imposed on the land a fine of ^[a]a hundred talents of silver and ^[b]a talent of gold.

Jehoiakim Made King by Pharaoh

³⁴ Then Pharaoh Neco made ^(G)Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of his father Josiah, and he ^(H)changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz and ^[c](I)brought him to Egypt, and he died there. ³⁵ So Jehoiakim ^(J)gave the silver and gold to Pharaoh, but he assessed the land in order to give the money at the ^[d]command of Pharaoh. He collected the silver and gold from the people of the land, each according to his assessment, to give to Pharaoh Neco.

^36 (K)Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. ³⁷ He did evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(L)in accordance with all that his forefathers had done.

^5 (A)Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem; and he did evil in the sight of the Lord his God.

Warning of Jerusalem’s Fall

22 This is what the Lord says: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and there speak this word, ² and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who ^(A)sits on David’s throne, you and your servants and your people who enter these gates. ³ This is what the Lord says: “^(B)Do justice and righteousness, and save one who has been robbed from the power of his ^(C)oppressor. And ^(D)do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not ^(E)shed innocent blood in this place. ⁴ For if you will indeed perform this ^[a]instruction, then ^(F)kings will enter the gates of this house, sitting ^[b]in David’s place on his throne, riding in chariots and on horses, the king himself, his servants, and his people. ^5 (G)But if you will not obey these words, I ^(H)swear by Myself,” declares the Lord, “that this house will become a place of ruins.”’” ⁶ For this is what the Lord says concerning the house of the king of Judah:

⁸ “Many nations will pass by this city; and they will ^(N)say to one another, ‘Why has the Lord done this to this great city?’ ⁹ Then they will ^[c]answer, ‘Because they ^(O)abandoned the covenant of the Lord their God and bowed down to other gods and served them.’”

¹¹ For this is what the Lord says regarding ^[d](R)Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who became king in the place of his father Josiah, who went out from this place: “He will never return there; ¹² but in the place where they took him into exile, there he will ^(S)die and he will not see this land again.

Messages about the Kings

¹⁸ Therefore this is what the Lord says regarding ^(AD)Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

Cities of Judah Warned

26 In the beginning of the reign of ^(A)Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord, saying, ² “This is what the Lord says: ‘^(B)Stand in the courtyard of the Lord’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah who have ^(C)come to worship in the Lord’s house ^(D)all the words that I have commanded you to speak to them. ^(E)Do not omit a word! ^3 (F)Perhaps they will listen and everyone will turn from his evil way, and ^(G)I will relent of the disaster which I am planning to inflict on them because of the evil of their deeds.’ ⁴ And you shall say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: “^(H)If you do not listen to Me, to ^(I)walk in My Law which I have set before you, ⁵ to listen to the words of ^(J)My servants the prophets, whom I have been sending to you again and again, but you have not listened; ⁶ then I will make this house like ^(K)Shiloh, and I will make this city a ^(L)curse to all the nations of the earth.”’”

A Plot to Murder Jeremiah

⁷ The ^(M)priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. ⁸ Yet when Jeremiah finished speaking everything that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, then the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, “^(N)You must die! ⁹ Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘This house will be like Shiloh and this city will be ^(O)in ruins, without inhabitant’?” And ^(P)all the people gathered to Jeremiah at the house of the Lord.

¹⁰ When the ^(Q)officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of the Lord and sat at the ^(R)entrance of the New Gate of the Lord’s house. ¹¹ Then the priests and the prophets ^(S)spoke to the officials and to all the people, saying, “A ^(T)death sentence for this man! For he has prophesied ^(U)against this city, just as you have heard with your own ears!”

¹² Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and to all the people, saying, “^(V)The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard. ¹³ Now then, ^(W)reform your ways and your deeds and obey the voice of the Lord your God; and the Lord will relent of the disaster which He has pronounced against you. ¹⁴ But as for me, behold, ^(X)I am in your hands; do with me as is good and right in your sight. ¹⁵ Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring ^(Y)innocent blood on yourselves, and on this city and its inhabitants; for truly the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words ^[a]so that you hear them.”

