NSB(i)
6 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked Jehoiakim and put him in bronze shackles to take him to Babylon.
7 Nebuchadnezzar also brought some of the utensils of Jehovah’s Temple to Babylon. He put them in his palace (temple) in Babylon.
8 Everything about Jehoiakim, the disgusting things he did and all the charges against him are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. His son Jehoiakin succeeded him as king.
9 Jehoiakin was eight years old when he began to rule as king. He was king for three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did what Jehovah considered evil.
10 In the spring King Nebuchadnezzar sent for Jehoiakin and brought him to Babylon with the valuable utensils from Jehovah’s Temple. Nebuchadnezzar made Jehoiakin’s uncle Zedekiah king of Judah and Jerusalem.
11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to rule. He ruled for eleven years in Jerusalem.
12 He did what Jehovah his God considered evil. He did not humble himself in front of the prophet Jeremiah, who spoke Jehovah’s word.
13 Zedekiah also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar made Zedekiah swear an oath of allegiance to him in God’s name. But Zedekiah became so stubborn and so impossible to deal with that he refused to turn back to Jehovah the God of Israel.
14 All the officials, the priests, and the people became increasingly unfaithful and followed all the disgusting practices of the nations. Although Jehovah made the Temple in Jerusalem holy, they made the Temple unclean.
15 Jehovah the God of their ancestors repeatedly sent messages through his prophets because he wanted to spare his people and his dwelling place.
16 They mocked God’s messengers. They despised his words, and made fun of his prophets until Jehovah became angry with his people. He could no longer heal them.
17 So he had the Babylonian king attack them and execute their best young men in their holy temple. He did not spare the best men or the unmarried women, the old people or the sick people. God handed all of them over to him.
18 He brought to Babylon each of the utensils from God’s temple, the treasures from Jehovah’s Temple, and the treasures of the king and his officials.
19 He burned down the Temple and the city, with all its palaces and its wealth, and broke down the city wall.
20 The survivors were taken to Babylonia as prisoners. They served as slaves of the king and his sons, until Persia became a powerful nation.