The Last Days of Judah

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Home -> Major Sections of the Bible -> 2 Kings 18:1 - 2 Kings 25:7

2 Kings 18:1 - 2 Kings 25:7

2 Kings 18

Hezekiah Rules over Judah, Destroys Idolatry

Now in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.

He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah.

He did that which was right in The LORD's eyes, according to all that David his father had done.

He removed the high places, and broke the pillars, and cut down the Asherah. He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, because in those days the children of Israel burned incense to it; and he called it Nehushtan.

He trusted in The LORD, the God of Israel; so that after him was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among them that were before him.

For he joined with The LORD. He didn't depart from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses.

The LORD was with him. Wherever he went, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria, and didn't serve him.

He struck the Philistines to Gaza and its borders, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city.

In the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it.

At the end of three years they took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken.

The king of Assyria carried Israel away to Assyria, and put them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes,

because they didn't obey the LORD their God's voice, but transgressed his covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and would not hear it or do it.

Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them.

Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, "I have offended you. Return from me. That which you put on me, I will bear." The king of Assyria appointed to Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.

Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in The LORD's house, and in the treasures of the king's house.

At that time, Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of The LORD's temple, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

The king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great army to Jerusalem. They went up and came to Jerusalem. When they had come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller's field.

When they had called to the king, Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebnah the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder came out to them.

Rabshakeh said to them, "Say now to Hezekiah, 'Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, "What confidence is this in which you trust?

You say (but they are but vain words), 'There is counsel and strength for war.' Now on whom do you trust, that you have rebelled against me?

Now, behold, you trust in the staff of this bruised reed, even in Egypt. If a man leans on it, it will go into his hand, and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust on him.

But if you tell me, 'We trust in the LORD our God;' isn't that he whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, 'You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?'

Now therefore, please give pledges to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them.

How then can you turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put your trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

Have I now come up without the LORD against this place to destroy it? the LORD said to me, 'Go up against this land, and destroy it.'"'"

Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, Shebnah, and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, "Please speak to your servants in the Syrian language, for we understand it. Don't speak with us in the Jews' language, in the hearing of the people who are on the wall."

But Rabshakeh said to them, "Has my master sent me to your master and to you, to speak these words? Hasn't he sent me to the men who sit on the wall, to eat their own dung, and to drink their own urine with you?"

Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and spoke, saying, "Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria.

Thus says the king, 'Don't let Hezekiah deceive you; for he will not be able to deliver you out of his hand.

Don't let Hezekiah make you trust in The LORD, saying, "The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria."

Don't listen to Hezekiah.' For thus says the king of Assyria, 'Make your peace with me, and come out to me; and everyone of you eat from his own vine, and everyone from his own fig tree, and everyone drink water from his own cistern;

until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and of honey, that you may live, and not die. Don't listen to Hezekiah, when he persuades you, saying, "The LORD will deliver us."

Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?

Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?'"

But the people stayed quiet, and answered him not a word; for the king's commandment was, "Don't answer him."

Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, came with Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him Rabshakeh's words.

2 Kings 19

Isaiah Foretells Jerusalem's Deliverance; Hezekiah's Prayer and God's Answer

When king Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into The LORD's house.

He sent Eliakim, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.

They said to him, "Thus says Hezekiah, 'Today is a day of trouble, of rebuke, and of rejection; for the children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to deliver them.

It may be the LORD your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master has sent to defy the living God, and will rebuke the words which the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.'"

So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

Isaiah said to them, "Tell your master this: 'The LORD says, "Don't be afraid of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.

Behold, I will put a spirit in him, and he will hear news, and will return to his own land. I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land."'"

So Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah; for he had heard that he had departed from Lachish.

When he heard it said of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, "Behold, he has come out to fight against you, he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying,

'Tell Hezekiah king of Judah this: "Don't let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.

Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly. Will you be delivered?

Have the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the children of Eden who were in Telassar?

Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?"'"

Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. Then Hezekiah went up to The LORD's house, and spread it before The LORD.

