26. After that, the army officers and all the people in Mizpah, whether important or not, were afraid of what the Babylonians might do. So they left Judah and went to Egypt.
27. Jehoiachin was a prisoner in Babylon for thirty-seven years. Then Evil-Merodach became king of Babylonia, and in the first year of his rule, on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month, he let Jehoiachin out of prison.
28. Evil-Merodach was kind to Jehoiachin and honoured him more than any of the other kings held prisoner there.
29. Jehoiachin was even allowed to wear his own clothes, and he ate at the king's table every day.
30. As long as Jehoiachin lived, he was paid a daily allowance to buy whatever he needed.