2 Kings 23:34-24:7

International Children’s Bible

³⁴ King Neco made Josiah’s son Eliakim the king in place of Josiah his father. Then Neco changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Jehoahaz to Egypt, and he died there. ³⁵ Jehoiakim gave King Neco the silver and gold he demanded. But Jehoiakim taxed the land so he could pay the king. He took silver and gold from the people of the land. The amount he took from each person depended on how much he had.

Jehoiakim King of Judah

³⁶ Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became king. He was king in Jerusalem for 11 years. His mother’s name was Zebidah daughter of Pedaiah. She was from Rumah. ³⁷ Jehoiakim did what the Lord said was wrong, just as his ancestors had done.

24 While Jehoiakim was king, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked the land of Judah. So Jehoiakim became Nebuchadnezzar’s servant for three years. Then Jehoiakim turned against Nebuchadnezzar. And he broke away from his rule. ² The Lord sent men from Babylon, Aram, Moab and Ammon against Jehoiakim. He sent them to destroy Judah. This happened the way the Lord had said it would through his servants the prophets.

³ The Lord commanded this to happen to the people of Judah. He did it to remove them from his presence. This was because of all the sins Manasseh had done. ⁴ He had killed many innocent people. He had filled Jerusalem with their blood. And the Lord would not forgive these sins.

⁵ The other things that happened while Jehoiakim was king and all he did are written down. They are in the book of the history of the kings of Judah. ⁶ Jehoiakim died, and his son Jehoiachin became king in his place.

⁷ The king of Egypt did not come out of his land again. This was because of the king of Babylon. He had captured all that belonged to the king of Egypt. He took all the land from the brook of Egypt to the Euphrates River.