2 Kings 24

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

While Jehoiakim was ruling [Judah, the army of] King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded Judah. [They defeated the Judean army, and as a result, ] Jehoiakim was required to pay a lot of tribute/taxes to King Nebuchadnezzar. But after three years, Jehoiakim rebelled.

2 And Yahweh sent against him troops of Chaldeans, and troops of Syrians, and troops of Moabites, and troops of the sons of Ammon, yea he sent them against Judah, to destroy him, —according to the word of Yahweh, which he spake through his servants the prophets.

Then Yahweh sent raiders from Babylonia and Syria, and from the Moab and Ammon people-groups, to attack the people of Judah and get rid of them, just as Yahweh had told his prophets to warn the people would happen.

3 Surely, it was, because of the anger of Yahweh, that this came upon Judah, to remove them from his presence, —for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done:

These things happened to the people of Judah according to what Yahweh commanded. [He had decided] to get rid of the people of Judah because of the many sins that King Manasseh [had committed].

4 moreover also, for the innocent blood that he had shed, so that he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, —which Yahweh was not willing to pardon.

Manasseh had even caused many innocent people in Jerusalem to be killed, and Yahweh would not forgive that.

5 Now, the rest of the story of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

The other things that happened while Jehoiakim was king, and all the things that he did, are written in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Judah’.

6 So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, —and, Jehoiachin his son, reigned, in his stead.

When Jehoiakim died, his son Jehoiachin became the king.

7 And the king of Egypt came no more again out of his land, —for the king of Babylon had taken—from the ravine of Egypt, unto the river Euphrates, all that had belonged to the king of Egypt.

[The army of] the king of Babylon [defeated the army of Egypt, and] took control of all the area that the Egyptians formerly controlled, from the brook [at the border] of Egypt [in the south] to the Euphrates River [in the north]. So [the army of] the king of Egypt did not return [to attack Judah] again.

8 Eighteen years old, was Jehoiachin when he began to reign, and, three months, reigned he in Jerusalem, —and, his mother’s name, was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan, of Jerusalem.

Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he became the king of Judah. His mother’s name was Nehushta; she was the daughter of a man from Jerusalem named Elnathan. Jehoiachin ruled in Jerusalem for [only] three months.

9 And he did the thing that was wicked in the eyes of Yahweh, —according to all that, his father, had done.

Jehoiachin did many things that Yahweh considered to be evil, just as his father had done.

10 At that time, came up the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem, —and the city came into the siege.

[While Jehoiachin was king, ] some officers of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came [along with the whole Babylonian army] to Jerusalem, and they surrounded the city.

11 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants were about to besiege it.

While they were doing that, Nebuchadnezzar himself came to the city.

12 Then came out Jehoiachin king of Judah, unto the king of Babylon, he and his mother, and his servants, and his generals, and his courtiers, —and the king of Babylon took him, in the eighth year of his reign.

Then King Jehoiachin and his mother and his advisors and important officers and palace officials all surrendered to the Babylonian army. These thngs happened when Nebuchadnezzar had been king for eight years. He arrested Jehoiachin and took him to Babylon.

13 And he carried forth from thence, all the treasures of the house of Yahweh, and the treasures of the house of the king, —and he cut off all the fittings of gold, which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of Yahweh, according to all that, Yahweh, had spoken.

Just as Yahweh had said would happen, Nebuchadnezzar’s [soldiers] took [to Babylon] all the valuable things from Yahweh’s temple and from the king’s palace. They cut apart all the gold items that King Solomon had put in the temple.

14 And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the generals, and all the mighty men of valour, ten thousand becoming captives, and all the artificers and the smiths, —none remained save the poorest of the people of the land.

They took from Jerusalem [to Babylon] 10,000 people, including the important officials and the best soldiers and the people who made and repaired things that were made of metal. Only the very poor people were left in Judah.

15 And he carried away captive Jehoiachin, to Babylon, —and, the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and his courtiers, and the nobles of the land, took he away captive, from Jerusalem to Babylon.

Nebuchadnezzar’s soldiers also took to Babylon Jehoiachin’s wives and officials, his mother, and [all] the important people.

16 And, all the men of might—seven thousand, and artificers and smiths—a thousand, all who were valiant and ready to make war, the king of Babylon brought them captive to Babylon.

They also took to Babylon 7,000 of the best soldiers and 1,000 men who knew how to make and repair things that are made from metal. All of these people whom they took were strong and able to fight in wars.

17 And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, his relative, king in his stead, —and changed his name to Zedekiah.

Then the king of Babylon appointed Jehoiachin’s uncle, Mattaniah, to be the king [of Judah], and he changed Mattaniah’s name to Zedekiah.

18 Twenty-one years old, was Zedekiah when he began to reign, and, eleven years, reigned he in Jerusalem, —and, his mother’s name, was Hamutal, daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

When Zedekiah was twenty-one years old, he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal; she was the daughter of a man named Jeremiah from Libnah [town].

19 And he did the thing that was wicked in the eyes of Yahweh, —according to all that, Jehoiakim, had done.

But Zedekiah did many things that Yahweh considered to be evil, just as Jehoiakim had done.

20 For, it was because the anger of Yahweh had come against Jerusalem, and against Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled, against the king of Babylon.

Yahweh was very angry. So (and finally/after he had been patient a long time) he expelled the people of Jerusalem and [the other places in] Judah and sent them to Babylon. [That is what happened when] Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.