2 Kings 24

New American Standard Bible

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. ²And 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, ⁴and ^(H)also for the innocent blood which he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; and the Lord was unwilling to 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 ^(I)Jehoiakim ^[b]lay down with his fathers, and his son Jehoiachin became king in his place. ⁷Now ^(J)the king of Egypt did not come out of his land again, ^(K)because the king of Babylon had taken everything that belonged to the king of Egypt from ^(L)the brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates.

⁸^(M)Jehoiachin was ^(N)eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned for 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, ^(O)in accordance with all that his father had done.

Deportation to Babylon

¹⁰At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar the 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. ¹²Then ^(P)Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his officials. And ^(Q)the king of Babylon took him prisoner in the eighth year of his reign. ¹³^(R)He also brought out from there all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house, and he ^(S)smashed all the articles of gold ^(T)that Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, just as the Lord had said. ¹⁴Then ^(U)he led into exile all the people of Jerusalem and all the commanders and all the valiant warriors, ^(V)ten thousand exiles, and ^(W)all the craftsmen and the smiths. None were left ^(X)except the poorest people of the land.

¹⁵So ^(Y)he led Jehoiachin into exile to Babylon; also the king’s mother, the king’s wives, and his officials and the leading men of the land, he led into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. ¹⁶And all the valiant men, ^(Z)seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths, a thousand, all strong and fit for war, these too the king of Babylon brought into exile to Babylon.

Zedekiah Made King

¹⁷^(AA)Then the king of Babylon made ^[c]his uncle Mattaniah king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.

¹⁸^(AB)Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was ^(AC)Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ¹⁹He did evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(AD)in accordance with everything that Jehoiakim had done. ²⁰For it was ^(AE)due to the anger of the Lord that this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until He cast them out of His presence. And ^(AF)Zedekiah revolted against the king of Babylon.

Footnotes

2 Kings 24:3 Lit mouth
2 Kings 24:6 I.e., died
2 Kings 24:17 I.e., Jehoiachin’s uncle

2 Kings 24

Common English Bible

24 In Jehoiakim’s days, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked. Jehoiakim had submitted to him for three years, but then Jehoiakim changed his mind and rebelled against him. ²The Lord sent Chaldean, Aramean, Moabite, and Ammonite raiding parties against Jehoiakim, sending them against Judah in order to destroy it. This was in agreement with the word that the Lord had spoken through his servants the prophets. ³Indeed, this happened to Judah because the Lord commanded them to be removed from his presence on account of all the sins that Manasseh had committed ⁴and because of the innocent blood that he had spilled. Manasseh had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord didn’t want to forgive that.

⁵The rest of Jehoiakim’s deeds and all that he accomplished, aren’t they written in the official records of Judah’s kings? ⁶Jehoiakim lay down with his ancestors. His son Jehoiachin succeeded him as king.

⁷The Egyptian king never left his country again because the Babylonian king had taken over all the territory that had previously belonged to him—from the border of Egypt to the Euphrates River.

Jehoiachin rules Judah

⁸Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he became king, and he ruled for three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Nehushta; she was Elnathan’s daughter and was from Jerusalem. ⁹He did what was evil in the Lord’s eyes, just as all his ancestors had done. ¹⁰At that time, the officers of Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem and laid siege to the city. ¹¹Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar himself arrived at the city while his officers were blockading it. ¹²Judah’s King Jehoiachin, along with his mother, his servants, his officers, and his officials, came out to surrender to the Babylonian king. The Babylonian king took Jehoiachin prisoner in the eighth year of Jehoiachin’s rule.

¹³Nebuchadnezzar also took away all the treasures of the Lord’s temple and of the royal palace. He cut into pieces all the gold objects that Israel’s King Solomon had made for the Lord’s temple, which is exactly what the Lord said would happen. ¹⁴Then Nebuchadnezzar exiled all of Jerusalem: all the officials, all the military leaders—ten thousand exiles—as well as all the skilled workers and metalworkers. No one was left behind except the poorest of the land’s people. ¹⁵Nebuchadnezzar exiled Jehoiachin to Babylon; he also exiled the queen mother, the king’s wives, the officials, and the land’s elite leaders from Jerusalem to Babylon. ¹⁶The Babylonian king also exiled seven thousand warriors—each one a hero trained for battle—as well as a thousand skilled workers and metalworkers to Babylon. ¹⁷Then the Babylonian king made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, succeed Jehoiachin as king. Nebuchadnezzar changed Mattaniah’s name to Zedekiah.

Zedekiah rules Judah

¹⁸Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king, and he ruled for eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal; she was Jeremiah’s daughter and was from Libnah. ¹⁹He did what was evil in the Lord’s eyes, just as Jehoiakim had done. ²⁰It was precisely because the Lord was angry with Jerusalem and Judah that he thrust them out of his presence.

The southern kingdom falls

Now Zedekiah rebelled against the Babylonian king.

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

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Common English Bible (CEB)

2 Kings 24 New American Standard Bible