2 Kings 24
New English Translation
24 During Jehoiakim’s reign,[a] King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked.[b] Jehoiakim was his subject for three years, but then he rebelled against him.[c] 2 The Lord sent against him Babylonian, Syrian, Moabite, and Ammonite raiding bands; he sent them to destroy Judah, just as in the Lord’s message that he had announced through his servants the prophets. 3 Just as the Lord had announced, he rejected Judah because of all the sins that Manasseh had committed.[d] 4 Because he killed innocent people and stained Jerusalem with their blood, the Lord was unwilling to forgive them.[e]
5 The rest of the events of Jehoiakim’s reign and all his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.[f] 6 He passed away[g] and his son Jehoiachin replaced him as king. 7 The king of Egypt did not march out from his land again, for the king of Babylon conquered all the territory that the king of Egypt had formerly controlled between the Stream of Egypt and the Euphrates River.
Jehoiachin’s Reign over Judah
8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother[h] was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan, from Jerusalem. 9 He did evil in the sight of[i] the Lord as his ancestors had done.
10 At that time the generals[j] of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon marched to Jerusalem and besieged the city.[k] 11 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to the city while his generals were besieging it. 12 King Jehoiachin of Judah, along with his mother, his servants, his officials, and his eunuchs surrendered[l] to the king of Babylon. The king of Babylon, in the eighth year of his reign,[m] took Jehoiachin[n] prisoner. 13 Nebuchadnezzar[o] took from there all the riches in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and of the royal palace. He removed all the gold items that King Solomon of Israel had made for the Lord’s temple, just as the Lord had warned. 14 He deported all the residents of Jerusalem, including all the officials and all the soldiers (10,000 people in all). This included all the craftsmen and those who worked with metal. No one was left except for the poorest among the people of the land. 15 He deported Jehoiachin from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with the king’s mother and wives, his eunuchs, and the high-ranking officials of the land.[p] 16 The king of Babylon deported to Babylon all the soldiers (there were 7,000), as well as 1,000 craftsmen and metal workers. This included all the best warriors.[q] 17 The king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s[r] uncle, king in Jehoiachin’s place. He renamed him Zedekiah.
Zedekiah’s Reign over Judah
18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled for eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother[s] was Hamutal,[t] the daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah. 19 He did evil in the sight of[u] the Lord, as Jehoiakim had done.[v]
20 What follows is a record of what happened to Jerusalem and Judah because of the Lord’s anger; he finally threw them out of his presence.[w] Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 24:1 tn Heb “In his days.”
- 2 Kings 24:1 tn Heb “came up.” Perhaps an object (“against him”) has been accidentally omitted from the text. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 306.
- 2 Kings 24:1 tn The Hebrew text has “and he turned and rebelled against him.”
- 2 Kings 24:3 tn Heb “Certainly according to the word of the Lord this happened against Judah, to remove [them] from his face because of the sins of Manasseh according to all which he did.”
- 2 Kings 24:4 tn Heb “and also the blood of the innocent which he shed, and he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord was not willing to forgive.”
- 2 Kings 24:5 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jehoiakim, and all which he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”
- 2 Kings 24:6 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
- 2 Kings 24:8 tn Heb “the name of his mother.”
- 2 Kings 24:9 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
- 2 Kings 24:10 tn Heb “servants.”
- 2 Kings 24:10 tn Heb “went up [to] Jerusalem and the city entered into siege.”
- 2 Kings 24:12 tn Heb “came out.”
- 2 Kings 24:12 sn That is, the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, 597 b.c.
- 2 Kings 24:12 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Jehoiachin) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- 2 Kings 24:13 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Nebuchadnezzar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- 2 Kings 24:15 tn Heb “and he deported Jehoiachin to Babylon; the mother of the king and the wives of the king and his eunuchs and the mighty of the land he led into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.”
- 2 Kings 24:16 tn Heb “the entire [group], mighty men, doers of war.”
- 2 Kings 24:17 tn Heb “his.”
- 2 Kings 24:18 tn Heb “the name of his mother.”
- 2 Kings 24:18 tc Some textual witnesses support the consonantal text (Kethib) in reading “Hamital.”
- 2 Kings 24:19 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
- 2 Kings 24:19 tn Heb “according to all which Jehoiakim had done.”
- 2 Kings 24:20 tn Heb “Surely [or, ‘for’] because of the anger of the Lord this happened in Jerusalem and Judah until he threw them out from upon his face.”
2 Kings 24
English Standard Version
24 (A)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 (B)Chaldeans and (C)bands of the Syrians and bands of the Moabites and bands of the Ammonites, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, (D)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, (E)for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, 4 and also (F)for the innocent blood that he had shed. For he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord would not pardon. 5 (G)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 (H)slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place. 7 (I)And the king of Egypt did not come again out of his land, (J)for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt (K)from the Brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates.
Jehoiachin Reigns in Judah
8 (L)Jehoiachin was (M)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, (N)according to all that his father had done.
Jerusalem Captured
10 At that time the servants of (O)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. 11 And (P)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it, 12 (Q)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. (R)The king of Babylon took him prisoner (S)in the eighth year of his reign 13 and carried off all the treasures of the house of the Lord (T)and the treasures of the king's house, (U)and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold in the temple of the Lord, (V)which Solomon king of Israel had made, (W)as the Lord had foretold. 14 (X)He carried away all Jerusalem and all the officials and all the mighty men of valor, (Y)10,000 captives, (Z)and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained, (AA)except the poorest people of the land. 15 (AB)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, (AC)7,000, and the craftsmen and the metal workers, 1,000, all of them strong and fit for war. 17 (AD)And the king of Babylon (AE)made Mattaniah, (AF)Jehoiachin's uncle, king in his place, (AG)and changed his name to Zedekiah.
Zedekiah Reigns in Judah
18 (AH)Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was (AI)Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 19 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, (AJ)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.
(AK)And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
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