1Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in Jerusalem in his father's place.
2Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.
3The king of Egypt removed him from being king at Jerusalem, and made the land pay a fine of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.
4The king of Egypt made Eliakim, the brother of Jehoahaz, king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. And Necho took Jehoahaz his brother and carried him away to Egypt.
5Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God.
6Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against him, and bound him in chains to carry him to Babylon.
7Nebuchadnezzar also carried some of the vessels of the house of the LORD to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon.
8The rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and the hateful things he did, and what was found in him, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place.
9Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.
10When the year was over, king Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon, along with the fine vessels of the house of the LORD. And he made Zedekiah, Jehoiachin's brother, king over Judah and Jerusalem.
11Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.
12He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the LORD.
13He also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear an oath by God. But he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart, and would not turn to the LORD God of Israel.
14What is more, all the chief priests and the people sinned more and more, copying all the hateful practices of the nations. They made the house of the LORD unclean, the house he had made holy in Jerusalem.
15The LORD God of their fathers sent word to them by his messengers, rising up early and sending them again and again, because he had compassion on his people and on the place where he lived.
16But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and ill-treated his prophets, until the anger of the LORD rose against his people, and there was no cure.
17So he brought against them the king of the Chaldees, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary. He had no pity on young man or young woman, on the old man or the one bent with age. God gave them all into his hand.
18All the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king and of his princes: all these he brought to Babylon.
19They burned the house of God, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all its fine vessels.
20Those who had escaped the sword he carried away to Babylon. There they were servants to him and his sons until the kingdom of Persia began to rule.
21This was to fulfil the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths. All the time it lay waste it kept sabbath, until seventy years were complete.