The choice of the people now fell upon Josias’ son Joachaz, whom they crowned at Jerusalem to succeed his father.

He was twenty-three years old when he came to the throne, and his reign at Jerusalem lasted but three months;

then he was deposed by the king of Egypt, who marched to Jerusalem and levied a fine from the country, a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.

Joachaz he carried off with him to Egypt, and set up one of the other princes to rule Juda and Jerusalem, Eliakim, whose name he changed to Joakim.

This Joakim was twenty-five years old when he came to the throne, and his reign at Jerusalem lasted eleven years, during which he defied the will of the Lord his God.

Then he was attacked by the king of Babylon, Nabuchodonosor, who led him off to Babylon in chains;

he also carried off (some of) the furniture of the Lord’s house, and laid it up in his own temple there.✻

What else Joakim did, all his idolatry and the story of the life he lived, may be found in the Record of the kings of Juda and Israel; he was succeeded by his son Joachin.

This Joachin was eight(een)✻ years old when he came to the throne, and his reign at Jerusalem lasted three months and ten days. He too defied the Lord’s will,

and when the spring came round, Nabuchodonosor had him brought to Babylon, with all the most precious of the furniture that was left in the Lord’s house. And he set up as king of Juda and Jerusalem Joachin’s uncle Sedecias.

This Sedecias was twenty-one years old when he came to the throne, and he reigned at Jerusalem eleven years.

He defied the Lord’s will, nothing abashed by the prophet Jeremias, that carried threats to him from the Lord’s own lips.

He rebelled against Nabuchodonosor, though he had plighted his allegiance to him in the name of God; refused ever the yoke, steeled ever his heart, and would not come back to the Lord, the God of Israel.

All the chief priests, too, and the common folk did heinous wrong by following the detestable ways of the heathen; desecrated that sanctuary the Lord had set apart for himself at Jerusalem.

He, the God of their fathers, sent messengers to warn them; never a day dawned but he was already pleading with them, so well he loved his people and his dwelling-place.

And they? They mocked the Lord’s own messengers, made light of his warnings, derided his prophets, until at last the Lord’s anger was roused against his people, past all assuaging.

Then it was that he embroiled them with the king of Babylon, who came and put their young men to the sword in the sanctuary itself, pitying neither young man nor maid, old man nor cripple; none might escape his attack.

All the furniture of the Lord’s house, great and small, all the treasures of temple and king and princes, must be carried off to Babylon.

Enemy hands set fire to the Lord’s house, pulled down Jerusalem’s walls, burnt its towers to the ground, destroyed all that was of price.

Those who escaped massacre were carried off to Babylon, where they must live as slaves to the king and his heirs until their empire should pass to the king of Persia;

then, at last, the Lord’s prophecy through Jeremias would be fulfilled, then the land of Juda would have lain fallow long enough. Fallow it must lie, until seventy years had come and gone.

So, in the first year of the Persian king, Cyrus, the Lord made good the promise which Jeremias had uttered in his name. He put a resolve into the heart of Cyrus, king of Persia; who thereupon published a written decree all through his dominions;

A message, it said, from Cyrus, king of Persia. The Lord God of heaven has made me master of the world, and now he will have me rebuild his own temple for him at Jerusalem, a city of Judaea. Who is left among you of his own people? Let him go to the task, with the Lord his God to speed him.