Zedekiah King of Judah^(A)

¹¹ Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king of Judah, and he ·was king [reigned] in Jerusalem for eleven years. ¹² Zedekiah did ·what the Lord said was wrong [^Levil in the Lord’s sight/eyes]. The prophet Jeremiah spoke ·messages from [^Lfrom the mouth of] the Lord, but Zedekiah did not ·obey [^Lhumble himself]. ¹³ Zedekiah turned against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had forced him to ·swear [vow; take an oath] in God’s name to be loyal to him. But Zedekiah ·became stubborn [^Lstiffened his neck] and ·refused to obey [^Lhardened his heart against seeking] the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁴ Also, all the ·leaders [officials] of the priests and the people of Judah became more ·wicked [unfaithful], following the ·evil example [detestable/abominable practices] of the other nations. The Lord had ·made holy [consecrated; sanctified] the ·Temple [^Lhouse] in Jerusalem, but the leaders ·made it unholy [defiled/polluted it].