2 Kings 24

¹ Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched in during Jehoiakim's days. Jehoiakim bent low and served him for three years. Then he turned on him and fought back.

² Yahweh sent raiding bands to tear Judah apart! Chaldeans came. Syrians came. Moabites came. Ammonites came. He sent them all to crush Judah, exactly like Yahweh warned through his prophets.

⁷ The king of Egypt never marched out of his land again. The king of Babylon had ripped away everything Egypt owned, from the Brook of Egypt all the way north to the Euphrates River.

¹⁰ Right then, Nebuchadnezzar's army marched up to Jerusalem. They surrounded the city. They closed in tight.

¹⁴ He dragged away all of Jerusalem! Every noble. Every fighter. Ten thousand prisoners. Every worker who knew a trade. Every person who could work metal. Only the poorest people stayed behind.