2Ki 24-25 | ESV | STEP | In his days , Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up , and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years . Then he turned and rebelled against him.

1 ^aIn his days, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. 2 And the Lord sent against him bands of the ^bChaldeans and ^cbands of the Syrians and bands of the Moabites and bands of the Ammonites, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, ^daccording to the word of the Lord that he spoke by his servants the prophets. 3 Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the Lord, to remove them out of his sight, ^efor the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, 4 and also ^ffor the innocent blood that he had shed. For he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord would not pardon. 5 ^gNow the rest of the deeds of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 6 So Jehoiakim ^hslept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place. 7 ⁱAnd the king of Egypt did not come again out of his land, ^jfor the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt ^kfrom the Brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates.

Jehoiachin Reigns in Judah

8 ^lJehoiachin was ^meighteen 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. 9 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, ⁿaccording to all that his father had done.

Jerusalem Captured

10 At that time the servants of ^oNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. 11 And ^pNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it, 12 ^qand 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. ^rThe king of Babylon took him prisoner ^sin the eighth year of his reign 13 and carried off all the treasures of the house of the Lord ^tand the treasures of the king’s house, ^uand cut in pieces all the vessels of gold in the temple of the Lord, ^vwhich Solomon king of Israel had made, ^was the Lord had foretold. 14 ^xHe carried away all Jerusalem and all the officials and all the mighty men of valor, ^y10,000 captives, ^zand all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained, ^aaexcept the poorest people of the land. 15 ^abAnd 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. 16 And the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon all the men of valor, ^ac7,000, and the craftsmen and the metal workers, 1,000, all of them strong and fit for war. 17 ^adAnd the king of Babylon ^aemade Mattaniah, ^afJehoiachin’s uncle, king in his place, ^agand changed his name to Zedekiah.

Zedekiah Reigns in Judah

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

^akAnd Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

2 Kings 25

Fall and Captivity of Judah

1 ^alAnd in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, ^amNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem and laid siege to it. ^anAnd they built siegeworks all around it. 2 So the city was besieged till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 3 On the ninth day of the fourth month ^aothe famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. 4 Then 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 ^apthe king’s garden, and ^aqthe Chaldeans were around the city. And they went in the direction of the ^arArabah. 5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. 6 Then they captured the king ^asand brought him up to the king of Babylon at ^atRiblah, and they passed sentence on him. 7 They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, ^auand put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains and took him to Babylon.

8 ^avIn the fifth month, on ^awthe seventh day of the month—that was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 9 ^axAnd he burned the house of the Lord ^ayand the king’s house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down. 10 And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, ^azbroke down the walls around Jerusalem. 11 ^baAnd the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the multitude, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile. 12 But the captain of the guard left ^bbsome of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.

13 ^bcAnd the pillars ^bdof bronze that were in the house of the Lord, and ^bethe stands and ^bfthe bronze sea that were in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried the bronze to Babylon. 14 ^bgAnd they took away the pots and the shovels and the snuffers and the dishes for incense and all the vessels of bronze used in the temple service, 15 the fire pans also and the bowls. What was of gold the captain of the guard took away as gold, and what was of silver, as silver. 16 As for the two pillars, the one sea, and the stands that Solomon had made for the house of the Lord, ^bhthe bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight. 17 ^biThe height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, ^{▼▼A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters} and on it was a capital of bronze. The height of the capital was three cubits. A latticework and pomegranates, all of bronze, were all around the capital. And the second pillar had the same, with the latticework.

18 ^bkAnd the captain of the guard took ^blSeraiah the chief priest and ^bmZephaniah the second priest and the three keepers of the threshold; 19 and from the city he took an officer who had been in command of the men of war, and ^bnfive men of the king’s council who were found in the city; and the secretary of the commander of the army, who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the city. 20 And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at ^boRiblah. 21 And the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at ^bpRiblah in the land of Hamath. ^bqSo Judah was taken into exile out of its land.

Gedaliah Made Governor of Judah

22 And over the people who remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, he appointed ^brGedaliah the son of ^bsAhikam, son of Shaphan, governor. 23 ^btNow when all the captains and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah governor, they came with their men to Gedaliah at ^buMizpah, namely, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite. 24 And Gedaliah swore to them and their men, saying, “Do not be afraid because of the Chaldean officials. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.” 25 ^bvBut in the seventh month, ^bwIshmael the son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with ten men and struck down Gedaliah and put him to death along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. 26 ^bxThen all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces arose and went to Egypt, for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

Jehoiachin Released from Prison

27 ^byAnd in the thirty-seventh year of ^bzthe exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, graciously ^cafreed ^{▼▼Hebrew reign, lifted up the head of} Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. 28 And he spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat above the seats of the kings who were with him in Babylon. 29 So Jehoiachin put off his prison garments. And every day of his life ^cche dined regularly at the king’s table, 30 and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, according to his daily needs, as long as he lived.