The Daily Audio Bible

Jehoahaz's Reign and Captivity

^31 (A)Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was ^(B)Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ³² And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(C)according to all that his fathers had done. ³³ And ^(D)Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at ^(E)Riblah in the land of ^(F)Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents^[a] of silver and a talent of gold. ³⁴ And ^(G)Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and ^(H)changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, ^(I)and he came to Egypt and died there. ³⁵ And Jehoiakim ^(J)gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco.

Jehoiakim Reigns in Judah

^36 (K)Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. ³⁷ And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(L)according to all that his fathers had done.

24 ^(M)In his days, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. ² And the Lord sent against him bands of the ^(N)Chaldeans and ^(O)bands of the Syrians and bands of the Moabites and bands of the Ammonites, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, ^(P)according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by his servants the prophets. ³ Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the Lord, to remove them out of his sight, ^(Q)for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, ⁴ and also ^(R)for the innocent blood that he had shed. For he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord would not pardon. ^5 (S)Now the rest of the deeds of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ⁶ So Jehoiakim ^(T)slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place. ^7 (U)And the king of Egypt did not come again out of his land, ^(V)for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt ^(W)from the Brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates.

Jehoiachin Reigns in Judah

^8 (X)Jehoiachin was ^(Y)eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. ⁹ And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(Z)according to all that his father had done.

Jerusalem Captured

¹⁰ At that time the servants of ^(AA)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. ¹¹ And ^(AB)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it, ^12 (AC)and Jehoiachin the king of Judah gave himself up to the king of Babylon, himself and his mother and his servants and his officials and his palace officials. ^(AD)The king of Babylon took him prisoner ^(AE)in the eighth year of his reign ¹³ and carried off all the treasures of the house of the Lord ^(AF)and the treasures of the king's house, ^(AG)and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold in the temple of the Lord, ^(AH)which Solomon king of Israel had made, ^(AI)as the Lord had foretold. ^14 (AJ)He carried away all Jerusalem and all the officials and all the mighty men of valor, ^(AK)10,000 captives, ^(AL)and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained, ^(AM)except the poorest people of the land. ^15 (AN)And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon. The king's mother, the king's wives, his officials, and the chief men of the land he took into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. ¹⁶ And the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon all the men of valor, ^(AO)7,000, and the craftsmen and the metal workers, 1,000, all of them strong and fit for war. ^17 (AP)And the king of Babylon ^(AQ)made Mattaniah, ^(AR)Jehoiachin's uncle, king in his place, ^(AS)and changed his name to Zedekiah.

Zedekiah Reigns in Judah

^18 (AT)Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was ^(AU)Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ¹⁹ And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(AV)according to all that Jehoiakim had done. ²⁰ For because of the anger of the Lord it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he cast them out from his presence.

^(AW)And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

Fall and Captivity of Judah

25 ^(AX)And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, ^(AY)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem and laid siege to it. ^(AZ)And they built siegeworks all around it. ² So the city was besieged till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. ³ On the ninth day of the fourth month ^(BA)the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. ⁴ Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, by ^(BB)the king's garden, and ^(BC)the Chaldeans were around the city. And they went in the direction of the ^(BD)Arabah. ⁵ But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. ⁶ Then they captured the king ^(BE)and brought him up to the king of Babylon at ^(BF)Riblah, and they passed sentence on him. ⁷ They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, ^(BG)and put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains and took him to Babylon.

^8 (BH)In the fifth month, on ^(BI)the seventh day of the month—that was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. ^9 (BJ)And he burned the house of the Lord ^(BK)and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down. ¹⁰ And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, ^(BL)broke down the walls around Jerusalem. ^11 (BM)And the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the multitude, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile. ¹² But the captain of the guard left ^(BN)some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.

^13 (BO)And the pillars ^(BP)of bronze that were in the house of the Lord, and ^(BQ)the stands and ^(BR)the bronze sea that were in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried the bronze to Babylon. ^14 (BS)And they took away the pots and the shovels and the snuffers and the dishes for incense and all the vessels of bronze used in the temple service, ¹⁵ the fire pans also and the bowls. What was of gold the captain of the guard took away as gold, and what was of silver, as silver. ¹⁶ As for the two pillars, the one sea, and the stands that Solomon had made for the house of the Lord, ^(BT)the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight. ^17 (BU)The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits,^[b] and on it was a capital of bronze. The height of the capital was three cubits. A latticework and pomegranates, all of bronze, were all around the capital. And the second pillar had the same, with the latticework.

