1 And the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and made him king in Jerusalem in place of his father.
Jehoahaz King of Judah
2 Jehoahazwas twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months.
3 The king of Egypt dethroned him in Jerusalem and imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talentsof silver and a talentof gold.
4 The king of Egypt made Eliakim, a brother of Jehoahaz, king over Judah and Jerusalem and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Necho took Eliakim’s brother Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt.
Jehoiakim King of Judah
5 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. He did evil in the eyes of theLordhis God.
6 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked him and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon.
7 Nebuchadnezzar also took to Babylon articles from the temple of theLordand put them in his templethere.
8 The other events of Jehoiakim’s reign, the detestable things he did and all that was found against him, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin his son succeeded him as king.
Jehoiachin King of Judah
9 Jehoiachin was eighteenyears old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. He did evil in the eyes of theLord.
10 In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and brought him to Babylon, together with articles of value from the temple of theLord, and he made Jehoiachin’s uncle,Zedekiah, king over Judah and Jerusalem.
Zedekiah King of Judah
11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years.
12 He did evil in the eyes of theLordhis God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke the word of theLord.
13 He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him take an oath in God’s name. He became stiff-necked and hardened his heart and would not turn to theLord, the God of Israel.
14 Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful, following all the detestable practices of the nations and defiling the temple of theLord, which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.
The Fall of Jerusalem
15 TheLord, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place.
16 But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of theLordwas aroused against his people and there was no remedy.
17 He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians,who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and did not spare young men or young women, the elderly or the infirm. God gave them all into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar.
18 He carried to Babylon all the articles from the temple of God, both large and small, and the treasures of theLord’s temple and the treasures of the king and his officials.
19 They set fire to God’s temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value there.
20 He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his successors until the kingdom of Persia came to power.
21 The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of theLordspoken by Jeremiah.
22 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of theLordspoken by Jeremiah, theLordmoved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:
23 “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:
“ ‘TheLord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up, and may theLordtheir God be with them.’ ”
—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/3/32k/2CH/36-83771d08ad182d18b9be50330868dfaa.mp3?version_id=111—