2 Kings 24

1 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.

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

2 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.

And Jehovah sent against him the bands of the Chaldeans, and the bands of the Syrians, and the bands of the Moabites, and the bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of Jehovah, which he spoke through his servants the prophets.

3 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].

Verily, at the commandment of Jehovah it came to pass against Judah, that they should be removed out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done;

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

and also [because of] the innocent blood that he had shed; for he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and Jehovah would not pardon.

5 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’.

And the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

6 When Jehoiakim died, his son Jehoiachin became the king.

And Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.

7 [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.

And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land, for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt, from the torrent of Egypt to the river Euphrates.

8 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.

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

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

And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah, according to all that his father had done.

10 [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.

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

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

And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, while his servants were besieging it.

12 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.

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

13 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.

And he brought out thence all the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold that Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of Jehovah, as Jehovah had said.

14 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.

And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained but the poorest sort of the people of the land.

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

And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his chamberlains, and the mighty of the land, he led into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon;

16 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.

and all the men of valour, seven thousand, and the craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all strong men apt for war, and the king of Babylon brought them captive to Babylon.

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

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

18 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].

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

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

And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.

20 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.

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