^18 (BV)And the captain of the guard took ^(BW)Seraiah the chief priest and ^(BX)Zephaniah the second priest and the three keepers of the threshold; ¹⁹ and from the city he took an officer who had been in command of the men of war, and ^(BY)five men of the king's council who were found in the city; and the secretary of the commander of the army, who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the city. ²⁰ And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at ^(BZ)Riblah. ²¹ And the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at ^(CA)Riblah in the land of Hamath. ^(CB)So Judah was taken into exile out of its land.

Gedaliah Made Governor of Judah

²² And over the people who remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, he appointed ^(CC)Gedaliah the son of ^(CD)Ahikam, son of Shaphan, governor. ^23 (CE)Now when all the captains and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah governor, they came with their men to Gedaliah at ^(CF)Mizpah, namely, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite. ²⁴ And Gedaliah swore to them and their men, saying, “Do not be afraid because of the Chaldean officials. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.” ^25 (CG)But in the seventh month, ^(CH)Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with ten men and struck down Gedaliah and put him to death along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. ^26 (CI)Then all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces arose and went to Egypt, for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

Jehoiachin Released from Prison

^27 (CJ)And in the thirty-seventh year of ^(CK)the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, graciously ^(CL)freed^[c] Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. ²⁸ And he spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat above the seats of the kings who were with him in Babylon. ²⁹ So Jehoiachin put off his prison garments. And every day of his life ^(CM)he dined regularly at the king's table, ³⁰ and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, according to his daily needs, as long as he lived.

^17 (A)“When I had returned to Jerusalem and ^(B)was praying in the temple, I fell into ^(C)a trance ¹⁸ and saw him saying to me, ^(D)‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ ¹⁹ And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another ^(E)I imprisoned and ^(F)beat those who believed in you. ²⁰ And when the blood of Stephen ^(G)your witness was being shed, ^(H)I myself was standing by and ^(I)approving and ^(J)watching over the garments of those who killed him.’ ²¹ And he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you ^(K)far away to the Gentiles.’”

Paul and the Roman Tribune

²² Up to this word they listened to him. Then they raised their voices and said, ^(L)“Away with such a fellow from the earth! For ^(M)he should not be allowed to live.” ²³ And as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, ²⁴ the tribune ordered him to be brought into ^(N)the barracks, saying that he should be ^(O)examined by flogging, to find out why they were shouting against him like this. ²⁵ But when they had stretched him out for the whips,^[a] Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to flog ^(P)a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?” ²⁶ When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said to him, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.” ²⁷ So the tribune came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” And he said, “Yes.” ²⁸ The tribune answered, “I bought this citizenship for a large sum.” Paul said, “But I am a citizen by birth.” ²⁹ So those who were about ^(Q)to examine him withdrew from him immediately, and the tribune also ^(R)was afraid, ^(S)for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that ^(T)he had bound him.

Paul Before the Council

³⁰ But on the next day, ^(U)desiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews, he unbound him and commanded the chief priests and all the council to meet, and he brought Paul down and set him before them.

23 And looking intently at the council, Paul said, “Brothers, ^(V)I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.” ² And the high priest ^(W)Ananias commanded those who stood by him ^(X)to strike him on the mouth. ³ Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you ^(Y)whitewashed ^(Z)wall! Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet ^(AA)contrary to the law you ^(AB)order me to be struck?” ⁴ Those who stood by said, “Would you revile ^(AC)God's high priest?” ⁵ And Paul said, ^(AD)“I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, ^(AE)‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”

⁶ Now when Paul perceived that one part were ^(AF)Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Brothers, ^(AG)I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. It is ^(AH)with respect to the ^(AI)hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.” ⁷ And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. ⁸ For the Sadducees ^(AJ)say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. ⁹ Then a great clamor arose, and some of ^(AK)the scribes of the Pharisees' party stood up and contended sharply, ^(AL)“We find nothing wrong in this man. What ^(AM)if a spirit or an angel spoke to him?” ¹⁰ And when the dissension became violent, the tribune, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him away from among them by force and bring him into ^(AN)the barracks.

The Reign of the Lord's Anointed