1. Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king of Judah. He ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah. Hamutal’s family was from the town of Libnah.
2. Zedekiah did evil things, just as King Jehoiakim had done. The Lord did not like Zedekiah doing those evil things.
3. Terrible things happened to the people of Jerusalem and Judah because the Lord was angry with them. Finally, he threw them out of his presence. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
4. So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s rule, on the tenth day of the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. The army of Babylon set up their camp outside of Jerusalem. Then they built ramps all around the city walls so that they could get over the walls.
5. The city of Jerusalem was surrounded by the army of Babylon until the eleventh year that Zedekiah was king.