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While Jehoiakim was king, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia invaded Judah, and for three years Jehoiakim was forced to submit to his rule; then he rebelled.
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The LORD sent armed bands of Babylonians, Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites against Jehoiakim to destroy Judah, as the LORD had said through his servants the prophets that he would do.
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This happened at the LORD's command, in order to banish the people of Judah from his sight because of all the sins that King Manasseh had committed,
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and especially because of all the innocent people he had killed. The LORD could not forgive Manasseh for that.
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Everything that Jehoiakim did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah.
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Jehoiakim died, and his son Jehoiachin succeeded him as king.
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The king of Egypt and his army never marched out of Egypt again, because the king of Babylonia now controlled all the territory that had belonged to Egypt, from the Euphrates River to the northern border of Egypt.
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Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for three months. His mother was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan from Jerusalem.
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Following the example of his father, Jehoiachin sinned against the LORD.
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It was during his reign that the Babylonian army, commanded by King Nebuchadnezzar's officers, marched against Jerusalem and besieged it.
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During the siege Nebuchadnezzar himself came to Jerusalem,
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and King Jehoiachin, along with his mother, his sons, his officers, and the palace officials, surrendered to the Babylonians. In the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign he took Jehoiachin prisoner
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and carried off to Babylon all the treasures in the Temple and the palace. As the LORD had foretold, Nebuchadnezzar broke up all the gold utensils which King Solomon had made for use in the Temple.
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Nebuchadnezzar carried away as prisoners the people of Jerusalem, all the royal princes, and all the leading men, ten thousand in all. He also deported all the skilled workers, including the blacksmiths, leaving only the poorest of the people behind in Judah.
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Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin to Babylon as a prisoner, together with Jehoiachin's mother, his wives, his officials, and the leading men of Judah.
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Nebuchadnezzar deported all the important men to Babylonia, seven thousand in all, and one thousand skilled workers, including the blacksmiths, all of them able-bodied men fit for military duty.
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Nebuchadnezzar made Jehoiachin's uncle Mattaniah king of Judah and changed his name to Zedekiah.
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Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from the city of Libnah.
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King Zedekiah sinned against the LORD, just as King Jehoiakim had done.
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The LORD became so angry with the people of Jerusalem and Judah that he banished them from his sight.
1
Praise the LORD! Happy is the person who honors the LORD, who takes pleasure in obeying his commands.
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The good man's children will be powerful in the land; his descendants will be blessed.
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His family will be wealthy and rich, and he will be prosperous forever.
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Light shines in the darkness for good people, for those who are merciful, kind, and just.
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Happy is the person who is generous with his loans, who runs his business honestly.
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A good person will never fail; he will always be remembered.
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He is not afraid of receiving bad news; his faith is strong, and he trusts in the LORD.
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He is not worried or afraid; he is certain to see his enemies defeated.
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He gives generously to the needy, and his kindness never fails; he will be powerful and respected.
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The wicked see this and are angry; they glare in hate and disappear; their hopes are gone forever.
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The LORD told me to go to the palace of the king of Judah, the descendant of David, and there tell the king, his officials, and the people of Jerusalem to listen to what the LORD had said:
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"I, the LORD, command you to do what is just and right. Protect the person who is being cheated from the one who is cheating him. Do not mistreat or oppress aliens, orphans, or widows; and do not kill innocent people in this holy place.
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If you really do as I have commanded, then David's descendants will continue to be kings. And they, together with their officials and their people, will continue to pass through the gates of this palace in chariots and on horses.
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But if you do not obey my commands, then I swear to you that this palace will fall into ruins. I, the LORD, have spoken.
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"To me, Judah's royal palace is as beautiful as the land of Gilead and as the Lebanon Mountains; but I will make it a desolate place where no one lives.
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I am sending men to destroy it. They will all bring their axes, cut down its beautiful cedar pillars, and throw them into the fire.
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"Afterward many foreigners will pass by and ask one another why I, the LORD, have done such a thing to this great city.
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Then they will answer that it is because you have abandoned your covenant with me, your God, and have worshiped and served other gods."
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People of Judah, do not weep for King Josiah; do not mourn his death. But weep bitterly for Joahaz, his son; they are taking him away, never to return, never again to see the land where he was born.
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The LORD says concerning Josiah's son Joahaz, who succeeded his father as king of Judah, "He has gone away from here, never to return.
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He will die in the country where they have taken him, and he will never again see this land."
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Doomed is the one who builds his house by injustice and enlarges it by dishonesty; who makes his people work for nothing and does not pay their wages.
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Doomed is the one who says, "I will build myself a mansion with spacious rooms upstairs." So he puts windows in his house, panels it with cedar, and paints it red.
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Does it make you a better king if you build houses of cedar, finer than those of others? Your father enjoyed a full life. He was always just and fair, and he prospered in everything he did.
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He gave the poor a fair trial, and all went well with him. That is what it means to know the LORD.
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But you can only see your selfish interests; you kill the innocent and violently oppress your people. The LORD has spoken.
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So then, the LORD says about Josiah's son Jehoiakim, king of Judah, "No one will mourn his death or say, 'How terrible, my friend, how terrible!' No one will weep for him or cry, 'My lord! My king!'
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With the funeral honors of a donkey, he will be dragged away and thrown outside Jerusalem's gates."
