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J EREMIA H 5 2
to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, read
aloud everything on this scroll. 62 Then say,
‘Lord, you have said that you will destroy
Babylon so that neither people nor animals
will remain here. She will lie empty and abandoned forever.’ 63 When you have finished reading the scroll, tie it to a stone and throw it into
the Euphrates River. 64 Then say, ‘In this same
way Babylon and her people will sink, never
again to rise, because of the disasters I will
bring upon her.’”
This is the end of Jeremiah’s messages.
The Fall of Jerusalem
Zedekiah was twenty-one years old
when he became king, and he reigned
in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah.
2 But Zedekiah did what was evil in the Lord’s
sight, just as Jehoiakim had done. 3 These things
happened because of the Lord’s anger against
the people of Jerusalem and Judah, until he finally banished them from his presence and sent
them into exile.
Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 4 So on January 15,* during the ninth year
of Zedekiah’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar*
of Babylon led his entire army against Jerusalem. They surrounded the city and built siege
ramps against its walls. 5 Jerusalem was kept
under siege until the eleventh year of King
Zedekiah’s reign.
6 By July 18 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign,* the famine in the city had become
very severe, and the last of the food was entirely gone. 7 Then a section of the city wall was
broken down, and all the soldiers fled. Since
the city was surrounded by the Babylonians,*
they waited for nightfall. Then they slipped
through the gate between the two walls behind the king’s garden and headed toward the
Jordan Valley.*
8 But the Babylonian troops chased King Zedekiah and overtook him on the plains of Jericho,
for his men had all deserted him and scattered.
9 They captured the king and took him to the
king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath.
There the king of Babylon pronounced judgment
upon Zedekiah. 10 The king of Babylon made
Zedekiah watch as he slaughtered his sons. He
also slaughtered all the officials of Judah at Riblah. 11 Then he gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes and
bound him in bronze chains, and the king of
Babylon led him away to Babylon. Zedekiah remained there in prison until the day of his death.
52
The Temple Destroyed
12 On August 17 of that year,* which was the
nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar’s
reign, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard
and an official of the Babylonian king, arrived
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in Jerusalem. 13 He burned down the Temple of
the Lord, the royal palace, and all the houses
of Jerusalem. He destroyed all the important
buildings* in the city. 14 Then he supervised the
entire Babylonian* army as they tore down the
walls of Jerusalem on every side. 15 Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took as exiles
some of the poorest of the people, the rest of
the people who remained in the city, the defectors who had declared their allegiance to the
king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen.
16 But Nebuzaradan allowed some of the poorest
people to stay behind to care for the vineyards
and fields.
17 The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars in front of the Lord’s Temple, the bronze
water carts, and the great bronze basin called
the Sea, and they carried all the bronze away to
Babylon. 18 They also took all the ash buckets,
shovels, lamp snuffers, basins, dishes, and all
the other bronze articles used for making sacrifices at the Temple. 19 The captain of the guard
also took the small bowls, incense burners, basins, pots, lampstands, ladles, bowls used for
liquid offerings, and all the other articles made
of pure gold or silver.
20 The weight of the bronze from the two
pillars, the Sea with the twelve bronze oxen
beneath it, and the water carts was too great
to be measured. These things had been made
for the Lord’s Temple in the days of King Solomon. 21 Each of the pillars was 27 feet tall
and 18 feet in circumference.* They were hollow, with walls 3 inches thick.* 22 The bronze
capital on top of each pillar was 71⁄2 feet* high
and was decorated with a network of bronze
pomegranates all the way around. 23 There
were 96 pomegranates on the sides, and a total
of 100 pomegranates on the network around
the top.
24 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took
with him as prisoners Seraiah the high priest,
Zephaniah the priest of the second rank, and
the three chief gatekeepers. 25 And from among
the people still hiding in the city, he took an
officer who had been in charge of the Judean
army; seven of the king’s personal advisers; the
army commander’s chief secretary, who was in
charge of recruitment; and sixty other citizens.
52:4a Hebrew on the tenth day of the tenth month, of the
ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. A number of events in
Jeremiah can be cross-checked with dates in surviving
Babylonian records and related accurately to our modern
calendar. This day was January 15, 588 b.c. 52:4b Hebrew
Nebuchadrezzar, a variant spelling of Nebuchadnezzar; also
in 52:12, 28, 29, 30. 52:6 Hebrew By the ninth day of the
fourth month [in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign]. This
day was July 18, 586 b.c.; also see note on 52:4a. 52:7a Or
the Chaldeans; similarly in 52:8, 17. 52:7b Hebrew the
Arabah. 52:12 Hebrew On the tenth day of the fifth month,
of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This day was August 17,
586 b.c.; also see note on 52:4a. 52:13 Or destroyed the
houses of all the important people. 52:14 Or Chaldean.
52:21a Hebrew 18 cubits [8.3 meters] tall and 12 cubits
[5.5 meters] in circumference. 52:21b Hebrew 4 fingers
thick [8 centimeters]. 52:22 Hebrew 5 cubits [2.3 meters].