Jehoahaz rules Judah as king
1 The people of Judah chose Josiah's son, Jehoahaz, to become king in Jerusalem after his father. 2 Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king. He ruled as king in Jerusalem for three months.
3 The king of Egypt stopped Jehoahaz from ruling in Jerusalem. He made Judah pay tax to him. It was 3,400 kilograms of silver and 34 kilograms of gold. 4 The king of Egypt chose Eliakim, Jehoahaz's brother, to rule as king over Judah and Jerusalem. He changed Eliakim's name to Jehoiakim. But Necho took Jehoiakim's brother Jehoahaz away to Egypt.
5 Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became king. He ruled for 11 years as king in Jerusalem. He did things that the Lord his God said were evil. 6 While he was king, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked Judah. He took hold of King Jehoiakim. He tied bronze chains around him and he took him away to Babylon. 7 King Nebuchadnezzar took some valuable things from the Lord's temple. He took them to Babylon and he put them in his palace there.
36:5Jehoiakim ruled from about 609 to 598 BC.
8 The other things that happened while Jehoiakim was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of the kings of Israel and Judah’. It tells about the disgusting sins that he was guilty of.
Jehoiakim's son Jehoiachin became king after him.