Jehoiakim and the Rise of Babylon
1In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded, and Jehoiakim was his vassal for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. 2Yahweh sent against him raiding bands of Chaldeans, Arameans, Moabites, and Ammonites; he sent them against Judah to destroy it, in keeping with the word Yahweh had spoken through his servants the prophets. 3Surely this came upon Judah at Yahweh’s command, to remove them from his presence because of the sins of Manasseh and everything he had done, 4including the innocent blood he had shed — for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood — and Yahweh was not willing to forgive. 5As for the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim — all he did — are they not written in the Annals of the Kings of Judah? 6Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son became king in his place. 7The king of Egypt did not venture out of his land again, for the king of Babylon had taken everything that belonged to the king of Egypt, from the Wadi of Egypt to the Euphrates River.
Jehoiachin and the First Exile
8Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Nehushta, daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. 9He did what was evil in Yahweh’s eyes, just as his father had done. 10At that time the officers of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon advanced on Jerusalem, and the city came under siege. 11Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon himself came against the city while his officers were besieging it, 12and Jehoiachin king of Judah, along with his mother, his servants, his officials, and his eunuchs, surrendered to the king of Babylon. The king of Babylon took him captive in the eighth year of his own reign. 13He carried off from there all the treasures of the house of Yahweh and the treasures of the king’s house, and he cut into pieces all the gold articles Solomon king of Israel had made for the temple of Yahweh, just as Yahweh had said. 14He deported all Jerusalem — all the officials and all the mighty warriors, ten thousand exiles in all — along with all the craftsmen and metalworkers. No one was left except the poorest people of the land. 15He deported Jehoiachin to Babylon, along with the king’s mother, his wives, his eunuchs, and the notables of the land; he took them from Jerusalem into exile in Babylon. 16The king of Babylon also deported all seven thousand fighting men, together with a thousand craftsmen and metalworkers, all of them strong and fit for war. 17The king of Babylon 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 eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal, daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 19He did what was evil in Yahweh’s eyes, just as Jehoiakim had done. 20It was because of Yahweh’s anger that all this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until at last he thrust them from his presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