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People of Jerusalem, go to Lebanon and shout, go to the land of Bashan and cry; call out from the mountains of Moab, because all your allies have been defeated.
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The LORD spoke to you when you were prosperous, but you refused to listen. That is what you've done all your life; you never would obey the LORD.
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Your leaders will be blown away by the wind, your allies taken as prisoners of war, your city disgraced and put to shame because of all the evil you have done.
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You rest secure among the cedars brought from Lebanon; but how pitiful you'll be when pains strike you, pains like those of a woman in labor.
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The LORD said to King Jehoiachin, son of King Jehoiakim of Judah, "As surely as I am the living God, even if you were the signet ring on my right hand, I would pull you off
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and give you to people you are afraid of, people who want to kill you. I will give you to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia and his soldiers.
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I am going to force you and your mother into exile. You will go to a country where neither of you was born, and both of you will die there.
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You will long to see this country again, but you will never return."
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I said, "Has King Jehoiachin become like a broken jar that is thrown away and that no one wants? Is that why he and his children have been taken into exile to a land they know nothing about?"
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O land, land, land! Listen to what the LORD has said:
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"This man is condemned to lose his children, to be a man who will never succeed. He will have no descendants who will rule in Judah as David's successors. I, the LORD, have spoken."
1
After Jesus had said this prayer, he left with his disciples and went across Kidron Brook. There was a garden in that place, and Jesus and his disciples went in.
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Judas, the traitor, knew where it was, because many times Jesus had met there with his disciples.
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So Judas went to the garden, taking with him a group of Roman soldiers, and some Temple guards sent by the chief priests and the Pharisees; they were armed and carried lanterns and torches.
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Jesus knew everything that was going to happen to him, so he stepped forward and asked them, "Who is it you are looking for?"
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"Jesus of Nazareth," they answered. "I am he," he said. Judas, the traitor, was standing there with them.
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When Jesus said to them, "I am he," they moved back and fell to the ground.
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Again Jesus asked them, "Who is it you are looking for?" "Jesus of Nazareth," they said.
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"I have already told you that I am he," Jesus said. "If, then, you are looking for me, let these others go."
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(He said this so that what he had said might come true: "Father, I have not lost even one of those you gave me.")
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Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the High Priest's slave, cutting off his right ear. The name of the slave was Malchus.
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Jesus said to Peter, "Put your sword back in its place! Do you think that I will not drink the cup of suffering which my Father has given me?"
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Then the Roman soldiers with their commanding officer and the Jewish guards arrested Jesus, tied him up,
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and took him first to Annas. He was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year.
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It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jewish authorities that it was better that one man should die for all the people.
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Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. That other disciple was well known to the High Priest, so he went with Jesus into the courtyard of the High Priest's house,
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while Peter stayed outside by the gate. Then the other disciple went back out, spoke to the girl at the gate, and brought Peter inside.
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The girl at the gate said to Peter, "Aren't you also one of the disciples of that man?" "No, I am not," answered Peter.
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It was cold, so the servants and guards had built a charcoal fire and were standing around it, warming themselves. So Peter went over and stood with them, warming himself.
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The High Priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching.
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Jesus answered, "I have always spoken publicly to everyone; all my teaching was done in the synagogues and in the Temple, where all the people come together. I have never said anything in secret.
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Why, then, do you question me? Question the people who heard me. Ask them what I told them---they know what I said."
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When Jesus said this, one of the guards there slapped him and said, "How dare you talk like that to the High Priest!"
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Jesus answered him, "If I have said anything wrong, tell everyone here what it was. But if I am right in what I have said, why do you hit me?"
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Then Annas sent him, still tied up, to Caiaphas the High Priest.
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Peter was still standing there keeping himself warm. So the others said to him, "Aren't you also one of the disciples of that man?" But Peter denied it. "No, I am not," he said.
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One of the High Priest's slaves, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, spoke up. "Didn't I see you with him in the garden?" he asked.
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Again Peter said "No"---and at once a rooster crowed.
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Early in the morning Jesus was taken from Caiaphas' house to the governor's palace. The Jewish authorities did not go inside the palace, for they wanted to keep themselves ritually clean, in order to be able to eat the Passover meal.
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So Pilate went outside to them and asked, "What do you accuse this man of ?"
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Their answer was, "We would not have brought him to you if he had not committed a crime."
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Pilate said to them, "Then you yourselves take him and try him according to your own law." They replied, "We are not allowed to put anyone to death."
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(This happened in order to make come true what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he would die.)
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Pilate went back into the palace and called Jesus. "Are you the king of the Jews?" he asked him.
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Jesus answered, "Does this question come from you or have others told you about me?"
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Pilate replied, "Do you think I am a Jew? It was your own people and the chief priests who handed you over to me. What have you done?"
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Jesus said, "My kingdom does not belong to this world; if my kingdom belonged to this world, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish authorities. No, my kingdom does not belong here!"
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So Pilate asked him, "Are you a king, then?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. I was born and came into the world for this one purpose, to speak about the truth. Whoever belongs to the truth listens to me."
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"And what is truth?" Pilate asked. Then Pilate went back outside to the people and said to them, "I cannot find any reason to condemn him.
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But according to the custom you have, I always set free a prisoner for you during the Passover. Do you want me to set free for you the king of the Jews?"
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They answered him with a shout, "No, not him! We want Barabbas!" (Barabbas was a bandit.)
