24 While Jehoiakim was king, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked the land of Judah. So Jehoiakim became Nebuchadnezzar’s servant for three years. Then Jehoiakim turned against Nebuchadnezzar. And he broke away from his rule. ² The Lord sent men from Babylon, Aram, Moab and Ammon against Jehoiakim. He sent them to destroy Judah. This happened the way the Lord had said it would through his servants the prophets.

³ The Lord commanded this to happen to the people of Judah. He did it to remove them from his presence. This was because of all the sins Manasseh had done. ⁴ He had killed many innocent people. He had filled Jerusalem with their blood. And the Lord would not forgive these sins.

⁵ The other things that happened while Jehoiakim was king and all he did are written down. They are in the book of the history of the kings of Judah. ⁶ Jehoiakim died, and his son Jehoiachin became king in his place.

⁷ The king of Egypt did not come out of his land again. This was because of the king of Babylon. He had captured all that belonged to the king of Egypt. He took all the land from the brook of Egypt to the Euphrates River.

Jehoiachin King of Judah

⁸ Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he became king. He was king three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan. She was from Jerusalem. ⁹ Jehoiachin did what the Lord said was wrong, just as his father had done.

¹⁰ At that time the officers of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem. They surrounded the city and attacked it. ¹¹ Nebuchadnezzar himself came to the city while his officers were attacking it. ¹² Jehoiachin king of Judah surrendered to the king of Babylon. Jehoiachin’s mother, servants, elders and officers also surrendered. Then the king of Babylon made Jehoiachin a prisoner. This was in the eighth year Nebuchadnezzar was king. ¹³ Nebuchadnezzar took all the treasures from the Temple of the Lord. He also removed the treasures from the palace. He took all the gold objects Solomon king of Israel had made for the Temple. This happened as the Lord had said it would. ¹⁴ Nebuchadnezzar took away all the people of Jerusalem. This included all the leaders and all the wealthy people. He also took all the craftsmen and metal workers. There were 10,000 prisoners in all. Only the poorest people in the land were left. ¹⁵ Nebuchadnezzar carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon. He took the king’s mother and his wives. He also took the officers and leading men of the land. They were taken captive from Jerusalem to Babylon. ¹⁶ The king of Babylon also took all 7,000 soldiers. These men were all strong and able to fight in war. And 1,000 craftsmen and metal workers were taken, too. Nebuchadnezzar took them as prisoners to Babylon. ¹⁷ He made Mattaniah king in Jehoiachin’s place. Mattaniah was Jehoiachin’s uncle. He also changed Mattaniah’s name to Zedekiah.

Zedekiah King of Judah

¹⁸ Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king. And he was king in Jerusalem for 11 years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah.^[a] She was from Libnah. ¹⁹ Zedekiah did what the Lord said was wrong, just as Jehoiakim had done. ²⁰ All this happened in Jerusalem and Judah because the Lord was angry with them. Finally, he threw them out of his presence.

The Fall of Jerusalem

Zedekiah turned against the king of Babylon.