2 Kings 24:17The MessageThen the king of Babylon made Jehoiachin’s uncle, Mattaniah, his puppet king, but changed his name to Zedekiah. See the chapter |
God’s Message to Jeremiah when King Zedekiah sent Pashur son of Malkijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to him with this request: “Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, has waged war against us. Pray to God for us. Ask him for help. Maybe God will intervene with one of his famous miracles and make him leave.”
King Zedekiah son of Josiah, a puppet king set on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the land of Judah, was now king in place of Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim. But neither he nor his officials nor the people themselves paid a bit of attention to the Message God gave by Jeremiah the prophet.
God’s Message to the prophet Jeremiah on Elam at the outset of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah. This is what God-of-the-Angel-Armies says: “Watch this! I’ll break Elam’s bow, her weapon of choice, across my knee. Then I’ll let four winds loose on Elam, winds from the four corners of earth. I’ll blow them away in all directions, landing homeless Elamites in every country on earth. They’ll live in constant fear and terror among enemies who want to kill them. I’ll bring doom on them, my anger-fueled doom. I’ll set murderous hounds on their heels until there’s nothing left of them. And then I’ll set up my throne in Elam, having thrown out the king and his henchmen. But the time will come when I make everything right for Elam again.” God’s Decree.
“‘As sure as I am the living God, this king who broke his pledge of loyalty and his covenant will die in that country, in Babylon. Pharaoh with his big army—all those soldiers!—won’t lift a finger to fight for him when Babylon sets siege to the city and kills everyone inside. Because he broke his word and broke the covenant, even though he gave his solemn promise, because he went ahead and did all these things anyway, he won’t escape.