2 Kings 24 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

During his reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him.

Yahweh sent Babylonian raiding parties against him, along with Aramean raiding parties, Moabite raiding parties, and Ammonite raiding parties. He sent them against Judah to destroy it, exactly as Yahweh had spoken through his servants the prophets.

This happened to Judah entirely because Yahweh commanded it — to remove them from his presence because of all the failures Manasseh had committed,

and also because of the innocent blood he had shed. He filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and Yahweh was not willing to forgive that.

As for the rest of what Jehoiakim did — everything he accomplished — isn't it all written in the official records of the kings of Judah?

Jehoiakim rested with his ancestors, and his son Jehoiachin became king in his place.

The king of Egypt never came out of his country again, because the king of Babylon had taken everything that belonged to Egypt's king — from the Wadi of Egypt all the way to the Euphrates River.

Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for three months. His mother's name was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan, from Jerusalem.

He did what was evil in Yahweh's eyes, just like everything his father had done.

At that time, the officers of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon marched against Jerusalem and put the city under siege.

Then King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon himself came to the city while his officers were besieging it.

King Jehoiachin of Judah surrendered to the king of Babylon — he, his mother, his officials, his commanders, and his court officers. The king of Babylon took him prisoner in the eighth year of his reign.

He carried off all the treasures from Yahweh's temple and all the treasures from the royal palace. He stripped the gold from all the gold items that King Solomon of Israel had made for Yahweh's temple — exactly as Yahweh had warned.

He deported all of Jerusalem — all the commanders, all the experienced warriors, ten thousand captives — along with all the craftsmen and metalworkers. No one was left except the poorest people of the land.

He deported Jehoiachin to Babylon, along with the king's mother, the king's wives, his court officers, and the leading men of the land. He took them as prisoners from Jerusalem to Babylon.

The king of Babylon brought to Babylon all seven thousand fighting men — strong and battle-ready — plus a thousand craftsmen and metalworkers as captives.

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

Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother's name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah.

He did what was evil in Yahweh's eyes, just like everything Jehoiakim had done.

It was because of Yahweh's anger that all of this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, until he finally threw them out of his presence. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.