2. He was 23 years old when he became king of Judah. He was king in Jerusalem for three months.
3. Then King Neco from Egypt made Jehoahaz a prisoner. Neco made the people of Judah pay 3 3/4 tons of silver and 75 pounds of gold for a fine.
4. Neco chose Jehoahaz’s brother Eliakim to be the new king of Judah and Jerusalem. Neco gave Eliakim a new name. He named him Jehoiakim. But Neco took Jehoahaz to Egypt.
5. Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became the new king of Judah. He was king in Jerusalem for eleven years. Jehoiakim did not obey God. He did what the Lord his God considered evil.
6. King Nebuchadnezzar from Babylon attacked Judah. He made Jehoiakim a prisoner and put bronze chains on him. Then Nebuchadnezzar took King Jehoiakim to Babylon.
7. Nebuchadnezzar took some of the things from the Lord’S Temple. He carried them to Babylon and put them in his own house.
8. Everything else Jehoiakim did, the terrible sins he did, and everything he was guilty of doing, are written in the book, The History of the Kings of Israel and Judah. Jehoiakim’s son Jehoiachin became the new king in his place.
9. Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he became king of Judah. He was king in Jerusalem for three months and ten days. He did not obey God. He did what the Lord considered evil.
10. In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar sent some servants to get Jehoiachin. They brought Jehoiachin and some valuable treasures from the Lord’S Temple to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar chose Zedekiah to be the new king of Judah and Jerusalem. Zedekiah was one of Jehoiachin’s relatives.
11. Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king of Judah. He was king in Jerusalem for eleven years.
12. Zedekiah did what the Lord his God considered evil. Jeremiah the prophet told him messages from the Lord. But Zedekiah did not humble himself and obey what Jeremiah said.
13. Zedekiah turned against King Nebuchadnezzar. In the past Nebuchadnezzar forced Zedekiah to make a promise to be faithful to him. Zedekiah used God’s name and promised to be faithful to Nebuchadnezzar. But Zedekiah was stubborn and would not change his life. He refused to obey the Lord, the God of Israel.