1During Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded the land, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. But then he turned against Nebuchadnezzar and rebelled. 2The Lord sent Babylonian,24:2 Or Chaldean Aramean, Moabite and Ammonite raiders against him to destroy Judah, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by his servants the prophets. 3Surely these things happened to Judah according to the Lord’s command, in order to remove them from his presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all he had done, 4including the shedding of innocent blood. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord was not willing to forgive.
5As for the other events of Jehoiakim’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 6Jehoiakim rested with his ancestors. And Jehoiachin his son succeeded him as king.
7The king of Egypt did not march out from his own country again, because the king of Babylon had taken all his territory, from the Wadi of Egypt to the Euphrates River.
Jehoiachin King of Judah
8Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan; she was from Jerusalem. 9He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father had done.
10At that time the officers of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon advanced on Jerusalem and laid siege to it, 11and Nebuchadnezzar himself came up to the city while his officers were besieging it. 12Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his attendants, his nobles and his officials all surrendered to him.
In the eighth year of the reign of the king of Babylon, he took Jehoiachin prisoner. 13As the Lord had declared, Nebuchadnezzar removed the treasures from the temple of the Lord and from the royal palace, and cut up the gold articles that Solomon king of Israel had made for the temple of the Lord. 14He carried all Jerusalem into exile: all the officers and fighting men, and all the skilled workers and artisans—a total of ten thousand. Only the poorest people of the land were left.
15Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin captive to Babylon. He also took from Jerusalem to Babylon the king’s mother, his wives, his officials and the prominent people of the land. 16The king of Babylon also deported to Babylon the entire force of seven thousand fighting men, strong and fit for war, and a thousand skilled workers and artisans. 17He made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king in his place and changed his name to Zedekiah.
Zedekiah King of Judah
18Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. 19He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as Jehoiakim had done. 20It was because of the Lord’s anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, and in the end he thrust them from his presence.
The Fall of Jerusalem
Now Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
1约雅敬执政期间，巴比伦王尼布甲尼撒进犯，约雅敬臣服于他，三年后又背叛了他。 2耶和华差遣迦勒底人、亚兰人、摩押人和亚扪人来攻打约雅敬，毁灭犹大，正如祂借着祂的仆人——众先知所说的。 3这些灾祸临到犹大是出自耶和华的命令。耶和华要把犹大人从自己面前赶走，是因为玛拿西所犯的一切罪。 4玛拿西滥杀无辜，使耶路撒冷血流遍地，耶和华不会赦免这些罪行。 5约雅敬其他的事及其一切所作所为都记在犹大的列王史上。 6约雅敬与祖先同眠后，他儿子约雅斤继位。 7埃及王不再迈出国境，因为巴比伦王夺取了从埃及小河至幼发拉底河之间的埃及领土。
约雅斤做犹大王
8约雅斤十八岁登基，在耶路撒冷执政三个月。他母亲叫尼护施她，是耶路撒冷人以利拿单的女儿。 9他像他父亲一样做耶和华视为恶的事。 10那时，巴比伦王尼布甲尼撒派将领围攻耶路撒冷。 11围城期间，尼布甲尼撒亲自来到耶路撒冷。 12犹大王约雅斤及其母亲、臣仆和文官武将向尼布甲尼撒投降。巴比伦王尼布甲尼撒在他执政第八年俘虏了约雅斤， 13拿走了耶和华殿里和王宫里的宝物，以及所罗门王为耶和华的殿所造的金器，正如耶和华所言。 14他又掳走住在耶路撒冷的所有将领、勇士、工匠和铁匠共一万人，只留下了境内最贫穷的人。 15他把约雅斤及其母亲、妃嫔、臣仆和国中政要从耶路撒冷掳到巴比伦。 16此外被掳的还有能征善战的勇士七千人，工匠和铁匠一千人。
17巴比伦王让约雅斤的叔叔玛探雅代替约雅斤做王，给玛探雅改名叫西底迦。
西底迦做犹大王
18西底迦二十一岁登基，在耶路撒冷执政十一年。他母亲叫哈慕她，是立拿人耶利米的女儿。 19西底迦像约雅敬一样做耶和华视为恶的事。 20因此，耶和华向耶路撒冷和犹大的人发怒，把他们从祂面前赶走。
耶路撒冷陷落
后来，西底迦背叛了巴比伦王。
