King Joahaz of Judah
(2 Kings 23.30-35)1 The people of Judah chose Josiah's son Joahaz and anointed him king in Jerusalem. 2 Joahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for three months. 3 King Neco of Egypt took him prisoner and made Judah pay 7,500 pounds of silver and 75 pounds of gold as tribute. 4 Neco made Joahaz' brother Eliakim king of Judah and changed his name to Jehoiakim. Joahaz was taken to Egypt by Neco.
King Jehoiakim of Judah
(2 Kings 23.36—24.7)5 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. He sinned against the Lord his God. 6 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia invaded Judah, captured Jehoiakim, and took him to Babylonia in chains. 7 Nebuchadnezzar carried off some of the treasures of the Temple and put them in his palace in Babylon. 8 Everything that Jehoiakim did, including his disgusting practices and the evil he committed, is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel and Judah. His son Jehoiachin succeeded him as king.
King Jehoiachin of Judah
(2 Kings 24.8-17)9 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for three months and ten days. He too sinned against the Lord. 10 When spring came, King Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin to Babylonia as a prisoner and carried off the treasures of the Temple. Then Nebuchadnezzar made Jehoiachin's uncle Zedekiah king of Judah and Jerusalem.
King Zedekiah of Judah
(2 Kings 24.18-20Jeremiah 52.1-3a)11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. 12 He sinned against the Lord and did not listen humbly to the prophet Jeremiah, who spoke the word of the Lord.
The Fall of Jerusalem
(2 Kings 25.1-21Jeremiah 52.3b-11)13 Zedekiah rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had forced him to swear in God's name that he would be loyal. He stubbornly refused to repent and return to the Lord, the God of Israel. 14 In addition, the leaders of Judah, the priests, and the people followed the sinful example of the nations around them in worshiping idols, and so they defiled the Temple, which the Lord himself had made holy. 15 The Lord, the God of their ancestors, had continued to send prophets to warn his people, because he wanted to spare them and the Temple. 16 But they made fun of God's messengers, ignoring his words and laughing at his prophets, until at last the Lord's anger against his people was so great that there was no escape.
17 So the Lord brought the king of Babylonia to attack them. The king killed the young men of Judah even in the Temple. He had no mercy on anyone, young or old, man or woman, sick or healthy. God handed them all over to him. 18 The king of Babylonia looted the Temple, the Temple treasury, and the wealth of the king and his officials, and took everything back to Babylon. 19 He burned down the Temple and the city, with all its palaces and its wealth, and broke down the city wall. 20 He took all the survivors to Babylonia, where they served him and his descendants as slaves until the rise of the Persian Empire. 21 And so what the Lord had foretold through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: “The land will lie desolate for seventy years, to make up for the Sabbath rest that has not been observed.”
Cyrus Commands the Jews to Return
(Ezra 1.1-4)22 In the first year that Cyrus of Persia was emperor, the Lord made what he had said through the prophet Jeremiah come true. He prompted Cyrus to issue the following command and send it out in writing to be read aloud everywhere in his empire:
23 “This is the command of Cyrus, Emperor of Persia. The Lord, the God of Heaven, has made me ruler over the whole world and has given me the responsibility of building a temple for him in Jerusalem in Judah. Now, all of you who are God's people, go there, and may the Lord your God be with you.”
Joahas ma rire ombara mOjuda
(2Ozo 23:30-35)1 Otjiwaṋa tja Juda tja toorora Joahas, omuzandu wa Josija, natji mu twirisa a rire ombara mOjerusalem. 2 Joahas wa ri nozombura omirongo vivari nandatu tja rira ombara mOjuda; neye wa honapara mOjerusalem oure womieze vitatu. 3 Neko, ombara ya Engipte, we mu twara mouhuura, na ṋiṋikiza Ovajuda kutja ve sute osilveri yondjinda yozokirograma 3 400, nongoldo yondjinda yozokirograma omirongo vitatu na ine. 4 Neko wa zika Eljakim, omuangu wa Joahas, a rire ombara mOjuda na mOjerusalem, na rundurura ena re okurira Jojakim. Joahas wa twarewa i Neko kOengipte.
Jojakim ma rire ombara mOjuda
(2Ozo 23:36—24:7)5 Jojakim wa ri notjiwondo tjozombura omirongo vivari nandano tja rira ombara mOjuda; neye wa honapara mOjerusalem oure wozombura omurongo na imwe. Eye wa tjita ouvi komurungu wa Muhona, Ndjambi we. 6 Nebukadnesar, ombara ya Babilon, wa rwisa Juda na kambura Jojakim ne mu twara kObabilon a pandekwa nouketanga. 7 Nebukadnesar wa twaerera ovihuze tjiva vyondjuwo ya Muhona ne kevitwa mondjuwo ye youhona mObabilon. 8 Oviṋa avihe vyarwe Jojakim mbya tjita puna ovitjitwa vye oviyaukise, nouvi mbwa tjita, vya tjangwa mEkuruhungi rOzombara za Israel noza Juda. Omuzandu we Jojakin we mu pingena mouhona.
