Judah Overrun by Enemies
24 In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and
Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. Then he turned and rebelled
against him. 2 And the Lord sent against him raiding bands of Chaldeans, bands
of Syrians, bands of Moabites, and bands of the people of Ammon; He sent them
against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord which He had
spoken by His servants the prophets. 3 Surely at the commandment of the Lord
this came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight because of the sins of
Manasseh, according to all that he had done, 4 and also because of the innocent
blood that he had shed; for he had 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 rested with his fathers. Then Jehoiachin his son reigned in his
place.
7 And the king of Egypt did not come out of his land
anymore, for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of
Egypt from the Brook of Egypt to the River Euphrates.
The Reign and Captivity of Jehoiachin
8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and
he reigned in Jerusalem three months. 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 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. 11 And
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, as his servants were
besieging it. 12 Then Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his servants, his
princes, and his officers went out to the king of Babylon; and the king of
Babylon, in the eighth year of his reign, took him prisoner.
The Captivity of Jerusalem
13 And he carried out from there all the treasures of the
house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house, and he cut in pieces
all the articles of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of
the Lord, as the Lord had said. 14 Also he carried into captivity all
Jerusalem: all the captains and all the mighty men of valor, ten thousand
captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths. None remained except the poorest
people of the land. 15 And he carried Jehoiachin captive to Babylon. The king’s
mother, the king’s wives, his officers, and the mighty of the land he carried
into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16 All the valiant men, seven
thousand, and craftsmen and smiths, one thousand, all who were strong and fit
for war, these the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.
Zedekiah Reigns in Judah
17 Then the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s[a]
uncle, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.
18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king,
and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the
daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 19 He also did evil in the sight of the Lord,
according to all that Jehoiakim had done. 20 For because of the anger of the
Lord this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, that He finally cast them out from
His presence. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
The Fall and Captivity of Judah
25 Now it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in
the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and encamped 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 By the ninth day of the fourth month the
famine had become so severe in the city that there was no food for the people
of the land.
4 Then the city wall was broken through, and all the men of
war fled at night by way of the gate between two walls, which was by the king’s
garden, even though the Chaldeans were still encamped all around against the
city. And the king[b] went by way of the plain.[c] 5 But the army of the
Chaldeans pursued the king, and they overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All
his army was scattered from him. 6 So they took the king and brought him up to
the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they pronounced judgment on him. 7 Then they
killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, put out the eyes of Zedekiah,
bound him with bronze fetters, and took 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 the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to
Jerusalem. 9 He burned the house of the Lord and the king’s house; all the houses
of Jerusalem, that is, all the houses of the great, he burned with fire. 10 And
all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down
the walls of Jerusalem all around.
11 Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away
captive the rest of the people who remained in the city and the defectors who
had deserted to the king of Babylon, with the rest of the multitude. 12 But the
captain of the guard left some of the poor of the land as vinedressers and
farmers. 13 The bronze pillars that were in the house of the Lord, and the
carts and the bronze Sea that were in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans
broke in pieces, and carried their bronze to Babylon. 14 They also took away
the pots, the shovels, the trimmers, the spoons, and all the bronze utensils
with which the priests ministered. 15 The firepans and the basins, the things
of solid gold and solid silver, the captain of the guard took away. 16 The two
pillars, one Sea, and the carts, which Solomon had made for the house of the
Lord, the bronze of all these articles was beyond measure. 17 The height of one
pillar was eighteen cubits, and the capital on it was of bronze. The height of
the capital was three cubits, and the network and pomegranates all around the
capital were all of bronze. The second pillar was the same, with a network.
18 And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief
priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and the three doorkeepers. 19 He also took
out of the city an officer who had charge of the men of war, five men of the
king’s close associates who were found in the city, the chief recruiting
officer 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 So Nebuzaradan, captain of
the guard, took these and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21
Then the king of Babylon struck them and put them to death at Riblah in the
land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive from its own land.
Gedaliah Made Governor of Judah
22 Then he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of
Shaphan, governor over the people who remained in the land of Judah, whom
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left. 23 Now 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 at Mizpah—Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Johanan
the son of Careah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and
Jaazaniah[d] the son of a Maachathite, they and their men. 24 And Gedaliah took
an oath before them and their men, and said to them, “Do not be afraid of the
servants of the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and
it shall be well with you.”
25 But it happened in the seventh month that Ishmael the son
of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with ten men and
struck and killed Gedaliah, the Jews, as well as the Chaldeans who were with
him at Mizpah. 26 And all the people, small and great, and the captains of the armies,
arose and went to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.
Jehoiachin Released from Prison
27 Now it came to pass 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, that Evil-Merodach[e] king of Babylon, in the
year that he began to reign, released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. 28
He spoke kindly to him, and gave him a more prominent seat than those of the
kings who were with him in Babylon. 29 So Jehoiachin changed from his prison
garments, and he ate bread regularly before the king all the days of his life.
30 And as for his provisions, there was a regular ration given him by the king,
a portion for each day, all the days of his life.
The Reign and Captivity of Jehoahaz
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[a] was
twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in
Jerusalem. 3 Now the king of Egypt deposed him at Jerusalem; and he imposed on
the land a tribute of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 4
Then the king of Egypt made Jehoahaz’s[b] brother Eliakim king over Judah and
Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. And Necho took Jehoahaz[c] his
brother and carried him off to Egypt.
The Reign and Captivity of Jehoiakim
5 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king,
and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And he did evil in the sight of the
Lord his God. 6 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against him, and bound
him in bronze fetters to carry him off to Babylon. 7 Nebuchadnezzar also
carried off some of the articles from the house of the Lord to Babylon, and put
them in his temple at Babylon. 8 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, the
abominations which he did, and what was found against him, indeed they are
written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. Then Jehoiachin his son
reigned in his place.
The Reign and Captivity of Jehoiachin
9 Jehoiachin was eight[d] years old when he became king, and
he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. And he did evil in the sight
of the Lord. 10 At the turn of the year King Nebuchadnezzar summoned him and
took him to Babylon, with the costly articles from the house of the Lord, and
made Zedekiah, Jehoiakim’s[e] brother, king over Judah and Jerusalem.
Zedekiah Reigns in Judah
11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king,
and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. 12 He did evil in the sight of the
Lord his God, and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke
from the mouth of the Lord. 13 And he also rebelled against King
Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear an oath by God; but he stiffened his
neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord God of Israel. 14
Moreover all the leaders of the priests and the people transgressed more and
more, according to all the abominations of the nations, and defiled the house
of the Lord which He had consecrated in Jerusalem.
The Fall of Jerusalem
15 And the Lord God of their fathers sent warnings to them
by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, 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 the wrath of the
Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy.
17 Therefore He brought against 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, on the aged or the
weak; He gave them all into his hand. 18 And all the articles from the house of
God, great and small, the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures
of the king and of his leaders, all these he took to Babylon. 19 Then they
burned the house of God, broke down the wall of Jerusalem, burned all its
palaces with fire, and destroyed all its precious possessions. 20 And those who
escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon, where they became servants
to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, 21 to fulfill the
word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her
Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy
years.
The Proclamation of Cyrus
22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the
word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred
up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation
throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying,
23 Thus says Cyrus king of Persia:
All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has
given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in
Judah. Who is among you of all His people? May the Lord his God be with him,
and let him go up!
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