The One Year Bible TLB (144 page)
Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
July 4New king of Judah: Jehoahaz
His age at the beginning of his reign: 23 years old
Length of reign: 3 months, in Jerusalem
Mother’s name: Hamutal (the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah)
Character of his reign: evil, like the other kings who had preceded him
33
Pharaoh Neco jailed him at Riblah in Hamath to prevent his reigning in Jerusalem, and he levied a tax against Judah totaling $230,000.
34
The Egyptian king then chose Eliakim, another of Josiah’s sons, to reign in Jerusalem; and he changed his name to Jehoiakim. Then he took King Jehoahaz to Egypt, where he died.
35
Jehoiakim taxed the people to get the money that the Pharaoh had demanded.
36-37
New king of Judah: Jehoiakim
His age at the beginning of his reign: 25 years old
Length of reign: 11 years, in Jerusalem
Mother’s name: Zebidah (daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah)
Character of his reign: evil, like the other kings who had preceded him
24:
1
During the reign of King Jehoiakim, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked Jerusalem. Jehoiakim surrendered and paid him tribute for three years, but then rebelled.
2
And the Lord sent bands of Chaldeans, Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites against Judah in order to destroy the nation, just as the Lord had warned through his prophets that he would.
3-4
It is clear that these disasters befell Judah at the direct command of the Lord. He had decided to wipe Judah out of his sight because of the many sins of Manasseh, for he had filled Jerusalem with blood, and the Lord would not pardon it.
5
The rest of the history of the life of Jehoiakim is recorded in
The Annals of the Kings of Judah.
6
When he died, his son Jehoiachin became the new king.
7
(The Egyptian Pharaoh never returned after that, for the king of Babylon occupied the entire area claimed by Egypt—all of Judah from the brook of Egypt to the Euphrates River.)
8-9
New king of Judah: Jehoiachin
His age at the beginning of his reign: 18 years old
Length of reign: 3 months, in Jerusalem
Mother’s name: Nehushta (daughter of Elnathan, a citizen of Jerusalem)
10
During his reign the armies of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon besieged the city of Jerusalem.
11
Nebuchadnezzar himself arrived during the siege,
12
and King Jehoiachin, all of his officials, and the queen mother surrendered to him. The surrender was accepted, and Jehoiachin was imprisoned in Babylon during the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign.
13
The Babylonians carried home all the treasures from the Temple and the royal palace; and they cut apart all the gold bowls which King Solomon of Israel had placed in the Temple at the Lord’s directions.
14
King Nebuchadnezzar took ten thousand captives from Jerusalem, including all the princes and the best of the soldiers, craftsmen, and smiths. So only the poorest and least skilled people were left in the land.
15
Nebuchadnezzar took King Jehoiachin, his wives and officials, and the queen mother, to Babylon.
16
He also took seven thousand of the best troops and one thousand craftsmen and smiths, all of whom were strong and fit for war.
17
Then the king of Babylon appointed King Jehoiachin’s great-uncle,
*
Mattaniah, to be the next king; and he changed his name to Zedekiah.
18-19
New king of Judah: Zedekiah
His age at the beginning of his reign: 21 years old
Length of reign: 11 years, in Jerusalem
Mother’s name: Hamutal (daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah)
Character of his reign: evil, like that of Jehoiakim
20
So the Lord finally, in his anger, destroyed the people of Jerusalem and Judah. But now King Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
25:
1
Then King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon mobilized his entire army and laid siege to Jerusalem, arriving on March 25 of the ninth year of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah.
2
The siege continued into the eleventh year of his reign.
3
The last food in the city was eaten on July 24,
4-5
and that night the king and his troops made a hole in the inner wall and fled out toward the Arabah through a gate that lay between the double walls near the king’s garden. The Babylonian troops surrounding the city took out after him and captured him in the plains of Jericho, and all his men scattered.
6
He was taken to Riblah, where he was tried and sentenced before the king of Babylon.
7
He was forced to watch as his sons were killed before his eyes; then his eyes were put out, and he was bound with chains and taken away to Babylon.
8
General Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal bodyguard, arrived at Jerusalem from Babylon on July 22 of the nineteenth year of the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar.
9
He burned down the Temple, the palace, and all the other houses of any worth.
10
He then supervised the Babylonian army in tearing down the walls of Jerusalem.
11
The remainder of the people in the city and the Jewish deserters who had declared their allegiance to the king of Babylon were all taken as exiles to Babylon.
12
But the poorest of the people were left to farm the land.
13
The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars of the Temple and the bronze tank and its bases and carried all the bronze to Babylon.
14-15
They also took all the pots, shovels, firepans, snuffers, spoons, and other bronze instruments used for the sacrifices. The gold and silver bowls, with all the rest of the gold and silver, were melted down to bullion.
16
It was impossible to estimate the weight of the two pillars and the great tank and its bases—all made for the Temple by King Solomon—because they were so heavy.
17
Each pillar was 27 feet high, with an intricate bronze network of pomegranates decorating the 4
1
/
2
-foot capitals at the tops of the pillars.
18
The general took Seraiah, the chief priest, his assistant Zephaniah, and the three Temple guards to Babylon as captives.
19
A commander of the army of Judah, the chief recruiting officer, five of the king’s counselors, and sixty farmers, all of whom were discovered hiding in the city,
20
were taken by General Nebuzaradan to the king of Babylon at Riblah,
21
where they were put to the sword and died.
