Nebuchadnezzar Takes Jerusalem

His son Jehoahaz then obtained the kingdom and held it for three months, doomed to captivity because of his ungodliness. For Neco, king of Egypt, put him in chains and led him away captive, and not long afterward, still a prisoner, he ended his days. A yearly tribute was demanded of the Jews, and they were given a king of the victor’s choosing. His name was Eliakim, but he later changed it to Jehoiakim. He was the brother of Jehoahaz and the son of Josiah, but more like his brother than his father, and he displeased God by his ungodliness. [a]

So, while he was subject to the king of Egypt and paid him tribute as a sign of it, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, seized the land of Judea and held it as victor by the right of war for three years. For the king of Egypt now gave way, and when the boundaries of their empires had been fixed between them, it was agreed that the Jews should belong to Babylon.

After Jehoiakim had finished his reign of eleven years, he gave place to his son of the same name, and this son had roused the anger of the king of Babylon against himself. God, no doubt, was overruling everything, since he had resolved to give the Jewish nation up to captivity and destruction. So Nebuchadnezzar entered Jerusalem with an army and leveled the walls and the temple to the ground. He also carried off a vast amount of gold, with sacred ornaments both public and private, and all the grown men and women. Only those whose weakness or age would have been a burden to the conquerors were left behind. This useless crowd was given the task of working and farming the fields as slaves, so that the soil would not be neglected. A king named Zedekiah was set over them, but while he was allowed the empty shadow of the title of king, all real power was taken away.

Jehoiakim’s son, for his part, held the throne for only three months. He was carried away to Babylon along with the people and thrown into prison there. But after thirty years he was released, and the king admitted him to his friendship and made him a sharer at his table and in his counsels. So at last he died, not without some comfort, since his misfortunes had been taken away.