2 Kings 23:31--24:20

Jehoahaz’s Reign over Judah

23:31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah. 23:32 He did evil in the sight of the Lord as his ancestors had done. 23:33 Pharaoh Necho imprisoned him in Riblah in the land of Hamath and prevented him from ruling in Jerusalem. He imposed on the land a special tax of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 23:34 Pharaoh Necho made Josiah’s son Eliakim king in Josiah’s place, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. He took Jehoahaz to Egypt, where he died. 23:35 Jehoiakim paid Pharaoh the required amount of silver and gold, but to meet Pharaoh’s demands Jehoiakim had to tax the land. He collected an assessed amount from each man among the people of the land in order to pay Pharaoh Necho.

Jehoiakim’s Reign over Judah

23:36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah, from Rumah. 23:37 He did evil in the sight of the Lord as his ancestors had done.

24:1 During Jehoiakim’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked. Jehoiakim was his subject for three years, but then he rebelled against him. 24:2 The Lord sent against him Babylonian, Syrian, Moabite, and Ammonite raiding bands; he sent them to destroy Judah, as he had warned he would do through his servants the prophets. 24:3 Just as the Lord had announced, he rejected Judah because of all the sins which Manasseh had committed. 24:4 Because he killed innocent people and stained Jerusalem with their blood, the Lord was unwilling to forgive them.

24:5 The rest of the events of Jehoiakim’s reign and all his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah. 24:6 He passed away and his son Jehoiachin replaced him as king. 24:7 The king of Egypt did not march out from his land again, for the king of Babylon conquered all the territory that the king of Egypt had formerly controlled between the Brook of Egypt and the Euphrates River.

Jehoiachin’s Reign over Judah

24:8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan, from Jerusalem. 24:9 He did evil in the sight of the Lord as his ancestors had done.

24:10 At that time the generals of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon marched to Jerusalem and besieged the city. 24:11 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to the city while his generals were besieging it. 24:12 King Jehoiachin of Judah, along with his mother, his servants, his officials, and his eunuchs surrendered to the king of Babylon. The king of Babylon, in the eighth year of his reign, took Jehoiachin prisoner. 24:13 Nebuchadnezzar took from there all the riches in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and of the royal palace. He removed all the gold items which King Solomon of Israel had made for the Lord’s temple, just as the Lord had warned. 24:14 He deported all the residents of Jerusalem, including all the officials and all the soldiers (10,000 people in all). This included all the craftsmen and those who worked with metal. No one was left except for the poorest among the people of the land. 24:15 He deported Jehoiachin from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with the king’s mother and wives, his eunuchs, and the high-ranking officials of the land. 24:16 The king of Babylon deported to Babylon all the soldiers (there were 7,000), as well as 1,000 craftsmen and metal workers. This included all the best warriors. 24:17 The king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king in Jehoiachin’s place. He renamed him Zedekiah.

Zedekiah’s Reign over Judah

24:18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled for eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah. 24:19 He did evil in the sight of the Lord, as Jehoiakim had done.

24:20 What follows is a record of what happened to Jerusalem and Judah because of the Lord’s anger; he finally threw them out of his presence. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

2 Kings 24:1

24:1 During Jehoiakim’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked. Jehoiakim was his subject for three years, but then he rebelled against him.

2 Kings 3:15-17

3:15 But now, get me a musician.” When the musician played, the Lord energized him, 3:16 and he said, “This is what the Lord says, ‘Make many cisterns in this valley,’ 3:17 for this is what the Lord says, ‘You will not feel any wind or see any rain, but this valley will be full of water and you and your cattle and animals will drink.’

2 Kings 3:2

3:2 He did evil in the sight of the Lord, but not to the same degree as his father and mother. He did remove the sacred pillar of Baal that his father had made.

2 Kings 1:1-8

Elijah Confronts the King and His Commanders

1:1 After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel. 1:2 Ahaziah fell through a window lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria and was injured. He sent messengers with these orders, “Go, ask Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron, if I will survive this injury.”

