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, Jehoiakim naJehoiakin eehamba daJuda
1 Novanhu vomoshilongo va kufa Joahas yaJosia, ndele ve mu ninga ohamba ponhele yaxe muJerusalem. 2 Omido daJoahas da li omilongo mbali nanhatu, ye eshi a ninga ohamba, nokwa pangela eehani nhatu muJerusalem. 3 Nohamba yaEgipiti ye mu kufa mo mepangelo muJerusalem, ndele ya futifa oshilongo eekilograma omayovi atatu nomafele ane doisiliveli, neekilograma omilongo nhatu nanhee doshingoldo. 4 Opo nee ohamba yaEgipiti ya ninga Eliakim, omumwaina, ohamba yaJuda noyaJerusalem, ndele ye mu lukulula Jehoiakim. Ndelenee Neko okwa kufa omumwaina Joahas nokwe mu twala kuEgipiti. 5 Omido daJehoiakim da li omilongo mbali nanhano, ye eshi a ninga ohamba, nokwa pangela omido omulongo naumwe muJerusalem. Nokwa ninga osho inashi wapala momesho Omwene Kalunga kaye. 6 Nebukadnesar, ohamba yaBabilon, oye mu homona ndele tai mu mange nelyenge loshikushu nokwe mu twala kuBabilon. 7 Nebukadnesar okwa twala yo kuBabilon oinima imwe yomongulu yOmwene ndele ye i tula motembeli yaye muBabilon. 8 Oinima imwe tai hepaulula Jehoiakim noixuna yaye e i ninga, naayo ya monika muye, tala, oyo ya shangwa membo leehamba daIsrael nodaJuda. Nomona waye Jehoiakin ya ninga ohamba ponhele yaye.
9 Omido daJehoiakin da li omulongo nahetatu, ye eshi a ninga ohamba, nokwa pangela eehani nhatu nomafiku omulongo muJerusalem. Ndele ye okwa ninga osho inashi yuka momesho Omwene. 10 Pexulilo lomudo ohamba Nebukadnesar ya tuma ko ndele ve mu twala kuBabilon pamwe noinima i nondilo yomongulu yOmwene. Nomumwaina Sedekia okwa ninga ohamba yaJuda noyaJerusalem.
Sedekia, ohamba yaxuuninwa yaJuda
11 Omido daSedekia da li omilongo mbali naumwe, ye eshi a ninga ohamba, nokwa pangela omido omulongo naumwe muJerusalem. 12 Nokwa ninga osho inashi yuka momesho Omwene Kalunga kaye. Ndele ye ine lininipika koshipala shomuxunganeki Jeremia, ou e mu lombwela odo da dja mokanya kOmwene.
Nebukadnesar ta hanauna po Jerusalem
13 Ye okwe liteeka yo ohamba Nebukadnesar, nande yo oye mu anifa puKalunga. Ndelenee ye okwa li e nofingo ikukutu nokwa kukutika omutima waye, onghee hano ina ama kOmwene Kalunga kaIsrael. 14 Novakulunhu yo vomovapristeli novanhu ve liteeka, ndele va longa paixuna aishe yovapaani, ndele va nyateka ongulu yOmwene oyo ye e i yapula muJerusalem. 15 NOmwene Kalunga kooxe ina loloka oku va tumina ovatumwa vaye. Osheshi Ye okwa li e nolune omolwovanhu vaye nongulu yaye. 16 Ndelenee va yola ovatumwa vaKalunga, ndele va dina eendjovo daye, ndele va sheka ovaxunganeki vaye, fiyo oupyuhandu wOmwene wa xwamena ovanhu vaye ndele inapa monika vali eveluko. 17 Onghee hano Ye okwa fikamifa ohamba yOvakaldea i va homone, ndele yo oya dipaa neongamukonda ovalumenhu ovanyasha mongulu yotembeli yavo, ndele inai uditila nande omunyasha omumati ile okakadona, ovakulunhu ile ovakulupe olukeno: Ye okwa yandja aveshe meke layo. 18 Noinima aishe yongulu yaKalunga, inene noinini, nomamona omongulu yOmwene nomamona ohamba, naa omalenga, aishe yo ye i twala kuBabilon. 19 Ndele va xwika po ongulu yaKalunga ndele va ngumauna po ohotekuma yaJerusalem neengulu adishe doipuna domusho ve di xwika po nomundilo, noinima aishe iwa i nondilo ya hanaunwa po. 20 Ndele ava va xupa keongamukonda oye va twala kuBabilon moukwatwa ndele va ninga ovapiya vayo novovana vayo, fiyo oshilongo sha nangalwa kOvapersia. 21 Opo ondjovo yOmwene e i lombwela Jeremia, i wanifwe nokutya: “Fiyo oshilongo sha mona eshakenifo molwomashabata asho. Osha tulumukwa omafiku aeshe etokeko, opo omido omilongo heyali di wanifwe.”
Kores ta itavele Ovajuda va shune koshilongo shavo
22 Ndele momudo wotete waKores, ohamba yaPersia, opo ondjovo yOmwene e i lombwela Jeremia, i wanifwe, Omwene okwa pendula omhepo yaKores, ohamba yaPersia, i shiivifile oshilongo shaye ashishe ndele ye shi shange yo monhumwafo nokutya: 23 “Kores, ohamba yaPersia, tai ti ngaha: ‘Omwene, Kalunga komeulu, okwa yandja mepangelo lange oilongo aishe yokombada yedu, nokwa lombwela nge ndi mu tungile ongulu muJerusalem osho shi li muJuda. Keshe umwe womoshiwana shaye, Omwene Kalunga kaye na kale naye, ndele na ye ko.’ ”
