And the people took Joachaz, the son of Josias, and made him king; but
the King of Egypt deposed him, and made Joacim, his brother, King of
Judea and Jerusalem, who did evil before the Lord. Wherefore, against
him, Nabuchodonosor, King of Babylon, came up and bound him with a chain
of brass, and carried him into Babylon. Nabuchodonosor also took of the
holy vessels of the Lord and carried them away, and set them in his own
temple at Babylon, and made Zedechias king. Zedechias reigned eleven
years, but did evil also in the sight of the Lord.

The governors of the people and of the priests did likewise many things
against the Lord, and defiled the Temple of the Lord, who, being wrath
with his people for their great ungodliness, commanded the Kings of the
Chaldees to come up against them. This they did, and slew and spared
neither young man nor maid, old man nor child, among them. And they took
all the holy vessels of the Lord, both great and small, with the vessels
of the Ark of God and the king's treasures, and carried them away into
Babylon. As for the House of the Lord, they burnt it, and broke down the
walls of Jerusalem and set fire upon her towers. And the people that
were not slain with the sword were carried unto Babylon, who became
servants to Nabuchodonosor, till the Persians reigned, to fulfil the
word of the Lord spoken by the mouth of Jeremy.

In the first year of Cyrus, King of the Persians, the Lord raised up his
spirit, and he made proclamation through all his kingdom, saying: The
Lord of Israel, the most high Lord, hath made me king of the whole
world, and commanded me to build him an house at Jerusalem in Jewry. If
there be any of you that are of his people, let the Lord, even his Lord,
be with him; let him go up to Jerusalem and build the house of the Lord
of Israel.