Chronological
24 ¶ In his time Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came up, and Jehoiakim became his slave three years; then he turned and rebelled against him.
2 And the LORD sent against him armies of the Chaldees and armies of the Syrians and armies of the Moabites and armies of the sons of Ammon and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke by his slaves the prophets.
3 Surely at the commandment of the LORD this came upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did
4 and also for the innocent blood that he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, which the LORD would not pardon.
5 Now 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 stead.
7 And the king of Egypt never came out of his land again, for the king of Babylon had taken all that pertained to the king of Egypt from the river of Egypt unto the river Euphrates.
8 ¶ Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.
9 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done.
10 At that time the slaves of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.
11 Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, also came against the city when his slaves had besieged it.
12 So Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, went out to the king of Babylon, he and his mother and his slaves and his princes and his eunuchs; and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.
13 And he carried out of there all the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king’s house and cut in pieces 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 Jerusalem and all the princes and all the mighty men of valour, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths; none remained except the poorest sort of the people of the land.
15 He likewise carried Jehoiachin away to Babylon and the king’s mother and the king’s wives and his officers, and the mighty of the land; he carried them all into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.
16 All the men of might, which were seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths which were one thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.
17 And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, his father’s brother, king in his stead and changed his name to Zedekiah.
18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
19 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.
20 For the anger of the LORD was against Jerusalem and Judah until he cast them out from his presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
25 ¶ And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came, he and all his host, against Jerusalem and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about.
2 And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
3 And on the ninth of the month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.
4 And the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which is by the king’s garden, with the Chaldees round about the city; and they went by the way of the plain.
5 And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, after all his army had been scattered from him.
6 So they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah, and they sentenced him.
7 And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes and put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him with fetters of brass and carried him to Babylon.
8 ¶ And in the fifth month, on the seventh of the month, which was the year nineteen of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, a slave of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.
9 And he burnt the house of the LORD and the king’s house and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man’s house he burnt with fire.
10 And all the army of the Chaldees, that were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls of Jerusalem round about.
11 Now the rest of the people that were left in the city and the fugitives that fell away to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the multitude, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried away.
12 But the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen.
13 And the Chaldees broke in pieces the pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD and the bases and the brasen sea that was in the house of the LORD and carried the brass of them to Babylon.
14 They also took away the pots and the shovels and the snuffers and the spoons and all the vessels of brass, with which they ministered.
15 And the censers and the bowls and such things as were of gold in gold and of silver in silver the captain of the guard took away, also
16 the two pillars, one sea, and the bases which Solomon had made for the house of the LORD; the brass of all these vessels was without weight.
17 The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and the chapiter upon it was brass; and the height of the chapiter three cubits, and network and pomegranates upon the chapiter round about, all of brass; and the second pillar was like the first with network.
18 And the captain of the guard took Seraiah, the chief priest, and Zephaniah, the second priest, and the three keepers of the door;
19 and out of the city he took a eunuch, that was set over the men of war, and five men of those that were in the king’s presence, who were found in the city, and the principal scribe of the host, who mustered the people of the land, with sixty men of the people of the land that were found in the city.
20 Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, took these and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah.
21 And the king of Babylon smote and slew them at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away out of their land.
22 ¶ And as for the people whom Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, left in the land of Judah, he made Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, governor over them.
23 And when all the captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even 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 Then Gedaliah swore to them and to their men and said unto them, Do not fear the slaves of the Chaldees; dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.
25 But in the seventh month, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama of the royal seed, came and ten men with him and smote Gedaliah, that he died, and the Jews and the Chaldees that were with him at Mizpah.
26 Then all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the armies, arose and went to Egypt, for they were afraid of the Chaldees.
27 And it came to pass after thirty-seven years of the captivity of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, that Evilmerodach, king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, out of the prison house;
28 and he spoke kindly to him and set his seat above the seats of the kings that were with him in Babylon.
29 And he changed his prison garments, and he ate bread continually before him all the days of his life.
30 And the king caused him to be given his food continually, each thing in its time, 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 stead in Jerusalem.
2 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.
3 And the king of Egypt put him down at Jerusalem and condemned the land in one hundred talents of silver and a 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 eleven years in Jerusalem, and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God.
6 And Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came up against him and bound him with fetters of brass; he carried him to Babylon.
7 Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of the LORD to Babylon and put them in his temple at Babylon.
8 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and his abominations which he did and that which was found in him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah; and Jehoiachin, his son, reigned in his stead.
9 Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem; and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.
10 And when the year was expired, King Nebuchadnezzar sent and caused him to be brought to Babylon with the precious vessels of the house of the LORD and made Zedekiah, his brother, king over Judah and Jerusalem.
11 ¶ Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.
12 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah, the prophet, who spoke unto him from the mouth of the LORD.
13 He rebelled, likewise, against King Nebuchadnezzar, unto whom he had sworn by God; but he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart from turning unto the LORD God of Israel.
14 Moreover, all the princes of the priests and the people increased the rebellion, rebelling according to all the abominations of the Gentiles and polluting the house of the LORD which he had sanctified in Jerusalem.
15 And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by the hand of his messengers, rising up early, and sending because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place.
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 there was no remedy.
17 Therefore, he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age; he gave them all into his hands.
18 Likewise, 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 brought to Babylon.
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 desirable vessels.
20 And those that escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon; where they were slaves to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia,
21 to fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah until the land had fulfilled her sabbaths; for all the time of her desolation she rested until the seventy years were fulfilled.
22 ¶ But in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and put it also in writing, saying,
23 Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia, The LORD God of the heavens has given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he has charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? Let the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.
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