Hezekiah prayed before The LORD, and said, "The LORD, the God of Israel, who sit above the cherubim, you are the God, even you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.

Incline your ear, The LORD, and hear. Open your eyes, The LORD, and see. Hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to defy the living God.

Truly, The LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands,

and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore they have destroyed them.

Now therefore, the LORD our God, save us, I beg you, out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, The LORD, are God alone."

Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, "The LORD, the God of Israel, says 'You have prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, and I have heard you.

This is the word that the LORD has spoken concerning him: 'The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and ridiculed you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.

Whom have you defied and blasphemed? Against whom have you exalted your voice and lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel!

By your messengers, you have defied the Lord, and have said, "With the multitude of my chariots, I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon, and I will cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypress trees; and I will enter into his farthest lodging place, the forest of his fruitful field.

I have dug and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet will I dry up all the rivers of Egypt."

Haven't you heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? Now I have brought it to pass, that it should be yours to lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps.

Therefore their inhabitants had little power. They were dismayed and confounded. They were like the grass of the field, and like the green herb, like the grass on the housetops, and like grain blasted before it has grown up.

But I know your sitting down, your going out, your coming in, and your raging against me.

Because of your raging against me, and because your arrogance has come up into my ears, therefore I will put my hook in your nose, and my bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way by which you came.'

"This will be the sign to you: This year, you will eat that which grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs of the same; and in the third year sow, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat its fruit.

The remnant that has escaped of the house of Judah will again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.

For out of Jerusalem a remnant will go out, and out of Mount Zion those who shall escape. The LORD's zeal will perform this.

"Therefore the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria, 'He will not come to this city, nor shoot an arrow there. He will not come before it with shield, nor cast up a mound against it.

By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he will not come to this city,' says The LORD.

'For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake, and for my servant David's sake.'"

That night, The LORD's angel went out, and struck one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. When men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.

So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and lived at Nineveh.

As he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Esar Haddon his son reigned in his place.

2 Kings 20

Hezekiah's Life Lengthened, Shows Treasures to Babylon

In those days Hezekiah was sick and dying. Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, "The LORD says, 'Set your house in order; for you will die, and not live.'"

Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed to The LORD, saying,

"Remember now, The LORD, I beg you, how I have walked before you in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in your sight." And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

Before Isaiah had gone out into the middle part of the city, The LORD's word came to him, saying,

"Turn back, and tell Hezekiah the prince of my people, 'The LORD, the God of David your father, says, "I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day, you will go up to The LORD's house.

I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my own sake, and for my servant David's sake."'"

Isaiah said, "Take a cake of figs."They took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.

Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "What will be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I will go up to The LORD's house the third day?"

Isaiah said, "This will be the sign to you from The LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he has spoken: should the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?"

Hezekiah answered, "It is a light thing for the shadow to go forward ten steps. No, but let the shadow return backward ten steps."

Isaiah the prophet cried to The LORD; and he brought the shadow ten steps backward, by which it had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz.

At that time Berodach Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah; for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them all the storehouse of his precious things, the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil, and the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasures. There was nothing in his house, or in all his dominion, that Hezekiah didn't show them.

Then Isaiah the prophet came to king Hezekiah, and said to him, "What did these men say? From where did they come to you?"Hezekiah said, "They have come from a far country, even from Babylon."

He said, "What have they seen in your house?"Hezekiah answered, "They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them."

Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear The LORD's word.

'Behold, the days come that all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have laid up in store to this day, will be carried to Babylon. Nothing will be left,' says The LORD.

'They will take away some of your sons who will issue from you, whom you will father; and they will be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.'"

Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "The LORD's word which you have spoken is good." He said moreover, "Isn't it so, if peace and truth will be in my days?"

Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made the pool, and the conduit, and brought water into the city, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and Manasseh his son reigned in his place.

2 Kings 21

Manasseh's and Amon's Wicked Reigns

Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hephzibah.

