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ユダの王エホアハズ
1そののち、ヨシヤの子エホアハズが新しい王に選ばれました。 2エホアハズは二十三歳で王となりましたが、在位期間はわずか三か月間でした。 3エジプトの王は彼を王位から退け、ユダに銀百タラント（三千四百キログラム）と金一タラントの年貢を課しました。 4それからエジプトの王は、エホアハズの兄弟エルヤキムをエホヤキムと改名させ、ユダの新しい王にしました。一方、退けられたエホアハズは、捕虜としてエジプトへ連れて行かれました。
ユダの王エホヤキム
5エホヤキムは二十五歳で王となり、十一年間エルサレムで治めましたが、主の目に悪を行いました。 6ついに、エルサレムはバビロンの王ネブカデネザルに占領され、エホヤキムは鎖につながれてバビロンに引いて行かれました。 7ネブカデネザルはまた、神殿から金の鉢やその他の器具を持ち出し、バビロンにある彼の神殿に移しました。 8エホヤキム王のその他の業績、主の前に行った悪のすべては、『ユダ諸王の年代記』に記されています。そして、彼の子エホヤキンが新しく王となりました。
ユダの王エホヤキン
9エホヤキンは十八歳で王となりましたが、在位期間はわずか三か月と十日でした。しかもその政治は、主の目には悪そのものでした。 10翌年の春、彼はネブカデネザルから呼び出され、神殿の多くの宝物とともにバビロンへ連れて行かれました。ネブカデネザルは、エホヤキンの兄弟ゼデキヤを、ユダとエルサレムの新しい王に任命しました。
ユダの王ゼデキヤとバビロン捕囚
11ゼデキヤは二十一歳で王となり、十一年間エルサレムで治めました。 12彼もまた、主の目に悪を行いました。主のことばを語る預言者エレミヤの勧めを聞こうとしなかったからです。 13ゼデキヤはネブカデネザルに忠誠を誓いながら、一方では反逆を企てました。非常に強情で、イスラエルの神、主に従おうとしませんでした。 14大祭司をはじめ国の指導者もみな、周辺の国々の異教の偶像を礼拝し、エルサレムにある神殿を汚して、平気な顔をしていました。 15彼らの父祖の神、主は、再三再四、預言者を遣わして、警告を与えました。ご自分の民と神殿を深く思いやったからです。 16しかし、人々は神から遣わされた使者をばかにし、警告を無視し、預言者たちをさんざん侮辱しました。もはやこれ以上、主の怒りをとどめることができない、回復できない状態に陥りました。
17そこで主は、バビロンの王を彼らのもとに攻め上らせたので、彼は若い男たちを神殿に押し込めて切り殺し、若い女や老人までも、容赦なく殺しました。主はバビロンの王を用いて、彼らを完全に滅ぼそうとしたのです。 18彼らは神殿で使われていた大小の器具を、神殿と宮殿から持ち出した宝物とともにバビロンに持ち帰りました。また、すべての王子たちも連れ去りました。 19それから、バビロン軍は神殿に火を放ち、城壁を片っぱしから取り壊し、王宮を焼き払い、神殿で使われていためぼしい器具を残らず破壊しました。 20生き残った者はバビロンへ捕らえ移され、ペルシヤ王国がバビロンを征服する時まで、バビロンの王と王子たちに仕える奴隷となりました。 21こうして、エレミヤの語った主のことばは現実となりました。この地は、民が安息（安息年。七年に一度休耕し、土地を休ませる）を守らなかった年月を埋め合わせるため、七十年間の休息を必要としたのです。
22-23ペルシヤの王クロスの第一年（前五三八年）に、主はクロス王の心を動かして、帝国中に次のような勅令を出させました。「地のすべての王国を私に賜わった天の神、主は、ユダの地にあるエルサレムにご自分の神殿を建てよと、私にお命じになった。主の民である者はみな、神殿建設のためにイスラエルへ帰るがよい。主が共におられるように。」
これもまた、預言者エレミヤの語った預言の成就でした。
1The people of the land went and got Jehoahaz. He was the son of Josiah. The people made Jehoahaz king in Jerusalem in place of his father.
Jehoahaz King of Judah
2Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for three months. 3The king of Egypt removed him from his throne in Jerusalem. The king of Egypt made the people of Judah pay him a huge tax. The tax was almost four tons of silver and 75 pounds of gold. 4Necho, the king of Egypt, made Eliakim king over Judah and Jerusalem. Eliakim was a brother of Jehoahaz. Necho changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Necho took Eliakim’s brother Jehoahaz with him to Egypt.
Jehoiakim King of Judah
5Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 11 years. He did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord his God. 6Nebuchadnezzar attacked him. Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon. He put Jehoiakim in bronze chains. And he took him to Babylon. 7Nebuchadnezzar also took to Babylon objects from the Lord’s temple. He put them in his own temple there.
8The other events of Jehoiakim’s rule are written in the records of the kings of Israel and Judah. He did things the Lord hated. Those things and everything that happened to him are also written in those records. Jehoiakim’s son Jehoiachin became the next king after him.
Jehoiachin King of Judah
9Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for three months and ten days. He did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. 10In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him. He brought him to Babylon. He also brought things of value from the Lord’s temple. He made Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem. Zedekiah was Jehoiachin’s uncle.
Zedekiah King of Judah
11Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 11 years. 12He did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord his God. He didn’t pay any attention to the message the Lord spoke through Jeremiah the prophet. 13Zedekiah also refused to remain under the control of King Nebuchadnezzar. The king had forced Zedekiah to make a promise in God’s name. But Zedekiah’s heart became very stubborn. He wouldn’t turn to the Lord, the God of Israel. 14And that’s not all. The people and all the leaders of the priests became more and more unfaithful. They followed all the practices of the nations. The Lord hated those practices. The people and leaders made the Lord’s temple “unclean.” The Lord had set the temple in Jerusalem apart in a special way for himself.
The Fall of Jerusalem
15The Lord, the God of Israel, sent word to his people through his messengers. He sent it to them again and again. He took pity on his people. He also took pity on the temple where he lived. 16But God’s people made fun of his messengers. They hated his words. They laughed at his prophets. Finally the Lord’s great anger was stirred up against his people. Nothing could save them. 17The Lord brought the king of the Babylonians against them. The Babylonian army killed their young people with their swords at the temple. They didn’t spare young men or young women. They didn’t spare the old people or weak people either. God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar. 18Nebuchadnezzar carried off to Babylon all the objects from God’s temple. Some of those things were large. Others were small. He carried off the treasures of the temple. He also carried off the treasures that belonged to the king and his officials. 19The Babylonians set God’s temple on fire. They broke down the wall of Jerusalem. They burned all the palaces. They destroyed everything of value there.
20Nebuchadnezzar took the rest of the people to Babylon as prisoners. They had escaped from being killed by swords. They served him and those who ruled after him. That lasted until the kingdom of Persia came to power. 21The land of Israel enjoyed its sabbath years. It rested. That deserted land wasn’t farmed for a full 70 years. What the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah came true.
22It was the first year of the rule of Cyrus. He was king of Persia. The Lord inspired him to send a message all through his kingdom. It happened so that what the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah would come true. The message was written down. It said,
23“Cyrus, the king of Persia, says,
“ ‘The Lord is the God of heaven. He has given me all the kingdoms on earth. He has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem. And may the Lord their God be with them.’ ”
