The Last Kings of Judah

¹The people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and made him king instead of his father in Jerusalem. ²Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. ³The king of Egypt deposed him in Jerusalem and laid a fine on the land of 100 silver talents and one gold talent. ⁴The king of Egypt made his brother Eliakim king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim; Necho took his brother Joahaz and brought him to Egypt.

⁵Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; he did what was displeasing to the Lord his God. ⁶King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon marched against him; he bound him in fetters to convey him to Babylon. ⁷Nebuchadne-zzar also brought some vessels of the House of the Lord to Babylon, and set them in his palace in Babylon. ⁸The other events of Jehoiakim’s reign, and the abominable things he did, and what was found against him, are recorded in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. His son Jehoiachin succeeded him as king.

⁹Jehoiachin was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem; he did what was displeasing to the Lord. ¹⁰At the turn of the year, King Nebuchadnezzar sent to have him brought to Babylon with the precious vessels of the House of the Lord, and he made his kinsman Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.

¹¹Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. ¹²He did what was displeasing to the Lord his God; he did not humble himself before the prophet Jeremiah, who spoke for the Lord. ¹³He also rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, who made him take an oath by God; he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart so as not to turn to the Lord God of Israel. ¹⁴All the officers of the priests and the people committed many trespasses, following all the abominable practices of the nations. They polluted the House of the Lord, which He had consecrated in Jerusalem. ¹⁵The Lord God of their fathers had sent word to them through His messengers daily without fail, for He had pity on His people and His dwelling-place. ¹⁶But they mocked the messengers of God and disdained His words and taunted His prophets until the wrath of the Lord against His people grew beyond remedy. ¹⁷He therefore brought the king of the Chaldeans upon them, who killed their youths by the sword in their sanctuary; He did not spare youth, maiden, elder, or graybeard, but delivered all into his hands. ¹⁸All the vessels of the House of God, large and small, and the treasures of the House of the Lord and the treasures of the king and his officers were all brought to Babylon. ¹⁹They burned the House of God and tore down the wall of Jerusalem, burned down allits mansions, and consigned all its precious objects to destruction. ²⁰Those who survived the sword he exiled to Babylon, and they became his and his sons’ servants till the rise of the Persian kingdom, ²¹in fulfillment of the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, until the land paid back its sabbaths; as long as it lay desolate it kept sabbath, till seventy years were completed.