10 In the spring of the year King Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin to Babylon. Many treasures from the Temple of the lord were also taken to Babylon at that time. And Nebuchadnezzar installed Jehoiachin’s uncle, Zedekiah, as the next king in Judah and Jerusalem.
11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years.
12 But Zedekiah did what was evil in the sight of the lord his God, and he refused to humble himself when the prophet Jeremiah spoke to him directly from the lord.
13 He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, even though he had taken an oath of loyalty in God’s name. Zedekiah was a hard and stubborn man, refusing to turn to the lord, the God of Israel.
14 Likewise, all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful. They followed all the pagan practices of the surrounding nations, desecrating the Temple of the lord that had been consecrated in Jerusalem.
15 The lord, the God of their ancestors, repeatedly sent his prophets to warn them, for he had compassion on his people and his Temple.
16 But the people mocked these messengers of God and despised their words. They scoffed at the prophets until the lord’s anger could no longer be restrained and nothing could be done.