The Daily Audio Bible

Judah’s King Jehoahaz

³¹ Jehoahaz^(A) was^(B) 23 years old when he became king and reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal^(C) daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah. ³² He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight just as his ancestors had done.^{(D) 33} Pharaoh Neco imprisoned him at Riblah^(E) in the land of Hamath^(F) to keep him from reigning in Jerusalem, and he imposed on the land a fine of 7,500 pounds^[a] of silver and 75 pounds^[b] of gold.

Judah’s King Jehoiakim

³⁴ Then^(G) Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim^(H) son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim.^(I) But Neco took Jehoahaz and went to Egypt, and he died there.^{(J) 35} So Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but at Pharaoh’s command he taxed the land to give the money. He exacted the silver and the gold from the common people,^[c] each man according to his assessment,^(K) to give it to Pharaoh Neco.

³⁶ Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became king and reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zebidah daughter of Pedaiah, from Rumah. ³⁷ He did what was evil^(L) in the Lord’s sight just as his ancestors had done.

Jehoiakim’s Rebellion and Death

24 During^(M) Jehoiakim’s reign,^(N) Nebuchadnezzar^(O) king of Babylon^(P) attacked.^(Q) Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years, and then he turned and rebelled against him. ² The Lord sent Chaldean, Aramean,^(R) Moabite,^(S) and Ammonite raiders against Jehoiakim. He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord He had spoken through His servants the prophets.^{(T) 3} Indeed, this happened to Judah at the Lord’s command to remove them from His sight.^(U) It was because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all he had done,^{(V) 4} and also because of all the innocent blood he had shed. He had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood,^(W) and the Lord would not forgive.

⁵ The rest of the events of Jehoiakim’s reign, along with all his accomplishments, are written in the Historical Record of Judah’s Kings.^{(X) 6} Jehoiakim rested with his fathers, and his son Jehoiachin became king in his place.^(Y)

⁷ Now the king of Egypt did not march out of his land again,^(Z) for the king of Babylon took everything that belonged to the king of Egypt,^(AA) from the Brook of Egypt to the Euphrates River.^(AB)

Judah’s King Jehoiachin

⁸ Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he became king and reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan, from Jerusalem.^{(AC) 9} He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight as his father had done.

Deportations to Babylon

¹⁰ At that time^(AD) the servants of Nebuchadnezzar^(AE) king of Babylon marched up to Jerusalem, and the city came under siege. ¹¹ Then King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it. ¹² Jehoiachin king of Judah, along with his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his officials, surrendered to the king of Babylon.^(AF)

So the king of Babylon took him captive in the eighth year of his reign. ¹³ He also carried off from there all the treasures of the Lord’s temple and the treasures of the king’s palace, and he cut into pieces all the gold articles that Solomon king of Israel had made^(AG) for the Lord’s sanctuary, just as God had predicted.^{(AH) 14} Then he deported all Jerusalem and all the commanders and all the fighting men,^(AI) 10,000 captives,^(AJ) and all the craftsmen and metalsmiths.^(AK) Except for the poorest people of the land,^(AL) no one remained.

¹⁵ Nebuchadnezzar deported Jehoiachin to Babylon. Also, he took the king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officials, and the leading men of the land into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.^{(AM) 16} The king of Babylon also brought captive into Babylon all 7,000 fighting men and 1,000 craftsmen and metalsmiths—all strong and fit for war. ¹⁷ Then the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s^[d] uncle,^[e] king in his place and changed his name to Zedekiah.^(AN)

Judah’s King Zedekiah

¹⁸ Zedekiah^(AO) was 21 years old when he became king^(AP) and reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal^(AQ) daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah. ¹⁹ Zedekiah did what was evil in the Lord’s sight just as Jehoiakim had done.^{(AR) 20} Because of the Lord’s anger,^(AS) it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that He finally banished them from His presence.^(AT) Then, Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.^(AU)

Nebuchadnezzar’s Siege of Jerusalem

25 In the ninth year^(AV) of Zedekiah’s reign,^(AW) on the tenth day of the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem with his entire army.^(AX) They laid siege to the city and built a siege wall against it all around.^{(AY) 2} The city was under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year.

³ By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that the people of the land had no food.^{(AZ) 4} Then the city was broken into,^(BA) and all the warriors fled^(BB) by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden,^(BC) even though the Chaldeans surrounded the city. As the king made his way along the route to the Arabah,^{(BD) 5} the Chaldean army pursued him and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. Zedekiah’s entire army was scattered from him.^{(BE) 6} The Chaldeans seized the king^(BF) and brought him up to the king of Babylon^(BG) at Riblah,^(BH) and they passed sentence on him. ⁷ They slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes. Finally, the king of Babylon blinded Zedekiah, bound him in bronze chains, and took him to Babylon.^(BI)

Jerusalem Destroyed

⁸ On^(BJ) the seventh day of the fifth month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, a servant of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem.^{(BK) 9} He burned the Lord’s temple,^(BL) the king’s palace,^(BM) and all the houses of Jerusalem; he burned down^(BN) all the great houses. ¹⁰ The whole Chaldean army with the commander of the guards tore down the walls^(BO) surrounding Jerusalem. ¹¹ Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, deported the rest of the people who were left in the city, the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the population.^{(BP) 12} But the commander of the guards left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and farmers.^(BQ)

