Chronological
24 In his days, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came up. And Jehoiakim became his servant for three years. Afterward, he turned and rebelled against him.
2 And the LORD sent bands of the Chaldeans against him, and bands of the Aramites, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the Ammonites. And he sent them against Judah, to destroy it, according to the Word of the LORD, which He spoke by His servants, the Prophets.
3 Surely by the Commandment of the LORD this came upon Judah, so that He might put them out of His sight for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did,
4 and for the innocent blood that he shed (for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood). Therefore, the LORD would not pardon it.
5 Concerning 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?
6 So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers. And Jehoiachin, his son, reigned in his place.
7 And the king of Egypt no longer came out of his land. For the king of Babylon had captured all that pertained to the king of Egypt, from the river of Egypt to the river Perath.
8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign and reigned in Jerusalem for three months. Also, his mother’s name was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.
9 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done.
10 In that time, the servants of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came up against Jerusalem. So the city was besieged.
11 And Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came against the city. And his servants besieged it.
12 Then Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, came out against the king of Babylon, he and his mother and his servants and his princes and his eunuchs. And the king of Babylon took him, in the eighth year of his reign.
13 And he carried away all the treasures of the House of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house, and broke all the vessels of gold which Solomon, king of Israel, had made in the Temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said.
14 And he carried away all of Jerusalem and all the princes and all the strong men of war (ten thousand into captivity) and all the workmen and cunning men. So no one remained except the poor people of the land.
15 And he carried Jehoiachin away into Babylon, and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and his eunuchs. And he carried away the mighty of the land into captivity—from Jerusalem to Babylon—
16 and all the men of war (seven thousand) and carpenters and locksmiths (a thousand). All who were strong and apt for war the king of Babylon brought to Babylon as captives.
17 And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, his uncle, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.
18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign. And he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. Also, his mother’s name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
19 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.
20 Therefore, the wrath of the LORD was certainly against Jerusalem and Judah, until He cast them out of His sight. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
25 And in the ninth year of his reign, the tenth month, tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and all his army, came against Jerusalem, and camped against it. And they built a siege wall against it, all around.
2 So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
3 And on the ninth day of the month, the famine was severe in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.
4 Then the city was broken up. And all the men of war fled by night, by way of the gate between two walls that was by the king’s garden. Now the Chaldeans were by the city, all around. And the king went by way of the wilderness.
5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king and took him in the deserts of Jericho. And all his army was scattered from him.
6 Then they took the king and carried him up to the king of Babylon, to Riblah, where they gave judgment upon him.
7 And they killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in chains, and carried him to Babylon.
8 And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month (which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon), Nebuzaradan, chief steward and servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem
9 and burnt the House of the LORD, and the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem. And he burnt all the great houses with fire.
10 And all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the chief steward, broke down the walls of Jerusalem, all around.
11 And the rest of the people who were left in the city, and those who had fled and fallen to the king of Babylon with the remnant of the multitude, chief steward Nebuzaradan carried away captive.
12 But the chief steward left of the poor of the land to dress the vines, and to till the land.
13 Also, the Chaldeans broke the pillars of bronze that were in the House of the LORD, and the bases, and the bronze sea that was in the House of the LORD and carried the bronze from them to Babylon.
14 They also took away the pots and the shovels and the instruments of music and the incense dishes and all the vessels of bronze in which they ministered.
15 And the chief steward took away the ash pans and the basins, that were of gold and silver,
16 with the two pillars, one sea and the bases, which Solomon had made for the House of the LORD. The bronze from all these vessels was without weight.
17 The height of one pillar was eighteen cubits. And its chapiter was bronze. And the height of the chapiter (with network) was three cubits, with pomegranates upon the chapiters, all around, all of bronze. And the second pillar was the same, with the network.
18 And the chief steward took Seraiah, the High Priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the Door.
19 And he took a eunuch out of the city, who had the oversight of the men of war, and five of the men from the city who were in the king’s presence, and Sopher (captain of the army), who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the city.
20 And Nebuzaradan, the chief steward, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon, to Riblah.
21 And the king of Babylon struck them and killed them at Riblah, in the land of Hamath. So, Judah was carried away captive, out of his own land.
22 However, people remained in the land of Judah whom Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, left alone. And he made Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, ruler over them.
23 Then, when all the captains of the army and their men heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, they came to Gedaliah, to Mizpah. They were: Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah and Johanan, the son of Careah, and Seraiah, the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah, the son of Maachathi, they and their men.
24 And Gedaliah swore to them, and to their men, and said to them, “Do not fear to be the servants of the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and you shall be well.”
25 But in the seventh month, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the king’s seed, came, and ten men with him. And he struck Gedaliah and he died, and so did he the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah.
26 Then all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the army, arose and came to Egypt. For they were afraid of the Chaldeans.
27 Nevertheless, in the thirty-seventh year after Jehoiachin, king of Judah, was carried away, in the twelfth month, the twenty-seventh day of the month, Evil-Merodach, king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, out of the prison
28 and spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon
29 and changed his prison garments. And he continually ate bread before him, all the days of his life.
30 And his portion was a continual portion, given to him by the king, every day a certain amount, all the days of his life.
36 Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father’s place in Jerusalem.
2 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign. And he reigned for three months in Jerusalem.
3 And the king of Egypt took him away at Jerusalem and imposed a tribute on the land of one hundred talents of silver and one talent of gold.
4 And the king of Egypt made Eliakim, his brother, king over Judah and Jerusalem and changed his name to Jehoiakim. And Necho took Jehoahaz, his brother, and carried him to Egypt.
5 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign. And he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem and did evil in the sight of the LORD his God.
6 Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babel, came up against him and bound him with chains to carry him to Babel.
7 Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the House of the LORD to Babel and put them in his temple at Babel.
8 Concerning the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and his abominations which he did, and that which was found against him, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin, his son, reigned in his place.
9 Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign. And he reigned for three months and ten days in Jerusalem and did evil in the sight of the LORD.
10 And when the year was out, King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babel, with the precious vessels of the House of the LORD. And he made Zedekiah, his brother, king over Judah and Jerusalem.
11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign and reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem.
12 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the Prophet at the Commandment of the LORD.
13 But he also rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, who had caused him to swear by God. And he hardened his neck and made his heart obstinate, so that he might not return to the LORD God of Israel.
14 Also, all the chief of the priests and of the people trespassed very much, according to all the abominations of the heathen, and polluted the houses of the LORD which He had sanctified in Jerusalem.
15 Therefore, the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising early and sending. For He had compassion on His people, and on His habitation.
16 But they mocked the messengers of God and despised His Words and misused His Prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, and until there was no remedy.
17 For He brought the king of the Chaldeans upon them, who killed their young men with the sword in the House of their Sanctuary, and spared neither young man nor virgin, ancient nor aged. God gave all into his hand.
18 And all the vessels of the House of God, great and small, and the treasures of the House of the LORD, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes, all these he carried to Babel.
19 And they burnt the House of God, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all its precious vessels.
20 And those who were left by the sword, he carried away to Babel. And they were servants to him, and to his sons, until the kingdom of the Persians ruled,
21 to fulfill the Word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had her fill of her Sabbaths. For all the days that she lay desolate, she kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.
22 But in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia (when the Word of the LORD, spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah, was finished) the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia. And he made a proclamation through all his kingdom, and also by writing, saying,
23 “Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia, ‘The LORD God of Heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the Earth and has Commanded me to build Him a House in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all His people with whom the LORD his God is, let him go up!’”
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