The people/leaders of Judah selected Josiah’s son Jehoahaz to assume his father’s mantle of kingship in Jerusalem. When Jehoahaz began his reign, he was 23 years old, and he ruled in Jerusalem for three months. But the Pharaoh of Egypt, Neco, deposed him [Jehoahaz] and forced the land of Judah to pay a tribute of 7,500 pounds of silver and 75 pounds of gold. Pharaoh Neco selected Eliakim — Jehoahaz’s brother — to become the king, ruling Judah from Jerusalem. Neco changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. What of his brother Jehoahaz? Neco took him to Egypt.

When Jehoiakim began his reign, he was 25 years old, and he ruled in Jerusalem for 11 years. He did many actions that were wicked in the sight of YHWH. So Nebuchadnezzar [gives name sign], who ruled Babylon came and attacked [Jerusalem], defeating Jehoiakim and bounding him up in bronze chains to be taken back to Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar also pillaged YHWH his temple, taking some of the gold, silver, and precious vessels from there. He took these things back with him to Babylon and placed them in the temple at his palace.

All of Jehoiakim’s other deeds during his reign, and all of his wicked actions that people found out against him, all of them have been recorded in the scroll-book of the kings of Israel and Judah. His [Jehoiakim’s] son Jehoiachin became the next king.

When Jehoiachin began his reign, he was 18 years old, and he ruled in Jerusalem for 3 months, 10 days. He also did many actions that were wicked in the sight of YHWH his God. When spring came, King Nebuchadnezzar sent [men] to seize Jehoiachin and bring him to Babylon, along with more gold, silver, and precious vessels from YHWH his temple. Jehoiachin’s uncle Zedekiah was chosen by King Nebuchadnezzar to become the next king in Jerusalem, to rule Judah.

When Zedekiah began his reign, he was 21 years old, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. He did many actions that were wicked in the sight of YHWH. Jeremiah [gives name sign], the prophet of God, brought many messages from YHWH to warn (Zedekiah), but did Zedekiah take these warnings to heart? No. He arrogantly blew off Jeremiah and his messages.

Formerly, King Nebuchadnezzar had demanded a vow of fealty from Zedekiah; he (Zedekiah) had given an oath by God’s name that he would be a loyal vassal, but now in spite of that, Zedekiah rebelled [against Nebuchadnezzar]. He (Zedekiah) refused to turn back to YHWH, the God of Israel. He was stubborn and stiff-necked, hardening his heart. Even worse, the priests and all of the leaders of the people all turned away from God, falling deeper and deeper into the idol worship and detestable practices of the other nations who lived in the lands surrounding Judah. They (the people of Judah) flung themselves into those practices, doing wicked, detestable things that defiled the holy temple of YHWH, making it no longer holy in His sight.

YHWH, the God who their ancestors had worshiped, had compassion on His people and His temple where he dwelt, so He frequently sent different prophets to warn the people, but the people scoffed at His messengers and mocked them, ignoring God’s words and insulting the prophets until God’s anger finally burned over and He set himself against His people. He’d had enough, and no amount of cajoling or pacifying could turn away his imminent wrath.

So YHWH sent the Babylonian king with his armies to come and seize Judah. The young men in the temple, [the king’s] soldiers slashed down and killed them. The king had no pity for young men or young women, the elderly or the weak, no compassion at all. All of them, He [God] allowed King Nebuchadnezzar to seize under his control. All of the remaining gold, silver, and other precious vessels in the temple, great and small — all of it — all the wealth, and the king’s wealth, and the king’s officials’ wealth, King Nebuchadnezzar seized everything and carted it away to Babylon.

King Nebuchadnezzar’s soldiers set fire to YHWH’s temple, burning it down. The city walls of Jerusalem, they smashed into rubble. The king’s palace, and all of the official buildings, they also set to fire, burning them all. Any remaining valuable things were destroyed.

Any people left alive who did not fall to the sword were captured and taken to Babylon in exile, as servants under the king and his descendants until the time the kingdom of Persia was established.

All these events fulfilled the prophecies that YHWH had given to Jeremiah; this message was: The land would be left desolate with nobody there, at which time the land would finally be still, enjoying its sabbaths at long last, resting for 70 years. This was the prophecy spoken by Jeremiah.