¹³ Now^(BR) the Chaldeans broke into pieces the bronze pillars^(BS) of the Lord’s temple, the water carts, and the bronze reservoir,^(BT) which were in the Lord’s temple, and carried the bronze to Babylon.^{(BU) 14} They also took the pots, the shovels, the wick trimmers, the dishes, and all the bronze articles used in temple service.^{(BV) 15} The commander of the guards took away the firepans and the sprinkling basins—whatever was gold or silver.^(BW)

¹⁶ As for the two pillars, the one reservoir, and the water carts that Solomon had made for the Lord’s temple, the weight of the bronze of all these articles was beyond measure.^{(BX) 17} One pillar was 27 feet^[f] tall and had a bronze capital on top of it. The capital, encircled by a grating and pomegranates of bronze, stood five feet^[g] high. The second pillar was the same, with its own grating.^(BY)

¹⁸ The commander of the guards^(BZ) also took away Seraiah^(CA) the chief priest, Zephaniah^(CB) the priest of the second rank, and the three doorkeepers. ¹⁹ He took a court official who had been appointed over the warriors from the city; five trusted royal aides^[h](CC) found in the city; the secretary of the commander of the army, who enlisted the people of the land for military duty; and 60 men from the common people^[i] who were found within the city. ²⁰ Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.^{(CD) 21} The king of Babylon put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah went into exile from its land.^(CE)

Gedaliah Made Governor

²² Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon appointed Gedaliah^(CF) son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, over the rest of the people he left in the land of Judah.^{(CG) 23} When all the commanders of the armies—they and their men—heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah.^(CH) The commanders included Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah son of the Maacathite—they and their men.^{(CI) 24} Gedaliah swore an oath to them and their men, assuring them, “Don’t be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well for you.”^(CJ)

²⁵ In the seventh month, however, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with 10 men and struck down Gedaliah, and he died. Also, they killed the Judeans and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah.^{(CK) 26} Then all the people, from the youngest to the oldest, and the commanders of the army, left and went to Egypt, for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.^(CL)

Jehoiachin Pardoned

²⁷ On^(CM) the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Judah’s King Jehoiachin, in the year Evil-merodach became king of Babylon, he pardoned King Jehoiachin^(CN) of Judah and released him from prison.^{(CO) 28} He spoke kindly^(CP) to him and set his throne over the thrones of the kings who were with him in Babylon.^{(CQ) 29} So Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes, and he dined regularly in the presence of the king of Babylon for the rest of his life.^{(CR) 30} As for his allowance, a regular allowance^(CS) was given to him by the king, a portion for each day, for the rest of his life.

¹⁷ “After I came back to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple complex, I went into a visionary state^{(A) 18} and saw Him telling me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me!’

¹⁹ “But I said, ‘Lord, they know that in synagogue after synagogue I had those who believed in You imprisoned and beaten.^{(B) 20} And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I was standing by and approving,^[a] and I guarded the clothes of those who killed him.’^(C)

²¹ “Then He said to me, ‘Go, because I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”^(D)

Paul’s Roman Protection

²² They listened to him up to this word. Then they raised their voices, shouting, “Wipe this person off the earth—it’s a disgrace for him to live!”^(E)

²³ As they were yelling and flinging aside their robes and throwing dust into the air,^{(F) 24} the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, directing that he be examined with the scourge, so he could discover the reason they were shouting against him like this. ²⁵ As they stretched him out for the lash, Paul said to the centurion standing by, “Is it legal for you to scourge a man who is a Roman citizen and is uncondemned?”^(G)

²⁶ When the centurion heard this, he went and reported to the commander, saying, “What are you going to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.”

²⁷ The commander came and said to him, “Tell me—are you a Roman citizen?”

“Yes,” he said.

²⁸ The commander replied, “I bought this citizenship for a large amount of money.”

“But I was born a citizen,” Paul said.

²⁹ Therefore, those who were about to examine him withdrew from him at once. The commander too was alarmed when he realized Paul was a Roman citizen and he had bound him.^(H)

Paul before the Sanhedrin

³⁰ The next day, since he wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews, he released him^[b] and instructed the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to convene.^(I) Then he brought Paul down and placed him before them. 23 ¹ Paul looked intently at the Sanhedrin and said, “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience^(J) until this day.” ² But the high priest Ananias ordered those who were standing next to him to strike him on the mouth.^{(K) 3} Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! You are sitting there judging me according to the law, and in violation of the law are you ordering me to be struck?”^(L)

⁴ And those standing nearby said, “Do you dare revile God’s high priest?”

⁵ “I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest,” replied Paul. “For it is written, You must not speak evil of a ruler of your people.”^{(M)[c] 6} When Paul realized that one part of them were Sadducees and the other part were Pharisees, he cried out in the Sanhedrin, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees!^(N) I am being judged because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead!”^{(O) 7} When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. ⁸ For the Sadducees say there is no resurrection,^(P) and no angel or spirit, but the Pharisees affirm them all.

⁹ The shouting grew loud, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees’^(Q) party got up and argued vehemently: “We find nothing evil in this man.^(R) What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”^{[d](S) 10} When the dispute became violent, the commander feared that Paul might be torn apart by them and ordered the troops to go down, rescue him from them, and bring him into the barracks.^(T)

Psalm 2

Coronation of the Son