2 Kings 24

1 While Jehoiakim was ruling [Judah, the army of] King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded Judah. [They defeated the Judean army, and as a result, ] Jehoiakim was required to pay a lot of tribute/taxes to King Nebuchadnezzar. But after three years, Jehoiakim rebelled.

約雅敬年間，巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒上到 猶大；約雅敬服事他三年，然後背叛他。

2 Then Yahweh sent raiders from Babylonia and Syria, and from the Moab and Ammon people-groups, to attack the people of Judah and get rid of them, just as Yahweh had told his prophets to warn the people would happen.

耶和華使迦勒底軍、亞蘭軍、摩押軍，和亞捫人的軍來攻擊約雅敬，毀滅猶大，正如耶和華藉他僕人眾先知所說的。

3 These things happened to the people of Judah according to what Yahweh commanded. [He had decided] to get rid of the people of Judah because of the many sins that King Manasseh [had committed].

這禍臨到猶大人，誠然是耶和華所命的，要將他們從自己面前趕出，是因瑪拿西所犯的一切罪；

4 Manasseh had even caused many innocent people in Jerusalem to be killed, and Yahweh would not forgive that.

又因他流無辜人的血，充滿了耶路撒冷；耶和華決不肯赦免。

5 The other things that happened while Jehoiakim was king, and all the things that he did, are written in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Judah’.

約雅敬其餘的事，凡他所行的都寫在猶大列王記上。

6 When Jehoiakim died, his son Jehoiachin became the king.

約雅敬與他列祖同睡。他兒子約雅斤接續他作王。

7 [The army of] the king of Babylon [defeated the army of Egypt, and] took control of all the area that the Egyptians formerly controlled, from the brook [at the border] of Egypt [in the south] to the Euphrates River [in the north]. So [the army of] the king of Egypt did not return [to attack Judah] again.

埃及王不再從他國中出來；因為巴比倫王將埃及王所管之地，從埃及小河直到幼發拉底河都奪去了。

8 Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he became the king of Judah. His mother’s name was Nehushta; she was the daughter of a man from Jerusalem named Elnathan. Jehoiachin ruled in Jerusalem for [only] three months.

約雅斤登基的時候年十八歲，在耶路撒冷作王三個月。他母親名叫尼護施她，是耶路撒冷人以利拿單的女兒。

9 Jehoiachin did many things that Yahweh considered to be evil, just as his father had done.

約雅斤行耶和華眼中看為惡的事，效法他父親一切所行的。

10 [While Jehoiachin was king, ] some officers of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came [along with the whole Babylonian army] to Jerusalem, and they surrounded the city.

那時，巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒的軍兵上到耶路撒冷，圍困城。

11 While they were doing that, Nebuchadnezzar himself came to the city.

當他軍兵圍困城的時候，巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒就親自來了。

12 Then King Jehoiachin and his mother and his advisors and important officers and palace officials all surrendered to the Babylonian army. These thngs happened when Nebuchadnezzar had been king for eight years. He arrested Jehoiachin and took him to Babylon.

猶大王約雅斤和他母親、臣僕、首領、太監一同出城，投降巴比倫王；巴比倫王便拿住他。那時是巴比倫王第八年。

13 Just as Yahweh had said would happen, Nebuchadnezzar’s [soldiers] took [to Babylon] all the valuable things from Yahweh’s temple and from the king’s palace. They cut apart all the gold items that King Solomon had put in the temple.

巴比倫王將耶和華殿和王宮裏的寶物都拿去了，將以色列王所羅門所造耶和華殿裏的金器都毀壞了，正如耶和華所說的；

14 They took from Jerusalem [to Babylon] 10,000 people, including the important officials and the best soldiers and the people who made and repaired things that were made of metal. Only the very poor people were left in Judah.

又將耶路撒冷的眾民和眾首領，並所有大能的勇士，共一萬人，連一切木匠、鐵匠都擄了去；除了國中極貧窮的人以外，沒有剩下的；

15 Nebuchadnezzar’s soldiers also took to Babylon Jehoiachin’s wives and officials, his mother, and [all] the important people.

並將約雅斤和王母、后妃、太監，與國中的大官，都從耶路撒冷擄到巴比倫去了；

16 They also took to Babylon 7,000 of the best soldiers and 1,000 men who knew how to make and repair things that are made from metal. All of these people whom they took were strong and able to fight in wars.

又將一切勇士七千人和木匠、鐵匠一千人，都是能上陣的勇士，全擄到巴比倫去了。

17 Then the king of Babylon appointed Jehoiachin’s uncle, Mattaniah, to be the king [of Judah], and he changed Mattaniah’s name to Zedekiah.

巴比倫王立 約雅斤的叔叔瑪探雅代替他作王，給瑪探雅改名叫西底家。

18 When Zedekiah was twenty-one years old, he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal; she was the daughter of a man named Jeremiah from Libnah [town].

西底家登基的時候年二十一歲，在耶路撒冷作王十一年。他母親名叫哈慕她，是立拿人耶利米的女兒。

19 But Zedekiah did many things that Yahweh considered to be evil, just as Jehoiakim had done.

西底家行耶和華眼中看為惡的事，是照約雅敬一切所行的。

20 Yahweh was very angry. So (and finally/after he had been patient a long time) he expelled the people of Jerusalem and [the other places in] Judah and sent them to Babylon. [That is what happened when] Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

因此耶和華的怒氣在耶路撒冷和猶大發作，以致將人民從自己面前趕出。