The reign of Joakim, Joachin, and Sedecias.

¹ During his days, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, ascended, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years. And again he rebelled against him.

² And the Lord sent to him the robbers of the Chaldeans, and the robbers of Syria, and the robbers of Moab, and the robbers of the sons of Ammon. And he sent them into Judah, so that they might destroy it, in accord with the word of the Lord, which he had spoken through his servants, the prophets.¹

1. 24:2The Lord sent against him the rovers: Latrunculos. Bands or parties of men, who pillaged and plundered wherever they came.(Challoner)

³ Then this occurred, by the word of the Lord against Judah, that he took him away from before himself because of all the sins of Manasseh which he did,

⁴ and because of the innocent blood which he shed, and because he filled Jerusalem with the slaughter of the innocent. And for this reason, the Lord was not willing to be appeased.

⁵ But the rest of the words of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, have these not been written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Judah? And Jehoiakim slept with his fathers.

⁶ And Jehoiachin, his son, reigned in his place.

⁷ And the king of Egypt no longer continued to go out from his own land. For the king of Babylon had taken all that had belonged to the king of Egypt, from the river of Egypt as far as the river Euphrates.

⁸ Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he had begun to reign, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan, from Jerusalem.

⁹ And he did evil before the Lord, in accord with all that his father had done.

¹⁰ At that time, the servants of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, ascended against Jerusalem. And the city was encircled with fortifications.

¹¹ And Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, went to the city, with his servants, so that he might fight against it.

¹² And Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his leaders, and his eunuchs. And the king of Babylon received him, in the eighth year of his reign.

¹³ And he took from there all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the house of the king. And he cut up all the gold vessels which Solomon, the king of Israel, had made for the temple of the Lord, in accord with the word of the Lord.

¹⁴ And he carried away all of Jerusalem, and all the leaders, and all the strong men of the army, ten thousand, into captivity, with every artisan and craftsman. And no one was left behind, except the poor among the people of the land.

¹⁵ Also, he carried away Jehoiachin into Babylon, and the mother of the king, and the wives of the king, and his eunuchs. And he led into captivity the judges of the land, from Jerusalem to Babylon,

¹⁶ and all the robust men, seven thousand, and the artisans and craftsman, one thousand: all who were strong men and fit for war. And the king of Babylon led them away as captives, into Babylon.

¹⁷ And he appointed Mattaniah, his uncle, in his place. And he imposed the name Zedekiah upon him.

¹⁸ Zedekiah held twenty-one years of life when he had begun to reign. And he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah.

¹⁹ And he did evil before the Lord, in accord with all that Jehoiakim had done.

²⁰ For the Lord was angry against Jerusalem and against Judah, until he cast them away from his face. And so Zedekiah withdrew from the king of Babylon.