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約雅敬執政期間，巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒進犯，約雅敬臣服於他，三年後又背叛了他。 2耶和華差遣迦勒底、亞蘭、摩押和亞捫軍隊來攻打約雅敬，毀滅猶大，正如祂藉著祂的僕人——眾先知所說的。 3這些災禍臨到猶大是出自耶和華的命令。耶和華要把猶大人從自己面前趕走，是因為瑪拿西所犯的一切罪， 4包括他濫殺無辜，使耶路撒冷血流遍地，耶和華不會赦免這些罪行。 5約雅敬其他的事及一切所為都記在《猶大列王史》上。 6約雅敬與祖先同眠後，他兒子約雅斤繼位。 7埃及王不再邁出國境，因為巴比倫王奪取了從埃及小河至幼發拉底河之間的埃及領土。
約雅斤做猶大王
8約雅斤十八歲登基，在耶路撒冷執政三個月。他母親叫尼護施她，是耶路撒冷人以利拿單的女兒。 9他像他父親一樣做耶和華視為惡的事。 10那時，巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒派將領圍攻耶路撒冷城。 11圍城期間，巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒親自來到耶路撒冷。 12猶大王約雅斤及其母親、臣僕和文官武將向尼布甲尼撒投降。巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒在他執政第八年俘虜了約雅斤， 13拿走了耶和華殿裡和王宮裡的寶物，砍壞以色列王所羅門為耶和華的殿所造的一切金器，正如耶和華所言。 14他又擄走住在耶路撒冷的所有將領、勇士、工匠和鐵匠共一萬人，只留下了境內最貧窮的人。 15他把約雅斤及其母親、妃嬪、臣僕和國中政要從耶路撒冷擄到巴比倫。 16此外被擄到巴比倫的還有能征善戰的勇士七千人，工匠和鐵匠一千人。
17巴比倫王讓約雅斤的叔叔瑪探雅接替約雅斤做王，給瑪探雅改名叫西底迦。
西底迦做猶大王
18西底迦二十一歲登基，在耶路撒冷執政十一年。他母親叫哈慕她，是立拿人耶利米的女兒。 19西底迦像約雅敬一樣做耶和華視為惡的事。 20因此，耶和華向耶路撒冷和猶大的人發怒，最終把他們從祂面前趕走。
耶路撒冷陷落
後來，西底迦背叛了巴比倫王。
