2 *Kings 24

₁When Jehoiakim was king, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, attacked the land_of_Judah and Jehoiakim had to listen to him and pay the king of Babylon for 3 years. But then Jehoiakim rebelled. ₂The Lord sent the people from Chaldea, Aram, Moab and Ammon to attack Judah. The Lord did it because He wanted to destroy Judah. Before this He sent his servants, the prophets, to tell them that this would happen. ₃All this happened to Judah because the Lord decided it. He said it must happen to them. He wanted to turn away from them and take them away because of all the sins that Manasseh had done ₄and because of all the innocent people that he had killed in Jerusalem. Manasseh had killed so many people that Jerusalem was full of their blood. The Lord did not want to forgive these sins.

₅All the other things that Jehoiakim did are written in the book of the history of the kings_of_Judah. ₆Jehoiakim died and his son Jehoiachin became king after him.

₇The king of Egypt could not go out of his land because the king of Babylon had defeated all the lands that belonged to the king of Egypt, all the lands from the Egypt stream to the Euphrates River. ₈Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he became king and he was king in Jerusalem for only 3 months. His mother's name was Nehushta. She was the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. ₉Jehoiachin did what the Lord said was wrong. He did the same things as some of his forefathers.

₁₀In the time when Jehoiachin was king, the soldiers of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to besiege Jerusalem and tried to get into the city. ₁₁Nebuchadnezzar himself came to Jerusalem while his soldiers attacked the city. ₁₂Jehoiachin, king_of_Judah, then went to the king of Babylon as a prisoner, he, his mother, his officers, his officials and the leaders of Jerusalem. The king of Babylon had been king for 8 years when he caught Jehoiachin.

₁₃The king of Babylon took all the treasures in the temple and in the palace. He cut and broke up everything that Solomon, king_of_Israel, had made for the temple. It all happened as the Lord had told them long before. ₁₄The king of Babylon caught all the people of Jerusalem, all the officials and the important people. He took them away. There were 10 000 prisoners. He also took all the good workers, the artisans and carpenters as his prisoners. The king of Babylon did not leave anyone. Only the poorest people of the land stayed in Jerusalem.

₁₅He caught Jehoiachin and took him away to Babylon, and also the king's mother, his wives, his officers and the leaders of the land. ₁₆The king of Babylon took 7 000 of the richest people and 1 000 artisans and blacksmiths. He took the most important people and anyone who could go to war. They became prisoners of the king of Babylon and he took them away. ₁₇The king of Babylon made Jehoiachin's uncle, Mattaniah, king and he gave Mattaniah a new name. His name was then Zedekiah.

₁₈Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king and he was king in Jerusalem for 11 years. His mother's name was Hamutal. She was the daughter of Jeremiah from the town of Libnah. ₁₉He did things that the Lord said were wrong. He did the same sins as Jehoiakim. ₂₀The Lord was so angry with the people of Jerusalem and Judah that He wanted to throw them away and turn his back on them.

Zedekiah rebelled_against the king of Babylon.