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.

^5 (D)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. ⁶ Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up ^(E)against him and ^(F)bound him with bronze chains to take him to Babylon. ^7 (G)Nebuchadnezzar also brought some of the articles of the house of the Lord to Babylon, and he put them in his temple in Babylon. ^8 (H)Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and ^[e]the abominations which he committed, and what was found against him, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. And his son Jehoiachin became king in his place.

^9 (I)Jehoiachin was ^[f]eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned for three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did evil in the sight of the Lord.

Captivity in Babylon Begun

^10 (J)At the turn of the year King Nebuchadnezzar sent men and had him brought to Babylon with the valuable articles of the house of the Lord; and he made his relative ^(K)Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.

Zedekiah Rules in Judah

^11 (L)Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. ¹² He did evil in the sight of the Lord his God; ^(M)he did not humble himself ^(N)before Jeremiah the prophet ^[g]who spoke for the Lord. ^13 (O)He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear allegiance by God. But ^(P)he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord God of Israel. ¹⁴ Furthermore, all the officials of the priests and the people were very unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations; and they defiled the house of the Lord which He had sanctified in Jerusalem.

¹⁵ Yet the Lord, the God of their fathers, ^(Q)sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place; ¹⁶ but they continually ^(R)mocked the messengers of God, ^(S)despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, ^(T)until the wrath of the Lord rose against His people, until there was no remedy. ^17 (U)So He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or frail; He handed them all over to him. ^18 (V)He brought all the articles of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and his officers, to Babylon. ¹⁹ Then ^(W)they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its fortified buildings with fire and destroyed all its valuable articles. ²⁰ He ^(X)took into exile those who had escaped from the sword to Babylon; and ^(Y)they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, ^21 (Z)to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until ^(AA)the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. ^(AB)All the days of its desolation it kept the Sabbath ^[h](AC)until seventy years were complete.

Cyrus Permits Return

^22 (AD)Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia—in order to fulfill the word of the Lord ^(AE)by the mouth of Jeremiah—the Lord ^(AF)stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia so that he sent a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, ²³ “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all His people, may the Lord his God be with him; ^[i]go up then!’”

The River and the Tree of Life

22 And ^(A)he showed me a ^(B)river of the ^(C)water of life, ^[a]clear ^(D)as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of ^[b]the Lamb, ² in the middle of ^(E)its street. ^(F)On either side of the river was ^(G)the tree of life, bearing twelve ^[c]kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. ^3 (H)There will no longer be any curse; and ^(I)the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will ^(J)serve Him; ⁴ they will ^(K)see His face, and His ^(L)name will be on their ^(M)foreheads. ⁵ And ^(N)there will no longer be any night; and they ^[d]will not have need ^(O)of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illuminate them; and they will ^(P)reign forever and ever.

⁶ And ^(Q)he said to me, “^(R)These words are faithful and true”; and the Lord, the ^(S)God of the spirits of the prophets, ^(T)sent His angel to show His bond-servants the things which must soon take place.

⁷ “And behold, ^(U)I am coming quickly. ^(V)Blessed is the one who ^[e]keeps ^(W)the words of the prophecy of this book.”

^8 (X)I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, ^(Y)I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. ⁹ And ^(Z)he *said to me, “^[f]Do not do that; I am a ^(AA)fellow servant of yours and of your brothers the prophets, and of those who ^[g]keep the words of ^(AB)this book. Worship God!”

The Final Message

¹⁰ And he *said to me, “^(AC)Do not seal up ^(AD)the words of the prophecy of this book, ^(AE)for the time is near. ^11 (AF)Let the one who does wrong still do wrong, and the one who is filthy still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous still practice righteousness, and the one who is holy still keep himself holy.”

¹² “Behold, ^(AG)I am coming quickly, and My ^(AH)reward is with Me, ^(AI)to reward each one as his work ^[h]deserves. ¹³ I am the ^(AJ)Alpha and the Omega, ^(AK)the first and the last, ^(AL)the beginning and the end.”

¹⁴ Blessed are those who ^(AM)wash their robes, so that they will have the right to ^(AN)the tree of life, and may ^(AO)enter the city by the ^(AP)gates. ^15 (AQ)Outside are the ^(AR)dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral persons, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.

¹⁶ “^(AS)I, Jesus, have sent ^(AT)My angel to testify to you of these things ^[i](AU)for the churches. I am ^(AV)the root and the ^(AW)descendant of David, the bright ^(AX)morning star.”

¹⁷ The ^(AY)Spirit and the ^(AZ)bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And ^(BA)let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires, take the ^(BB)water of life without cost.

¹⁸ I testify to everyone who hears ^(BC)the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone ^(BD)adds to them, God will add to him ^(BE)the plagues that are written in ^(BF)this book; ¹⁹ and if anyone ^(BG)takes away from the ^(BH)words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from ^(BI)the tree of life and ^[j]from the holy city, ^(BJ)which are written in this book.

²⁰ He who ^(BK)testifies to these things says, “Yes, ^(BL)I am coming quickly.” Amen. ^(BM)Come, Lord Jesus.

^21 (BN)The grace of the Lord Jesus be with ^[k]all. Amen.