38. Jehoiakim put the leading men of the nation in prison, then had his brother Zarius arrested and brought back from Egypt.
39. Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became king of Judah and Jerusalem. He sinned against the Lord.
40. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia invaded Judah, captured Jehoiakim, and took him to Babylonia in bronze chains.
41. Nebuchadnezzar also carried off some of the sacred utensils from the Temple and put them in his own temple in Babylon.
42. The stories about Jehoiakim, his depravity, and the godless way he lived are recorded in The Chronicles of the Kings.
43. Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he succeeded his father Jehoiakim as king,
44. and he ruled in Jerusalem for three months and ten days. He too sinned against the Lord.
45. A year later King Nebuchadnezzar had Jehoiachin taken to Babylonia as a prisoner; Nebuchadnezzar also carried off sacred utensils from the Temple.
46. Then he made Zedekiah king of Judah and Jerusalem.Zedekiah was then 21 years old, and he ruled for eleven years.
47. He sinned against the Lord and refused to listen to the prophet Jeremiah, who spoke the word of the Lord.
48. Although King Nebuchadnezzar had forced Zedekiah to swear in the Lord's name that he would be loyal to him, Zedekiah broke his oath and rebelled against him. He stubbornly refused to obey the commands of the Lord, the God of Israel.
49. In addition, the leaders of the people and even the chief priests did more lawless and godless things than all the corrupt heathen; they defiled the Temple of the Lord, which he had made holy.
50. The God of their ancestors had continued to send prophets to call them back from their sins, because he wanted to spare them and their Temple.
51. But when the Lord spoke through his prophets, the people ridiculed them and laughed.
52. At last the Lord became so angry with his people and their depraved ways that he ordered the kings of Babylonia to attack them.