He did that which was evil in The LORD's sight, after the abominations of the nations whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.

For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he raised up altars for Baal, and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel did, and worshiped all the army of the sky, and served them.

He built altars in The LORD's house, of which the LORD said, "I will put my name in Jerusalem."

He built altars for all the army of the sky in the two courts of The LORD's house.

He made his son to pass through the fire, practiced sorcery, used enchantments, and dealt with those who had familiar spirits, and with wizards. He did much evil in The LORD's sight, to provoke him to anger.

He set the engraved image of Asherah that he had made in the house of which the LORD said to David and to Solomon his son, "In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name forever;

I will not cause the feet of Israel to wander any more out of the land which I gave their fathers, if only they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them."

But they didn't listen, and Manasseh seduced them to do that which is evil more than the nations did whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel.

The LORD spoke by his servants the prophets, saying,

"Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations, and has done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and has also made Judah to sin with his idols;

therefore the LORD the God of Israel says, 'Behold, I bring such evil on Jerusalem and Judah that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle.

I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of Ahab's house; and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.

I will cast off the remnant of my inheritance, and deliver them into the hands of their enemies. They will become a prey and a plunder to all their enemies,

because they have done that which is evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.'"

Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; besides his sin with which he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in The LORD's sight.

Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza; and Amon his son reigned in his place.

Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.

He did that which was evil in The LORD's sight, as Manasseh his father did.

He walked in all the ways that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshiped them;

and he abandoned The LORD, the God of his fathers, and didn't walk in the way of The LORD.

The servants of Amon conspired against him, and put the king to death in his own house.

But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.

Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son reigned in his place.

2 Kings 22

Josiah's Good Reign; Repair of the Temple; Finding the Lost Book of the Law

Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath.

He did that which was right in The LORD's eyes, and walked in all the way of David his father, and didn't turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

In the eighteenth year of king Josiah, the king sent Shaphan, the son of Azaliah the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to The LORD's house, saying,

"Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may count the money which is brought into The LORD's house, which the keepers of the threshold have gathered of the people.

Let them deliver it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of The LORD's house; and let them give it to the workmen who are in The LORD's house, to repair the damage to the house,

to the carpenters, and to the builders, and to the masons, and for buying timber and cut stone to repair the house.

However there was no accounting made with them of the money that was delivered into their hand; for they dealt faithfully."

Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, "I have found the book of the law in The LORD's house." Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan, and he read it.

Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, "Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hands of the workmen who have the oversight of The LORD's house."

Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, "Hilkiah the priest has delivered a book to me." Then Shaphan read it before the king.

When the king had heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes.

The king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying,

"Go inquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found; for great is The LORD's wrath that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book, to do according to all that which is written concerning us."

So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the second quarter); and they talked with her.

She said to them, "The LORD the God of Israel says, 'Tell the man who sent you to me,

"The LORD says, 'Behold, I will bring evil on this place, and on its inhabitants, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read.

Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched.'"

But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of The LORD, tell him, "The LORD the God of Israel says, 'Concerning the words which you have heard,

because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before The LORD, when you heard what I spoke against this place, and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and have torn your clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard you,' says The LORD.

'Therefore behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see all the evil which I will bring on this place.'"'" So they brought this message back to the king.

2 Kings 23

Josiah Renews the Covenant and Passover; Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim Follow

The king sent, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.

The king went up to The LORD's house, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, with the priests, the prophets, and all the people, both small and great; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in The LORD's house.

The king stood by the pillar, and made a covenant before The LORD, to walk after The LORD, and to keep his commandments, his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and all his soul, to confirm the words of this covenant that were written in this book; and all the people agreed to the covenant.

The king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the threshold, to bring out of The LORD's temple all the vessels that were made for Baal, for the Asherah, and for all the army of the sky, and he burned them outside of Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel.

He got rid of the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places around Jerusalem; those also who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the army of the sky.

He brought out the Asherah from The LORD's house, outside of Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and beat it to dust, and cast its dust on the graves of the common people.

