1 ¶ Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in Jerusalem in his father’s place.

2 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem.

3 Then the king of Egypt deposed him at Jerusalem, and fined the country one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.

4 And the king of Egypt made Eliakim Jehoahaz’s brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. And Necho took Jehoahaz his brother, and carried him to Egypt.

5 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God.

6 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came up against him, and bound him with chains, to carry him to Babylon.

7 Nebuchadnezzar also took some of the vessels from the house of the LORD to Babylon, and put them in his temple in Babylon.

8 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and the abominable things that he did, and all that was found against him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.

9 Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.

10 And when the year ended, king Nebuchadnezzar sent men, who brought him to Babylon, along with the precious vessels from the house of the LORD, and made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem.

11 ¶ Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem.

12 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet who spoke words from the mouth of the LORD.

13 And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD God of Israel.

14 Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed greatly imitating all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.

15 And the LORD God of their fathers repeatedly sent word to them by his messengers; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place:

16 But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and abused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, until there was no remedy.

17 Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in their holy temple, and had no compassion on young men or girls, the old, or those who were bent over because of age: he gave them all into his hand.

18 And he took all the vessels from the house of God, great and small, and the treasures from the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king, and his officials, to Babylon.

19 And they burned the house of God, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all its precious articles.

20 And he carried those who had escaped from the sword away to Babylon; where they were slaves to him and to his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power there:

21 To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, and the land enjoyed its sabbath rest: for as long as it lay desolate it kept the sabbath rest, until seventy years were fulfilled.

22 ¶ Now in the first year of Cyrus the king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying,

23 Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he has charged me to build him a temple in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all his people, let him go up to Jerusalem, and may the LORD his God be with him.