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11 Josiah was the father of Jehoiachin[a] and his brothers (born at the time of the exile to Babylon).

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Footnotes

  1. 1:11 Greek Jeconiah, a variant spelling of Jehoiachin; also in 1:12. See 2 Kgs 24:6 and note at 1 Chr 3:16.

20 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon left them here when he exiled Jehoiachin[a] son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, to Babylon, along with all the other nobles of Judah and Jerusalem.

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Footnotes

  1. 27:20 Hebrew Jeconiah, a variant spelling of Jehoiachin.

The Lord gave him victory over King Jehoiakim of Judah and permitted him to take some of the sacred objects from the Temple of God. So Nebuchadnezzar took them back to the land of Babylonia[a] and placed them in the treasure-house of his god.

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Footnotes

  1. 1:2 Hebrew the land of Shinar.

28 The number of captives taken to Babylon in the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign[a] was 3,023. 29 Then in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year[b] he took 832 more. 30 In Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty-third year[c] he sent Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, who took 745 more—a total of 4,600 captives in all.

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Footnotes

  1. 52:28 This exile in the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign occurred in 597 B.c.
  2. 52:29 This exile in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign occurred in 586 B.c.
  3. 52:30 This exile in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign occurred in 581 B.c.

11 Then he gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him in bronze chains, and the king of Babylon led him away to Babylon. Zedekiah remained there in prison until the day of his death.

The Temple Destroyed

12 On August 17 of that year,[a] which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard and an official of the Babylonian king, arrived in Jerusalem. 13 He burned down the Temple of the Lord, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He destroyed all the important buildings[b] in the city. 14 Then he supervised the entire Babylonian[c] army as they tore down the walls of Jerusalem on every side. 15 Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took as exiles some of the poorest of the people, the rest of the people who remained in the city, the defectors who had declared their allegiance to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen.

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Footnotes

  1. 52:12 Hebrew On the tenth day of the fifth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This day was August 17, 586 B.c.; also see note on 52:4a.
  2. 52:13 Or destroyed the houses of all the important people.
  3. 52:14 Or Chaldean.

Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took as exiles to Babylon the rest of the people who remained in the city, those who had defected to him, and everyone else who remained.

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10 “Go west and look in the land of Cyprus[a];
    go east and search through the land of Kedar.
Has anyone ever heard of anything
    as strange as this?
11 Has any nation ever traded its gods for new ones,
    even though they are not gods at all?
Yet my people have exchanged their glorious God[b]
    for worthless idols!
12 The heavens are shocked at such a thing
    and shrink back in horror and dismay,”
    says the Lord.
13 “For my people have done two evil things:
They have abandoned me—
    the fountain of living water.
And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns
    that can hold no water at all!

The Results of Israel’s Sin

14 “Why has Israel become a slave?
    Why has he been carried away as plunder?
15 Strong lions have roared against him,
    and the land has been destroyed.
The towns are now in ruins,
    and no one lives in them anymore.
16 Egyptians, marching from their cities of Memphis[c] and Tahpanhes,
    have destroyed Israel’s glory and power.
17 And you have brought this upon yourselves
    by rebelling against the Lord your God,
    even though he was leading you on the way!

18 “What have you gained by your alliances with Egypt
    and your covenants with Assyria?
What good to you are the streams of the Nile[d]
    or the waters of the Euphrates River?[e]
19 Your wickedness will bring its own punishment.
    Your turning from me will shame you.
You will see what an evil, bitter thing it is
    to abandon the Lord your God and not to fear him.
    I, the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!

20 “Long ago I broke the yoke that oppressed you
    and tore away the chains of your slavery,
but still you said,
    ‘I will not serve you.’
On every hill and under every green tree,
    you have prostituted yourselves by bowing down to idols.
21 But I was the one who planted you,
    choosing a vine of the purest stock—the very best.
    How did you grow into this corrupt wild vine?
22 No amount of soap or lye can make you clean.
    I still see the stain of your guilt.
    I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!

Israel, an Unfaithful Wife

23 “You say, ‘That’s not true!
    I haven’t worshiped the images of Baal!’
But how can you say that?
    Go and look in any valley in the land!
Face the awful sins you have done.
    You are like a restless female camel
    desperately searching for a mate.
24 You are like a wild donkey,
    sniffing the wind at mating time.
Who can restrain her lust?
    Those who desire her don’t need to search,
    for she goes running to them!
25 When will you stop running?
    When will you stop panting after other gods?
But you say, ‘Save your breath.
    I’m in love with these foreign gods,
    and I can’t stop loving them now!’

26 “Israel is like a thief
    who feels shame only when he gets caught.
They, their kings, officials, priests, and prophets—
    all are alike in this.
27 To an image carved from a piece of wood they say,
    ‘You are my father.’
To an idol chiseled from a block of stone they say,
    ‘You are my mother.’
They turn their backs on me,
    but in times of trouble they cry out to me,
    ‘Come and save us!’
28 But why not call on these gods you have made?
    When trouble comes, let them save you if they can!
For you have as many gods
    as there are towns in Judah.

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Footnotes

  1. 2:10 Hebrew Kittim.
  2. 2:11 Hebrew their glory.
  3. 2:16 Hebrew Noph.
  4. 2:18a Hebrew of Shihor, a branch of the Nile River.
  5. 2:18b Hebrew the river?

20 The few who survived were taken as exiles to Babylon, and they became servants to the king and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power.

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10 In the spring of the year[a] King Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin to Babylon. Many treasures from the Temple of the Lord were also taken to Babylon at that time. And Nebuchadnezzar installed Jehoiachin’s uncle,[b] Zedekiah, as the next king in Judah and Jerusalem.

