2 Kings 24:8-25:7

English Standard Version

Jehoiachin Reigns in Judah

⁸^(A)Jehoiachin was ^(B)eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. ⁹And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(C)according to all that his father had done.

Jerusalem Captured

¹⁰At that time the servants of ^(D)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. ¹¹And ^(E)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it, ¹²^(F)and Jehoiachin the king of Judah gave himself up to the king of Babylon, himself and his mother and his servants and his officials and his palace officials. ^(G)The king of Babylon took him prisoner ^(H)in the eighth year of his reign ¹³and carried off all the treasures of the house of the Lord ^(I)and the treasures of the king's house, ^(J)and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold in the temple of the Lord, ^(K)which Solomon king of Israel had made, ^(L)as the Lord had foretold. ¹⁴^(M)He carried away all Jerusalem and all the officials and all the mighty men of valor, ^(N)10,000 captives, ^(O)and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained, ^(P)except the poorest people of the land. ¹⁵^(Q)And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon. The king's mother, the king's wives, his officials, and the chief men of the land he took into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. ¹⁶And the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon all the men of valor, ^(R)7,000, and the craftsmen and the metal workers, 1,000, all of them strong and fit for war. ¹⁷^(S)And the king of Babylon ^(T)made Mattaniah, ^(U)Jehoiachin's uncle, king in his place, ^(V)and changed his name to Zedekiah.

Zedekiah Reigns in Judah

¹⁸^(W)Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was ^(X)Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ¹⁹And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(Y)according to all that Jehoiakim had done. ²⁰For because of the anger of the Lord it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he cast them out from his presence.

^(Z)And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

Fall and Captivity of Judah

25 ^(AA)And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, ^(AB)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem and laid siege to it. ^(AC)And they built siegeworks all around it. ²So the city was besieged till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. ³On the ninth day of the fourth month ^(AD)the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. ⁴Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, by ^(AE)the king's garden, and ^(AF)the Chaldeans were around the city. And they went in the direction of the ^(AG)Arabah. ⁵But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. ⁶Then they captured the king ^(AH)and brought him up to the king of Babylon at ^(AI)Riblah, and they passed sentence on him. ⁷They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, ^(AJ)and put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains and took him to Babylon.