So Judah was exiled from its land.
22
Then King Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah (the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan) as governor over the people left in Judah.
23
When the Israeli guerrilla forces learned that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor, some of these underground leaders and their men joined him at Mizpah. These included Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah; Johanan, the son of Kareah; Seraiah, the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite; and Jaazaniah, son of Maachathite, and their men.
24
Gedaliah vowed that if they would give themselves up and submit to the Babylonians, they would be allowed to live in the land and would not be exiled.
25
But seven months later, Ishmael, who was a member of the royal line, went to Mizpah with ten men and killed Gedaliah and his court—both the Jews and the Babylonians.
26
Then all the men of Judah and the guerrilla leaders fled in panic to Egypt, for they were afraid of what the Babylonians would do to them.
27
King Jehoiachin was released from prison on the twenty-seventh day of the last month of the thirty-seventh year of his captivity.
This occurred during the first year of the reign of King Evil-merodach of Babylon.
28
He treated Jehoiachin kindly and gave him preferential treatment over all the other kings who were being held as prisoners in Babylon.
29
Jehoiachin was given civilian clothing to replace his prison garb, and for as long as he lived, he ate regularly at the king’s table.
30
The king also gave him a daily cash allowance for the rest of his life.
“One day after my return to Jerusalem, while I was praying in the Temple, I fell into a trance and saw a vision of God saying to me,
‘Hurry! Leave Jerusalem, for the people here won’t believe you when you give them my message.’
19
“‘But Lord,’ I argued, ‘they certainly know that I imprisoned and beat those in every synagogue who believed on you.
20
And when your witness Stephen was killed, I was standing there agreeing—keeping the coats they laid aside as they stoned him.’
21
“But God said to me,
‘Leave Jerusalem, for I will send you far away to the
Gentiles!’
”
22
The crowd listened until Paul came to that word, then with one voice they shouted, “Away with such a fellow! Kill him! He isn’t fit to live!”
23
They yelled and threw their coats in the air and tossed up handfuls of dust.
24
So the commander brought him inside and ordered him lashed with whips to make him confess his crime. He wanted to find out why the crowd had become so furious!
25
As they tied Paul down to lash him, Paul said to an officer standing there, “Is it legal for you to whip a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been tried?”
26
The officer went to the commander and asked, “What are you doing? This man is a Roman citizen!”
27
So the commander went over and asked Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”
“Yes, I certainly am.”
28
“I am too,” the commander muttered, “and it cost me plenty!”
“But I am a citizen by birth!”
29
The soldiers standing ready to lash him, quickly disappeared when they heard Paul was a Roman citizen, and the commander was frightened because he had ordered him bound and whipped.
30
The next day the commander freed him from his chains and ordered the chief priests into session with the Jewish Council. He had Paul brought in before them to try to find out what the trouble was all about.
23:
1
Gazing intently at the Council, Paul began:
“Brothers, I have always lived before God in all good conscience!”
2
Instantly Ananias the High Priest commanded those close to Paul to slap him on the mouth.
3
Paul said to him, “God shall slap you, you whitewashed pigpen.
*
What kind of judge are you to break the law yourself by ordering me struck like that?”
4
Those standing near Paul said to him, “Is that the way to talk to God’s High Priest?”
5
“I didn’t realize he was the High Priest, brothers,” Paul replied, “for the Scriptures say, ‘Never speak evil of any of your rulers.’”
6
Then Paul thought of something! Part of the Council were Sadducees, and part were Pharisees! So he shouted, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, as were all my ancestors! And I am being tried here today because I believe in the resurrection of the dead!”
7
This divided the Council right down the middle—the Pharisees against the Sadducees—
8
for the Sadducees say there is no resurrection or angels or even eternal spirit within us,
*
but the Pharisees believe in all of these.
9
So a great clamor arose. Some of the Jewish leaders
*
jumped up to argue that Paul was all right. “We see nothing wrong with him,” they shouted. “Perhaps a spirit or angel spoke to him there on the Damascus road.”
10
The shouting grew louder and louder, and the men were tugging at Paul from both sides, pulling him this way and that. Finally the commander, fearing they would tear him apart, ordered his soldiers to take him away from them by force and bring him back to the armory.
What fools the nations are to rage
*
against the Lord! How strange that men should try to outwit God!
2
For a summit conference of the nations has been called to plot against the Lord and his Messiah, Christ the King.
*
3
“Come, let us break his chains,” they say, “and free ourselves from all this slavery to God.”
4
But God in heaven merely laughs! He is amused by all their puny plans.
5
And then in fierce fury he rebukes them and fills them with fear.
6
For the Lord declares,
*
“This is the King of my choice, and I have enthroned him in Jerusalem, my holy city.”
7
His chosen one replies,
*
“I will reveal the everlasting purposes of God, for the Lord has said to me, ‘You are my Son. This is your Coronation Day. Today I am giving you your glory.’”
8
“Only ask and I will give you all the nations of the world.
9
Rule them with an iron rod; smash them like clay pots!”
10
O kings and rulers of the earth, listen while there is time.
11
Serve the Lord with reverent fear; rejoice with trembling.
12
Fall down before his Son and kiss his feet
*
before his anger is roused and you perish. I am warning you—his wrath will soon begin. But oh, the joys of those who put their trust in him!