1And the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and made him king in Jerusalem in place of his father.
Jehoahaz King of Judah
2Jehoahaz36:2 Hebrew Joahaz, a variant of Jehoahaz; also in verse 4 was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. 3The king of Egypt dethroned him in Jerusalem and imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents36:3 That is, about 3 3/4 tons or about 3.4 metric tons of silver and a talent36:3 That is, about 75 pounds or about 34 kilograms of gold. 4The king of Egypt made Eliakim, a brother of Jehoahaz, king over Judah and Jerusalem and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Necho took Eliakim’s brother Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt.
Jehoiakim King of Judah
5Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God. 6Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked him and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon. 7Nebuchadnezzar also took to Babylon articles from the temple of the Lord and put them in his temple36:7 Or palace there.
8The other events of Jehoiakim’s reign, the detestable things he did and all that was found against him, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin his son succeeded him as king.
Jehoiachin King of Judah
9Jehoiachin was eighteen36:9 One Hebrew manuscript, some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac (see also 2 Kings 24:8); most Hebrew manuscripts eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. 10In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and brought him to Babylon, together with articles of value from the temple of the Lord, and he made Jehoiachin’s uncle,36:10 Hebrew brother, that is, relative (see 2 Kings 24:17) Zedekiah, king over Judah and Jerusalem.
Zedekiah King of Judah
11Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. 12He did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke the word of the Lord. 13He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him take an oath in God’s name. He became stiff-necked and hardened his heart and would not turn to the Lord, the God of Israel. 14Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful, following all the detestable practices of the nations and defiling the temple of the Lord, which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.
The Fall of Jerusalem
15The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. 16But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy. 17He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians,36:17 Or Chaldeans who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and did not spare young men or young women, the elderly or the infirm. God gave them all into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. 18He carried to Babylon all the articles from the temple of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the Lord’s temple and the treasures of the king and his officials. 19They set fire to God’s temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value there.
20He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his successors until the kingdom of Persia came to power. 21The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah.
22In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:
23“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:
“ ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up, and may the Lord their God be with them.’ ”
犹大王约哈斯
1当地的民众在耶路撒冷立约西亚的儿子约哈斯接替他做王。 2约哈斯二十三岁登基，在耶路撒冷执政三个月。 3埃及王在耶路撒冷废掉他，并要求犹大向埃及进贡六万八千两银子和六百八十两金子。 4埃及王尼哥另立约哈斯的兄弟以利雅敬为王统治犹大和耶路撒冷，给他改名为约雅敬，并把约哈斯带到埃及。
犹大王约雅敬
5约雅敬二十五岁登基，在耶路撒冷执政十一年。他做他的上帝耶和华视为恶的事。 6巴比伦王尼布甲尼撒起兵攻打他，用铜链把他锁着带到巴比伦。 7尼布甲尼撒把耶和华殿里的一些器皿带到巴比伦，放在他巴比伦的王宫里36:7 “王宫里”或译“神庙里”。。 8约雅敬其他的事及可憎行径和劣迹都记在《以色列和犹大列王史》上。他儿子约雅斤继位。
犹大王约雅斤
9约雅斤十八岁36:9 “十八岁”希伯来文作“八岁”；《七十士译本》、叙利亚译本和列王纪下24:8作“十八岁”。登基，在耶路撒冷执政三个月零十天。他做耶和华视为恶的事。 10那年春天，尼布甲尼撒王派人把他和耶和华殿里的贵重器皿一同带到巴比伦。尼布甲尼撒另立约雅斤的叔叔36:10 “叔叔”参考列王纪下24:17。西底迦做犹大和耶路撒冷的王。
犹大王西底迦
11西底迦二十一岁登基，在耶路撒冷执政十一年。 12他做他的上帝耶和华视为恶的事，耶利米先知向他传讲耶和华的话，他仍不肯在耶利米面前谦卑下来。
耶路撒冷沦陷
13尼布甲尼撒曾让他奉上帝的名起誓效忠，他却背叛了尼布甲尼撒。他顽固不化，不肯归向以色列的上帝耶和华。 14所有祭司长和民众也都仿效外族人的一切可憎行径，犯了大罪，玷污了耶和华在耶路撒冷使之圣洁的殿。 15他们祖先的上帝耶和华因为怜爱祂的子民和祂的居所，就不断派使者来劝告他们。 16他们却嘲弄耶和华上帝的使者，藐视祂的话，嘲笑祂的先知，以致祂的愤怒临到祂的子民身上，无可挽救。
17耶和华使迦勒底人的王起兵攻打他们，在他们的圣殿里用刀击杀他们的壮丁，毫不怜悯少男少女、老人和长者。耶和华把他们全部交在他的手中。 18上帝殿里的大小器皿，以及耶和华殿里、王和众官员的所有珍宝，都被他带到巴比伦去了。 19迦勒底人焚烧上帝的殿，拆毁耶路撒冷的城墙，并且焚烧所有的宫殿，毁坏其中所有珍贵的器皿。 20没有被杀戮的人都被掳到巴比伦，做他和他子孙的奴隶，直到波斯王国的时代。 21这就应验了耶和华借耶利米之口所说的话：这片土地享受了安息，它在荒凉中守安息，直到满了七十年。
塞鲁士王准许被掳之民返国
22波斯王塞鲁士元年，耶和华为应验祂借耶利米所说的话，就感动波斯王塞鲁士，使他下诏通告全国： 23“波斯王塞鲁士如此说，‘天上的上帝耶和华已把天下万国都赐给我，祂委派我在犹大的耶路撒冷为祂建造殿宇。你们当中凡属耶和华的子民，都可以去那里。愿你们的上帝耶和华与你们同在！’”
