1. =Jehoiakim's captivity.= (B. C. 607.) Jehoiakim was the son of Josiah, placed upon the throne after the battle of Megiddo, in which Josiah perished (2 Kings 23. 34). In the war between Pharaoh-nechoh of Egypt and Nebuchadnezzar (then joint king of Babylon with his father Nabopolassar) Jehoiakim, as a vassal of Nechoh, aided the Egyptians. After the defeat of Nechoh, Nebuchadnezzar marched to punish Jehoiakim. He was called away from the siege of Jerusalem by the death of his father and the necessity of hastening to Babylon to assume the government. Jehoiakim was spared, but a number of the nobles of Judah were taken to Babylon, perhaps as hostages for the king's good conduct. For three years Jehoiakim obeyed Nebuchadnezzar; then he rebelled, but was speedily reduced to subjection, and many of the leading people among the Jews were carried captive to Babylon (2 Kings 24. 1, 2). Among these captives was Daniel the prophet (Dan. 1. 1-6). From this event the _seventy years_ of the captivity were dated (Jer. 27. 22; 29. 10), though the kingdom of Judah remained for twenty years longer. Jehoiakim, the king, was not taken away, though bound in chains for that purpose (2 Chron. 36. 6); he reigned several years after this event, but under suspicion of the Chaldeans, and his end was ignoble (Jer. 22. 18, 19; 36. 30). 2. =Jehoiachin's captivity.= (B. C. 598.) Jehoiachin was the son of Jehoiakim (called Jeconiah, 1 Chron 3. 16; Jer. 24. 1; and Coniah, Jer. 22. 24). He reigned only three months, and was then deposed by Nebuchadnezzar and carried to Babylon. With the young king and the royal family were taken thousands of the people of the middle classes, whom the land could ill spare (2 Kings 24. 8-16). Among these captives was Ezekiel, the prophet-priest (Ezek. 1. 1-3). 3. =Zedekiah's captivity.= (B. C. 587.) He was the uncle of Jehoiachin, and the son of the good Josiah (2 Kings 24. 17), and had been made king by Nebuchadnezzar. But he too rebelled against his master, to whom he had taken a solemn oath of fidelity (2 Chron. 36. 13). The Chaldeans were greatly incensed by these frequent insurrections, and determined upon a final destruction of the rebellious city. After a long siege Jerusalem was taken, and the king was captured while attempting flight. He was blinded and carried away to Babylon, the city was destroyed, and nearly all the people left alive were also taken to the land of Chaldea (2 Kings 25. 1-11). After this captivity the city lay desolate for fifty years, until the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus (B. C. 536). III. Let us ascertain the =CAUSES OF THE CAPTIVITY=; why the Jews were taken up bodily from their own land and deported to a distant country.