2 Kings 24:4-20

24:4 Because he killed innocent people and stained Jerusalem with their blood, the Lord was unwilling to forgive them. ¹ 

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. ²  24:6 He passed away ³  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. ⁴  His mother ⁵  was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan, from Jerusalem. 24:9 He did evil in the sight of ⁶  the Lord as his ancestors had done.

24:10 At that time the generals ⁷  of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon marched to Jerusalem and besieged the city. ⁸  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 ⁹  to the king of Babylon. The king of Babylon, in the eighth year of his reign, ¹⁰  took Jehoiachin ¹¹  prisoner. 24:13 Nebuchadnezzar ¹²  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. ¹³  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. ¹⁴  24:17 The king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s ¹⁵  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. ¹⁶  His mother ¹⁷  was Hamutal, ¹⁸  the daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah. 24:19 He did evil in the sight of ¹⁹  the Lord, as Jehoiakim had done. ²⁰ 

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. ²¹  Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

[24:4]  ¹ tn Heb “and also the blood of the innocent which he shed, and he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord was not willing to forgive.”

[24:5]  ² tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jehoiakim, and all which he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”

[24:6]  ³ tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”

[24:8]  ⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[24:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “the name of his mother.”

[24:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

[24:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “servants.”

[24:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “went up [to] Jerusalem and the city entered into siege.”

[24:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “came out.”

[24:12]  ¹⁰ sn That is, the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, 597 b.c.

[24:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Jehoiachin) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:13]  ¹² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Nebuchadnezzar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “and he deported Jehoiachin to Babylon; the mother of the king and the wives of the king and his eunuchs and the mighty of the land he led into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.”

[24:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the entire [group], mighty men, doers of war.”

[24:17]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “his.”

[24:18]  ¹⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[24:18]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the name of his mother.”

[24:18]  ¹⁸ tc Some textual witnesses support the consonantal text (Kethib) in reading “Hamital.”

[24:19]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

[24:19]  ²⁰ tn Heb “according to all which Jehoiakim had done.”

[24:20]  ²¹ tn Heb “Surely [or, ‘for’] because of the anger of the Lord this happened in Jerusalem and Judah until he threw them out from upon his face.”