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Footnotes

  1. 36:10a Hebrew At the turn of the year. The first day of this year in the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar was April 13, 597 B.c.
  2. 36:10b As in parallel text at 2 Kgs 24:17; Hebrew reads brother, or relative.

Jehoahaz Rules in Judah

36 Then the people of the land took Josiah’s son Jehoahaz and made him the next king in Jerusalem.

Jehoahaz[a] was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months.

Then he was deposed by the king of Egypt, who demanded that Judah pay 7,500 pounds of silver and 75 pounds of gold[b] as tribute.

Jehoiakim Rules in Judah

The king of Egypt then installed Eliakim, the brother of Jehoahaz, as the next king of Judah and Jerusalem, and he changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. Then Neco took Jehoahaz to Egypt as a prisoner.

Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God.

Then King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and captured it, and he bound Jehoiakim in bronze chains and led him away to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar also took some of the treasures from the Temple of the Lord, and he placed them in his palace[c] in Babylon.

The rest of the events in Jehoiakim’s reign, including all the evil things he did and everything found against him, are recorded in The Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. Then his son Jehoiachin became the next king.

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Footnotes

  1. 36:2 Hebrew Joahaz, a variant spelling of Jehoahaz; also in 36:4.
  2. 36:3 Hebrew 100 talents [3,400 kilograms] of silver and 1 talent [34 kilograms] of gold.
  3. 36:7 Or temple.

15 The sons of Josiah were Johanan (the oldest), Jehoiakim (the second), Zedekiah (the third), and Jehoahaz[a] (the fourth).

16 The successors of Jehoiakim were his son Jehoiachin and his brother Zedekiah.[b]

Descendants of Jehoiachin

17 The sons of Jehoiachin,[c] who was taken prisoner by the Babylonians, were Shealtiel,

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Footnotes

  1. 3:15 Hebrew Shallum, another name for Jehoahaz.
  2. 3:16 Hebrew The sons of Jehoiakim were his son Jeconiah [a variant spelling of Jehoiachin] and his son Zedekiah.
  3. 3:17 Hebrew Jeconiah, a variant spelling of Jehoiachin.

11 Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took as exiles the rest of the people who remained in the city, the defectors who had declared their allegiance to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the population.

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Jehoahaz Rules in Judah

31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah. 32 He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, just as his ancestors had done.

33 Pharaoh Neco put Jehoahaz in prison at Riblah in the land of Hamath to prevent him from ruling[a] in Jerusalem. He also demanded that Judah pay 7,500 pounds of silver and 75 pounds of gold[b] as tribute.

Jehoiakim Rules in Judah

34 Pharaoh Neco then installed Eliakim, another of Josiah’s sons, to reign in place of his father, and he changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. Jehoahaz was taken to Egypt as a prisoner, where he died.

35 In order to get the silver and gold demanded as tribute by Pharaoh Neco, Jehoiakim collected a tax from the people of Judah, requiring them to pay in proportion to their wealth.

36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother was Zebidah, the daughter of Pedaiah from Rumah. 37 He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, just as his ancestors had done.

24 During Jehoiakim’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded the land of Judah. Jehoiakim surrendered and paid him tribute for three years but then rebelled. Then the Lord sent bands of Babylonian,[c] Aramean, Moabite, and Ammonite raiders against Judah to destroy it, just as the Lord had promised through his prophets. These disasters happened to Judah because of the Lord’s command. He had decided to banish Judah from his presence because of the many sins of Manasseh, who had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood. The Lord would not forgive this.

The rest of the events in Jehoiakim’s reign and all his deeds are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah. When Jehoiakim died, his son Jehoiachin became the next king.

The king of Egypt did not venture out of his country after that, for the king of Babylon captured the entire area formerly claimed by Egypt—from the Brook of Egypt to the Euphrates River.

Jehoiachin Rules in Judah

Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan from Jerusalem. Jehoiachin did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, just as his father had done.

10 During Jehoiachin’s reign, the officers of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came up against Jerusalem and besieged it. 11 Nebuchadnezzar himself arrived at the city during the siege. 12 Then King Jehoiachin, along with the queen mother, his advisers, his commanders, and his officials, surrendered to the Babylonians.

In the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, he took Jehoiachin prisoner. 13 As the Lord had said beforehand, Nebuchadnezzar carried away all the treasures from the Lord’s Temple and the royal palace. He stripped away[d] all the gold objects that King Solomon of Israel had placed in the Temple. 14 King Nebuchadnezzar took all of Jerusalem captive, including all the commanders and the best of the soldiers, craftsmen, and artisans—10,000 in all. Only the poorest people were left in the land.

15 Nebuchadnezzar led King Jehoiachin away as a captive to Babylon, along with the queen mother, his wives and officials, and all Jerusalem’s elite. 16 He also exiled 7,000 of the best troops and 1,000 craftsmen and artisans, all of whom were strong and fit for war. 17 Then the king of Babylon installed Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s[e] uncle, as the next king, and he changed Mattaniah’s name to Zedekiah.

Zedekiah Rules in Judah

18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah. 19 But Zedekiah did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, just as Jehoiakim had done. 20 These things happened because of the Lord’s anger against the people of Jerusalem and Judah, until he finally banished them from his presence and sent them into exile.

The Fall of Jerusalem

Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

Footnotes

  1. 23:33a The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
  2. 23:33b Hebrew 100 talents [3,400 kilograms] of silver and 1 talent [34 kilograms] of gold.
  3. 24:2 Or Chaldean.
  4. 24:13 Or He cut apart.
  5. 24:17 Hebrew his.

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