Jojakin ma rire ombara mOjuda
(2Ozo 24:8-17)9 Jojakin wa ri notjiwondo tjozombura omurongo na hambondatu tja rira ombara mOjuda; neye wa honapara mOjerusalem oure womieze vitatu nomayuva omurongo. Eye wina wa tjita ouvi komurungu wa Muhona. 10 Moruteṋi ombara Nebukadnesar wa twara Jojakin otja omuhuurwa kObabilon, na twaerere ovihuze vyondjuwo ya Muhona. Tjazumba Nebukadnesar wa zika Sidkija, omuangu wa Jojakin, a rire ombara mOjuda na mOjerusalem.
Sidkija ma rire ombara mOjuda
(2Ozo 24:18-20Jer 52:1-3a)11 Sidkija wa ri nozombura omirongo vivari na imwe tja rira ombara mOjuda; eye wa honapara mOjerusalem oure wozombura omurongo na imwe. 12 Eye wa tjita ouvi komurungu wa Muhona, Ndjambi we, nu ka puratenene ko nomerisusuparisiro komuprofete Jeremia, ngwaa zuvarisa mena ra Muhona.
Omawiro wa Jerusalem
(2Ozo 25:1-21Jer 52:3b-11)13 Sidkija wa sekamena ombara Nebukadnesar ngwe mu ṋiṋikizire okuyana mena ra Ndjambi kutja eye ma kara omuṱakame. Eye wa panḓa noukukutu okuritanaura nokukotoka ku Muhona, Ndjambi wa Israel. 14 Ovanane va Juda novapristeri notjiwaṋa wina va horera kotjikaro otjivi tjoviwaṋa mbye ve kondorokere, mokurikotamena koomukuru vovisenginina, notji va yamburura ondjuwo, Muhona omuini ndje riyapurira mOjerusalem. 15 Muhona, Ndjambi wooihe mukururume, wa kara pokuhinda ovatumwa kutja ve ve ronge, orondu eye aa vanga okuyama otjiwaṋa tje nondjuwo ye ondjapuke. 16 Nungwari owo va nyekerera ovahindwa va Ndjambi, ave temangura omambo we, nave yoro ovaprofete ye, nga korusenina omazenge wa Muhona kotjiwaṋa tje tji ya rira omanene, nga tji pe ha ri ondauriro.
17 Muhona otja eta ombara ya Babilon okuverwisa. Eye wa zepa ovarwe wovita omitanda va Juda, nandarire mondjuwo ya Muhona. Eye kena pa ṱirotjari nomundu, nangarire omutanda poo omukurundu, omurumendu poo omukazendu; Ndjambi we ve yandja avehe momake wayo. 18 Nebukadnesar, ombara ya Babilon, wa huura oviungurise vyondjuwo ya Ndjambi, ovinene noviṱiṱi, novihuze vyayo, novihuze vyombara novyovahongore ve na twara oviṋa avihe mbi kObabilon. 19 Eye wa hwika ondjuwo ya Ndjambi, nozondjuwo azehe zouhona motjihuro Jerusalem na haṋa otumbo twatjo na nyono outumbe watjo. 20 Avehe, mba hupa kotjiṱiro, Nebukadnesar we ve twara kObabilon, ku ve kemukarera nozondekurona ze otja ovahuurwa, nga ouhonapare wOvapersie tji wa uta. 21 Ovitjitwa mbi vya yenenisa imbi Muhona mbya zuvarisire notjinyo tjomuprofete Jeremia, indu tja tjere: “Ehi mari kara tjo nokuhinokukunwa oure wozombura omirongo hambombari kutja pe kare omayuva wOkusuva nge hi na ya yenenisirwe.”
Ombara Kirus ma rakiza Ovajuda ve yaruke
(Esra 1:1-4)22 Mombura ondenga youhona wa Kirus, ombara ya Persie, Muhona we mu kondjisa kutja a tjange omarakiza nu e ye hinde, ye resewe neraka enene mehi arihe rouhonapare we. Ihi tja tjitwa, kokutja imbi Muhona mbya hungirire notjinyo tjomuprofete Jeremia vi yenenisiwe, indu tja tjere:
23 “Omarakiza wa Kirus, ombara ya Persie, owo nga: Muhona, Ndjambi weyuru, we ndji zika okuhonaparera omauhona aehe mouye auhe. Eye we ndji rakiza kutja mbi mu tungire ondjuwo mOjerusalem, tji tji ri mehi ra Juda. Nambano, eṋe amuhe mbu mu ri otjiwaṋa tja Ndjambi, twendeye ngo! Nu Muhona nga kare puna eṋe.”
