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the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and made him king in Jerusalem in place of his father.
2 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. 3 Then the king of Egypt dethroned him in Jerusalem, and he imposed a levy on the land of Judah of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 4 The Neco king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and he changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Eliakim’s brother Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt.
5 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God. 6 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked him, and bound him with bronze shackles to carry him off to Babylon. 7 Nebuchadnezzar also took some of the articles from the House of the Lord to Babylon and put them in his own temple there.
8 The other events of Jehoiakim’s reign, the detestable things he did, and all that found against him, are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. Then his son Jehoiachin succeeded him as king.
9 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. 10 In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and brought him to Babylon, along with the valuable articles from the House of the Lord. Then he mad Jehoiachin’s brother Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.
11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. 12 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet who spoke from the mouth of the Lord. 13 He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear allegiance by God. Instead, he became stiff-necked and hardened his heart against returning to the Lord, 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 they defiled the House of the Lord, which He had consecrated in Jerusalem.
15 The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to them by His messengers again and again, because He had compassion 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 the Lord was so stirred up against His people that there was no remedy. 17 So He brought against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or young woman, on the aged or the feeble; the Lord handed them all over to Nebuchadnezzar. 18 He took to Babylon all the articles of God’s temple, large and small, the treasures from the House of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and his officials. 19 Then the Chaldeans burned God’s temple, broke down the wall of Jerusalem, burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed everything of value there.
20 Those who had escaped from the sword he carried into exile to Babylon, and they became servants to him and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power. 21 This fulfilled the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, and the land enjoyed its Sabbath rests. For as long as the land lay desolate, it kept the Sabbath until seventy years were fulfilled.
22 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in fulfilment of the word of the Lord spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to issue a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom and to put it in writing:
23 This is what Cyrus king of Persia decrees: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a temple at Jerusalem in Judah. Whoever is among you of all His people, may the Lord his God be with him; and let him go up.