241 In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years ; then he turned and rebelled against him. 2 The Lord sent against him bands of Chaldeans , bands of Arameans , bands of Moabites , and bands of Ammonites e . So He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord which He had spoken through His servants the prophets . 3 Surely at the command of the Lord it 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 for the innocent blood which he shed , for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood ; and the Lord would not forgive . 5 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and all that he did , are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles e of the Kings of Judah ? 6 So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers , and Jehoiachin his son became king in his place . 7 The king of Egypt did not come out of his land again e , for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates .
8 Jehoiachin was eighteen e years old when he became king , and he reigned three months in Jerusalem ; and his mother's name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem . 9 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 went up to Jerusalem , and the city came under siege . 11 And Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came to the city , while his servants were besieging e it. 12 Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon , he and his mother and his servants and his captains and his officials . So the king of Babylon took him captive in the eighth year of his reign . 13 He carried out from 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 , just as the Lord had said . 14 Then he led away into exile all Jerusalem and all the captains and all the mighty men of valor , ten thousand captives , and all the craftsmen and the smiths . None remained except the poorest people of the land . 15 So he led Jehoiachin away into exile to Babylon ; also the king's mother and the king's wives and his officials and the leading men of the land , he led away into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon . 16 All the men of valor , seven thousand , and the craftsmen and the smiths , one thousand , all strong and fit for war , and these the king of Babylon brought into exile to Babylon . 17 Then the king of Babylon made his uncle Mattaniah king in his place , and changed his name to Zedekiah .
18 Zedekiah was twenty-one e years old when he became king , and he reigned eleven e years in Jerusalem ; and his mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah . 19 He did evil in the sight of the Lord , according to all that Jehoiakim had done . 20 For through the anger of the Lord this came about in Jerusalem and Judah until He cast them out from His presence . And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon .
251 Now in the ninth year of his reign , on the tenth day of the tenth month , Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came , he and all his army , against Jerusalem , camped against it and built a siege wall all around it. 2 So the city was under siege until the eleventh e year of King Zedekiah . 3 On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land . 4 Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls beside the king's garden , though the Chaldeans were all around the city . And they went by way of the Arabah . 5 But the army of the Chaldeans 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 brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah , and he passed sentence on him. 7 They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes , then put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon .
8 Now on the seventh day of the fifth month , which was the nineteenth e 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 , the king's house , and all the houses of Jerusalem ; even every great house he burned with fire . 10 So all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem . 11 Then the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon and the rest of the people , Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away into exile . 12 But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen . 13 Now the bronze pillars which were in the house of the Lord , and the stands and the bronze sea which were in the house of the Lord , the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried the bronze to Babylon . 14 They took away the pots , the shovels , the snuffers , the spoons , and all the bronze vessels which were used in temple service . 15 The captain of the guard also took away the firepans and the basins , what was fine gold and what was fine silver . 16 The two pillars , the one sea , and the stands which Solomon had made for the house of the Lord - the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight . 17 The height of the one pillar was eighteen e cubits , and a bronze capital was on it; the height of the capital was three cubits , with a network and pomegranates on the capital all around , all of bronze . And the second pillar was like these with network . 18 Then the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest , with the three officers of the temple . 19 From the city he took one official who was overseer of the men of war , and five of the king's advisers e who were found in the city ; and the scribe of 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 at Riblah . 21 Then the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath . So Judah was led away into exile from its land .
22 Now as for the people who were left in the land of Judah , whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left , he appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam , the son of Shaphan over them. 23 When all the captains of the forces , they and their men , heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah governor, they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah , namely, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah , and Johanan the son of Kareah , and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite , and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite , they and their men . 24 Gedaliah swore to them and their men and said to them, "Do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans ; live in the land and serve the king of Babylon , and it will be well with you." 25 But it came about in the seventh month , that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah , the son of Elishama , of the royal family , came with ten men and struck Gedaliah down so that he died along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah . 26 Then all the people , both small and great , and the captains of the forces arose and went to Egypt ; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans .
27 Now it came about in the thirty-seventh e year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah , in the twelfth e month , on the twenty-seventh e day of the month , that Evil-merodach king of Babylon , in the year that he became king , released e Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison e ; 28 and he spoke kindly to him and set his throne above e the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon . 29 Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes and had his meals in the king's presence regularly all the days of his life ; 30 and for his allowance , a regular allowance was given him by the king , a portion for each day , all the days of his life .
361 Then the people of the land took Joahaz the son of Josiah , and made him king in place of his father in Jerusalem . 2 Joahaz was twenty-three e years old when he became king , and he reigned three months in Jerusalem . 3 Then the king of Egypt deposed him at Jerusalem , and imposed on the land a fine of one hundred talents of silver and one talent of gold . 4 The king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem , and changed his name to Jehoiakim . But Neco took Joahaz his brother and brought him to Egypt .
5 Jehoiakim was twenty-five e years old when he became king , and he reigned eleven e 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 with bronze chains to take him to Babylon . 7 Nebuchadnezzar also brought some of the articles 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 the abominations which he did , and what was found against him, behold , they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah . And Jehoiachin his son became king in his place .
9 Jehoiachin was eight years old when he became king , and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem , and he did evil in the sight of the Lord . 10 At the turn of the year King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon with the valuable articles of the house of the Lord , and he made his kinsman Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem .
11 Zedekiah was twenty-one e years old when he became king , and he reigned eleven e years in Jerusalem . 12 He did evil in the sight of the Lord his God ; he did not humble himself before e Jeremiah the prophet who spoke for the Lord . 13 He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar who had made him swear allegiance by God . But he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord God of Israel . 14 Furthermore , all the officials of the priests and the people were very unfaithful following all the abominations of the nations ; and they defiled the house of the Lord which He had sanctified in Jerusalem . 15 The Lord , the God of their fathers , sent word to them again and again by His messengers , because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place ; 16 but they continually mocked the messengers of God , despised His words and scoffed at His prophets , until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people , until there was no remedy .
17 Therefore He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans who slew 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 articles 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 officers , he brought them all to Babylon . 19 Then they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem , and burned all its fortified buildings with fire and destroyed all its valuable articles . 20 Those who had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon ; and they were servants to him and to 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 its sabbaths . All the days of its desolation it kept sabbath until seventy years were complete .
22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia -in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah -the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia , so that he sent a proclamation throughout his kingdom , and also put it in writing , saying , 23 "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia , 'The Lord , the God of heaven , has given me all the kingdoms of the earth , and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem , which is in Judah . Whoever there is among you of all His people , may the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up!' "