Jeremiah Is Spared

¹⁶ Then the officials and all the people ^(Z)said to the priests and the prophets, “No ^(AA)death sentence for this man! For he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.” ¹⁷ Then ^(AB)some of the elders of the land rose up and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying, ¹⁸ “^[b](AC)Micah of Moresheth used to prophesy in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, ‘This is what the Lord of armies has said:

¹⁹ Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah actually put him to death? Did he not ^(AF)fear the Lord and plead for the favor of the Lord, and ^(AG)the Lord relented of the disaster which He had pronounced against them? But we are ^(AH)committing a great evil against our own lives!”

²⁰ Indeed, there was also a man who used to prophesy in the name of the Lord, Uriah the son of Shemaiah from ^(AI)Kiriath-jearim; and he prophesied against this city and against this land words similar to all those of Jeremiah. ²¹ When King Jehoiakim and all his warriors and all the officials heard his words, then the ^(AJ)king sought to put him to death; but Uriah heard about it, and he was afraid, so he ^(AK)fled and went to Egypt. ²² Then King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt: ^(AL)Elnathan the son of Achbor and certain men with him, to Egypt. ²³ And they brought Uriah from Egypt and led him to King Jehoiakim, who ^(AM)killed him with a sword and threw his dead body into the ^[d]burial place of the ^[e]common people.

²⁴ But the hand of ^(AN)Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that he was ^(AO)not handed over to the people to put him to death.

Babylon Controls Jehoiakim

24 ^(A)In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years; then he turned and revolted against him. ² And the Lord sent against him ^(B)bands of Chaldeans, ^(C)bands of Arameans, ^(D)bands of Moabites, and bands of Ammonites. He sent them against Judah to destroy it, ^(E)in accordance with the word of the Lord which He had spoken through His servants the prophets. ^3 (F)It indeed came upon Judah at the ^[a]command of the Lord, to remove them from His sight ^(G)due to the sins of Manasseh, in accordance with everything that he had done, ⁴ and ^(H)also for the innocent blood which he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; and the Lord was unwilling to forgive.

Prophecy of the Captivity

25 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the ^(A)fourth year of ^(B)Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the ^(C)first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), ² the word which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the ^(D)people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, ³ “From the ^(E)thirteenth year of ^(F)Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, ^[a]these ^(G)twenty-three years the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken to you ^(H)again and again, but you have not listened. ⁴ And the Lord has sent to you all His ^(I)servants the prophets again and again, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear, ⁵ saying, ‘^(J)Turn now, everyone from his evil way and from the evil of your deeds, and live on the land which the Lord has given to you and your forefathers ^(K)forever and ever; ⁶ and ^(L)do not follow other gods to ^[b]serve them and to ^[c]worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands, then I will do you no harm.’ ⁷ Yet you have not listened to Me,” declares the Lord, “in order to ^(M)provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm.

⁸ “Therefore this is what the Lord of armies says: ‘Because you have not obeyed My words, ⁹ behold, I will ^(N)send and take all the families of the north,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, ^(O)My servant, and will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these surrounding nations; and I will ^[d]completely destroy them and ^(P)make them an object of horror and ^[e]hissing, and an everlasting place of ruins. ¹⁰ Moreover, I will ^(Q)eliminate from them the voice of jubilation and the voice of joy, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride, the ^(R)sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. ^11 (S)This entire land will be a place of ruins and an object of horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for ^(T)seventy years.

Babylon Will Be Judged

¹² ‘Then it will be ^(U)when seventy years are completed I will ^(V)punish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ declares the Lord, ‘for their wrongdoing, and the land of the Chaldeans; and ^(W)I will make it an everlasting desolation. ¹³ I will bring upon that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in ^(X)this book which Jeremiah has prophesied against ^(Y)all the nations. ¹⁴ (^[f]For ^(Z)many nations and great kings will make slaves of them, even them; and I will ^(AA)repay them according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands.)’”