1:3 But the Lord’s angelic messenger told Elijah the Tishbite, “Get up, go to meet the messengers from the king of Samaria. Say this to them: ‘You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are on your way to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub the god of Ekron. 1:4 Therefore this is what the Lord says, “You will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die!”’” So Elijah went on his way.

1:5 When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, “Why have you returned?” 1:6 They replied, “A man came up to meet us. He told us, “Go back to the king who sent you and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: “You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are sending for an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die.”’” 1:7 The king asked them, “Describe the appearance of this man who came up to meet you and told you these things.” 1:8 They replied, “He was a hairy man and had a leather belt tied around his waist.” The king said, “He is Elijah the Tishbite.”

Jeremiah 2:10-28

2:10 Go west across the sea to the coasts of Cyprus and see.

Send someone east to Kedar and have them look carefully.

See if such a thing as this has ever happened:

2:11 Has a nation ever changed its gods

(even though they are not really gods at all)?

But my people have exchanged me, their glorious God,

for a god that cannot help them at all!

2:12 Be amazed at this, O heavens!

Be shocked and utterly dumbfounded,”

says the Lord.

2:13 “Do so because my people have committed a double wrong:

they have rejected me,

the fountain of life-giving water,

and they have dug cisterns for themselves,

cracked cisterns which cannot even hold water.”

Israel’s Reliance on Foreign Alliances (not on God)

2:14 “Israel is not a slave, is he?

He was not born into slavery, was he?

If not, why then is he being carried off?

2:15 Like lions his enemies roar victoriously over him;

they raise their voices in triumph.

They have laid his land waste;

his cities have been burned down and deserted.

2:16 Even the soldiers from Memphis and Tahpanhes

have cracked your skulls, people of Israel.

2:17 You have brought all this on yourself, Israel,

by deserting the Lord your God when he was leading you along the right path.

2:18 What good will it do you then to go down to Egypt

to seek help from the Egyptians?

What good will it do you to go over to Assyria

to seek help from the Assyrians?

2:19 Your own wickedness will bring about your punishment.

Your unfaithful acts will bring down discipline on you.

Know, then, and realize how utterly harmful

it was for you to reject me, the Lord your God,

to show no respect for me,”

says the Lord God who rules over all.

The Lord Expresses His Exasperation at Judah’s Persistent Idolatry

2:20 “Indeed, long ago you threw off my authority

and refused to be subject to me.

You said, ‘I will not serve you.’

Instead, you gave yourself to other gods on every high hill

and under every green tree,

like a prostitute sprawls out before her lovers.

2:21 I planted you in the land

like a special vine of the very best stock.

Why in the world have you turned into something like a wild vine

that produces rotten, foul-smelling grapes?

2:22 You can try to wash away your guilt with a strong detergent.

You can use as much soap as you want.

But the stain of your guilt is still there for me to see,”

says the Lord God.

2:23 “How can you say, ‘I have not made myself unclean.

I have not paid allegiance to the gods called Baal.’

Just look at the way you have behaved in the Valley of Hinnom!

Think about the things you have done there!

You are like a flighty, young female camel

that rushes here and there, crisscrossing its path.

2:24 You are like a wild female donkey brought up in the wilderness.

In her lust she sniffs the wind to get the scent of a male.

No one can hold her back when she is in heat.

None of the males need wear themselves out chasing after her.

At mating time she is easy to find.

2:25 Do not chase after other gods until your shoes wear out

and your throats become dry.

But you say, ‘It is useless for you to try and stop me

because I love those foreign gods and want to pursue them!’

2:26 Just as a thief has to suffer dishonor when he is caught,

so the people of Israel will suffer dishonor for what they have done.

So will their kings and officials,

their priests and their prophets.

2:27 They say to a wooden idol, ‘You are my father.’

They say to a stone image, ‘You gave birth to me.’

Yes, they have turned away from me instead of turning to me.

Yet when they are in trouble, they say, ‘Come and save us!’

2:28 But where are the gods you made for yourselves?

Let them save you when you are in trouble.

The sad fact is that you have as many gods

as you have towns, Judah.