He broke down the houses of the male shrine prostitutes that were in The LORD's house, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah.

He brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba; and he broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city.

Nevertheless the priests of the high places didn't come up to The LORD's altar in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers.

He defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.

He took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of The LORD's house, by the room of Nathan Melech the officer, who was in the court; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

The king broke down the altars that were on the roof of the upper room of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of The LORD's house, and beat them down from there, and cast their dust into the brook Kidron.

The king defiled the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mountain of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon.

He broke in pieces the pillars, cut down the Asherah poles, and filled their places with men's bones.

Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he broke down; and he burned the high place and beat it to dust, and burned the Asherah.

As Josiah turned himself, he spied the tombs that were there in the mountain; and he sent, and took the bones out of the tombs, and burned them on the altar, and defiled it, according to The LORD's word which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things.

Then he said, "What monument is that which I see?"The men of the city told him, "It is the tomb of the man of God, who came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that you have done against the altar of Bethel."

He said, "Let him be! Let no one move his bones." So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came out of Samaria.

All the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the LORD to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel.

He killed all the priests of the high places that were there, on the altars, and burned men's bones on them; and he returned to Jerusalem.

The king commanded all the people, saying, "Keep the Passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in this book of the covenant."

Surely there was not kept such a Passover from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah;

but in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, this Passover was kept to the LORD in Jerusalem.

Moreover Josiah removed those who had familiar spirits, the wizards, and the teraphim, and the idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might confirm the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in The LORD's house.

There was no king like him before him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; and there was none like him who arose after him.

Notwithstanding, the LORD didn't turn from the fierceness of his great wrath, with which his anger burned against Judah, because of all the provocation with which Manasseh had provoked him.

The LORD said, "I will also remove Judah out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city which I have chosen, even Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, 'My name shall be there.'"

Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

In his days Pharaoh Necoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates; and king Josiah went against him; and Pharaoh Necoh killed him at Megiddo, when he had seen him.

His servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb. The people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father's place.

Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

He did that which was evil in The LORD's sight, according to all that his fathers had done.

Pharaoh Necoh put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and put the land to a tribute of one hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.

Pharaoh Necoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim; but he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there.

Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give the money according to the commandment of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Necoh.

Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.

He did that which was evil in The LORD's sight, according to all that his fathers had done.

2 Kings 24

Jehoiakim; Deportation to Babylon; Jehoiachin; Zedekiah

In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him.

The LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldeans, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to The LORD's word, which he spoke by his servants the prophets.

Surely at the commandment of the LORD this came on Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did,

and also for the innocent blood that he shed; for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD would not pardon.

Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place.

The king of Egypt didn't come out of his land any more; for the king of Babylon had taken, from the brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates, all that belonged to the king of Egypt.

Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother's name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.

He did that which was evil in The LORD's sight, according to all that his father had done.

At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.

Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it,

and Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers; and the king of Babylon captured him in the eighth year of his reign.

He carried out from there all the treasures of The LORD's house, and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold, which Solomon king of Israel had made in The LORD's temple, as the LORD had said.

He carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. No one remained, except the poorest people of the land.

He carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, with the king's mother, the king's wives, his officers, and the chief men of the land. He carried them into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.

All the men of might, even seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths one thousand, all of them strong and fit for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.

The king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's father's brother, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.

Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

He did that which was evil in The LORD's sight, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.

For through the anger of The LORD, this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence.Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

2 Kings 25

Nebuchadnezzar's Siege, Burning and Plunder of Jerusalem; Jehoiachin's Release

In the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built forts against it around it.

So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.

On the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine was severe in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.

Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king's garden (now the Chaldeans were against the city around it); and the king went by the way of the Arabah.

But the Chaldean army pursued the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.

Then they captured the king, and carried him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they passed judgment on him.

They killed Zedekiah's sons before his eyes, then put out Zedekiah's eyes, bound him in fetters, and carried him to Babylon.