Chronological

24 In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. ² Yahweh sent against him bands of the Chaldeans, bands of the Syrians, bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to Yahweh’s word which he spoke by his servants the prophets. ³ Surely at the commandment of Yahweh this came on 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, and Yahweh would not pardon. ⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, aren’t they 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 The king of Egypt didn’t come out of his land any more; for the king of Babylon had taken, from the brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates, all that belonged to the king of Egypt.

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 He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, according to all that his father had done. ¹⁰ At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. ¹¹ Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it, ¹² and Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon—he, his mother, his servants, his princes, and his officers; and the king of Babylon captured him in the eighth year of his reign. ¹³ He carried out from there all the treasures of Yahweh’s house 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 Yahweh’s temple, as Yahweh had said. ¹⁴ He carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. No one remained except the poorest people of the land. ¹⁵ He carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, with the king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officers, and the chief men of the land. He carried them into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. ¹⁶ All the men of might, even seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths one thousand, all of them strong and fit for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon. ¹⁷ The king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s father’s brother, 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 eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ¹⁹ He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. ²⁰ For through the anger of Yahweh, this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence.

Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

25 In the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built forts against it around it. ² So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. ³ On the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine was severe in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land. ⁴ Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden (now the Chaldeans were against the city around it); and the king went by the way of the Arabah. ⁵ But the Chaldean army pursued the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him. ⁶ Then they captured the king and carried him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they passed judgment on him. ⁷ They killed Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes, then put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him in fetters, and carried him to Babylon.

⁸ Now in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. ⁹ He burned Yahweh’s house, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He burned every great house with fire. ¹⁰ All the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem. ¹¹ Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive the rest of the people who were left in the city and those who had deserted to the king of Babylon—all the rest of the multitude. ¹² But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to work the vineyards and fields.

¹³ The Chaldeans broke up the pillars of bronze that were in Yahweh’s house and the bases and the bronze sea that were in Yahweh’s house, and carried the bronze pieces to Babylon. ¹⁴ They took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the spoons, and all the vessels of bronze with which they ministered. ¹⁵ The captain of the guard took away the fire pans, the basins, that which was of gold, for gold, and that which was of silver, for silver. ¹⁶ The two pillars, the one sea, and the bases, which Solomon had made for Yahweh’s house, the bronze of all these vessels was not weighed. ¹⁷ The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits,^[a] and a capital of bronze was on it. The height of the capital was three cubits, with network and pomegranates on the capital around it, all of bronze; and the second pillar with its network was like these.

¹⁸ The captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold; ¹⁹ and out of the city he took an officer who was set over the men of war; and five men of those who saw the king’s face, who were found in the city; and the scribe, the 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 Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah. ²¹ The king of Babylon attacked them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away captive out of his land.

²² As for the people who were left in the land of Judah whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, even over them he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, governor. ²³ Now when all the captains of the forces, 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, Johanan the son of Kareah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men. ²⁴ Gedaliah swore to them and to their men, and said to them, “Don’t be afraid because of the servants of the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you.”

²⁵ But in the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal offspring came, and ten men with him, and struck Gedaliah so that he died, with the Jews and the Chaldeans that were with him at Mizpah. ²⁶ All the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces arose and came to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans. ²⁷ In the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, Evilmerodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, released Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison, ²⁸ and he 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. Jehoiachin ate bread before him continually all the days of his life; ³⁰ and for his allowance, there was a continual allowance given him from the king, every day a portion, 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 Joahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. ³ The king of Egypt removed him from office at Jerusalem, and fined the land one hundred talents of silver and a talent^[a] of gold. ⁴ The king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. Neco took Joahaz 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. He did that which was evil in Yahweh his God’s sight. ⁶ Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against him, and bound him in fetters to carry him to Babylon. ⁷ Nebuchadnezzar also carried some of the vessels of Yahweh’s house 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 place.

⁹ Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight. ¹⁰ At the return of the year, King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon, with the valuable vessels of Yahweh’s house, and made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem.

¹¹ Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. ¹² He did that which was evil in Yahweh his God’s sight. He didn’t humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from Yahweh’s mouth. ¹³ He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God; but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart against turning to Yahweh, the God of Israel. ¹⁴ Moreover all the chiefs of the priests and the people trespassed very greatly after all the abominations of the nations; and they polluted Yahweh’s house which he had made holy in Jerusalem.

¹⁵ Yahweh, the God of their fathers, sent to them by 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, despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until Yahweh’s wrath arose against his people, until there was no remedy.

¹⁷ Therefore he brought on them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or infirm. He gave them all into his hand. ¹⁸ All the vessels of God’s house, great and small, and the treasures of Yahweh’s house, and the treasures of the king and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon. ¹⁹ They burned God’s house, broke down the wall of Jerusalem, burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all of its valuable vessels. ²⁰ He carried those who had escaped from the sword away to Babylon, and they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia, ²¹ to fulfill Yahweh’s word by Jeremiah’s mouth, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. As long as it lay desolate, it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.

²² Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that Yahweh’s word by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, ²³ “Cyrus king of Persia says, ‘Yahweh, the God of heaven, has given all the kingdoms of the earth to me; and he has commanded me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all his people, Yahweh his God be with him, and let him go up.’”