Jehoahaz’s Reign and Captivity

31 ^bJehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was ^cHamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, ^daccording to all that his fathers had done. 33 And ^xPharaoh Neco put him in bonds at ^eRiblah in the land of ^fHamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents¹ of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And ^xPharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and ^gchanged his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, ^hand he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim ⁱgave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command 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 Neco.

Jehoiakim Reigns in Judah

36 ^jJehoiakim 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. 37 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, ^daccording to all that his fathers had done.

1 ^kIn his days, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. 2 And the Lord sent against him bands of the ^lChaldeans and ^mbands of the Syrians and bands of the Moabites and bands of the Ammonites, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, ⁿaccording to the word of the Lord that he spoke by his servants the prophets. 3 Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the Lord, to remove them out of his sight, ^ofor the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, 4 and also ^pfor the innocent blood that he had shed. For he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord would not pardon. 5 ^qNow the rest of the deeds of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 6 So Jehoiakim ^rslept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place. 7 ^sAnd the king of Egypt did not come again out of his land, ^tfor the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt ^ufrom the Brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates.

Jehoiachin Reigns in Judah

8 ^vJehoiachin was ^weighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. 9 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, ^xaccording to all that his father had done.

Jerusalem Captured

10 At that time the servants of ^yNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. 11 And ^yNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it, 12 ^zand Jehoiachin the king of Judah gave himself up to the king of Babylon, himself and his mother and his servants and his officials and his palace officials. ^aThe king of Babylon took him prisoner ^bin the eighth year of his reign 13 and carried off all the treasures of the house of the Lord ^cand the treasures of the king’s house, ^dand cut in pieces all the vessels of gold in the temple of the Lord, ^ewhich Solomon king of Israel had made, ^fas the Lord had foretold. 14 ^gHe carried away all Jerusalem and all the officials and all the mighty men of valor, ^h10,000 captives, ⁱand all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained, ^jexcept the poorest people of the land. 15 ^kAnd he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon. The king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officials, and the chief men of the land he took into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16 And the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon all the men of valor, ^l7,000, and the craftsmen and the metal workers, 1,000, all of them strong and fit for war. 17 ^mAnd the king of Babylon ⁿmade Mattaniah, ^oJehoiachin’s uncle, king in his place, ^pand changed his name to Zedekiah.

Judah’s Decline

1 ^mThe people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and made him king in his father’s place in Jerusalem. 2 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. 3 Then the king of Egypt deposed him in Jerusalem and ⁿlaid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent¹ of gold. 4 And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Jehoahaz his brother and carried him to Egypt.

5 ^oJehoiakim 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. 6 ^pAgainst him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ^qand bound him in chains ^rto take him to Babylon. 7 ^sNebuchadnezzar also carried part of the vessels of the house of the Lord to Babylon and put them in his palace in Babylon. 8 ^tNow the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and the abominations that he did, and what 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 place.

9 ^uJehoiachin was eighteen² years old when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. 10 In ^vthe spring of the year King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon, ^wwith the precious vessels of the house of the Lord, and made his brother ^xZedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.

Jeremiah Threatened with Death

1 ^tIn the beginning of the reign of ^uJehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord: 2 “Thus says the Lord: ^vStand in the court of the Lord’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah that come to worship in the house of the Lord ^wall the words that I command you to speak to them; ^xdo not hold back a word. 3 ^yIt may be they will listen, and every one turn from his evil way, ^zthat I may relent of the disaster that I intend to do to them ^abecause of their evil deeds. 4 You shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^bIf you will not listen to me, to walk in my law that I have set before you, 5 ^cand to listen to the words of my servants the prophets whom I send to you ^curgently, ^cthough you have not listened, 6 then I will make this house ^dlike Shiloh, and I will make this city ^ea curse for all the nations of the earth.’”

7 ^fThe priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. 8 And when Jeremiah had finished speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, then ^fthe priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold of him, saying, “You shall die! 9 Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘This house shall be ^dlike Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, ^gwithout inhabitant’?” And all the people gathered around Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.

10 When ^hthe officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of the Lord and took their seat in the ⁱentry of the New Gate of the house of the Lord. 11 Then ^fthe priests and the prophets said to the officials and to all the people, ^j“This man deserves the sentence of death, because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.”

12 Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and all the people, saying, “The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and this city all the words you have heard. 13 Now therefore ^kmend your ways and your deeds, ^land obey the voice of the Lord your God, ^zand the Lord will relent of the disaster that he has pronounced against you. 14 ^mBut as for me, behold, I am in your hands. Do with me as seems good and right to you. 15 Only know for certain that if you put me to death, ⁿyou will bring innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city and its inhabitants, for in truth the Lord sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.”

Jeremiah Spared from Death

16 ^oThen the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, ^p“This man does not deserve the sentence of death, for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.” 17 ^qAnd certain of ^rthe elders of the land arose and spoke to all the assembled people, saying, 18 “Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and said to all the people of Judah: ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts,

19 Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? ^tDid he not fear the Lord and entreat the favor of the Lord, ^uand did not the Lord relent of the disaster that he had pronounced against them? ^vBut we are about to bring great disaster upon ourselves.”

20 There was another man who prophesied in the name of the Lord, Uriah the son of Shemaiah from ^wKiriath-jearim. He prophesied against this city and against this land in words like those of Jeremiah. 21 And when ^xKing Jehoiakim, with all his warriors and all the officials, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death. But when Uriah heard of it, he was afraid and fled and escaped to Egypt. 22 Then ^xKing Jehoiakim sent to Egypt certain men, ^yElnathan the son of ^zAchbor and others with him, 23 and they took Uriah from Egypt and brought him to King Jehoiakim, ^awho struck him down with the sword and dumped his dead body into the burial place of the common people.

24 But the hand of ^bAhikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah so that he was not given over to the people to be put to death.

The Obedience of the Rechabites

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of ⁿJehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: 2 “Go to the house of the ^oRechabites and speak with them and bring them to the house of the Lord, into one of ^pthe chambers; then offer them wine to drink.” 3 So I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites. 4 I brought them to the house of the Lord into ^pthe chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, ^qthe man of God, which was near ^pthe chamber of the officials, above ^pthe chamber of ^rMaaseiah the son of Shallum, ^skeeper of the threshold. 5 Then I set before the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups, and I said to them, “Drink wine.” 6 But they answered, “We will drink no wine, for ^tJonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, ‘You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons forever. 7 You shall not build a house; you shall not sow seed; you shall not plant or have a vineyard; but you shall live in tents all your days, ^uthat you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.’ 8 We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, 9 and not to build houses to dwell in. We have no vineyard or field or seed, 10 but we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done all that Jonadab our father commanded us. 11 But ^vwhen Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of ^wthe army of the Chaldeans and ^wthe army of the Syrians.’ ^xSo we are living in Jerusalem.”

12 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 13 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, ^yWill you not receive instruction and listen to my words? declares the Lord. 14 The command that Jonadab the son of Rechab gave to his sons, to drink no wine, has been kept, and they drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their father’s command. I have spoken to you ^zpersistently, but you have not listened to me. 15 I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them ^zpersistently, saying, ^a‘Turn now every one of you from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and ^bdo not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to you and your fathers.’ ^cBut you did not incline your ear or listen to me. 16 The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have kept the command that their father gave them, but this people has not obeyed me. 17 Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, ^dbecause I have spoken to them and they have not listened, ^dI have called to them and they have not answered.”

18 But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father and kept all his precepts and done all that he commanded you, 19 therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall never lack a man ^eto stand before me.”