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2 KIN G S 2 5
10 During Jehoiachin’s reign, the officers of
King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came up
against Jerusalem and besieged it. 11 Nebuchadnezzar himself arrived at the city during the siege. 12 Then King Jehoiachin, along
with the queen mother, his advisers, his commanders, and his officials, surrendered to the
Babylonians.
In the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign,
he took Jehoiachin prisoner. 13 As the Lord had
said beforehand, Nebuchadnezzar carried away
all the treasures from the Lord’s Temple and the
royal palace. He stripped away* all the gold objects that King Solomon of Israel had placed in
the Temple. 14 King Nebuchadnezzar took all of
Jerusalem captive, including all the commanders and the best of the soldiers, craftsmen, and
artisans—10,000 in all. Only the poorest people
were left in the land.
15 Nebuchadnezzar led King Jehoiachin away
as a captive to Babylon, along with the queen
mother, his wives and officials, and all Jerusalem’s elite. 16 He also exiled 7,000 of the best
troops and 1,000 craftsmen and artisans, all of
whom were strong and fit for war. 17 Then the
king of Babylon installed Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s* uncle, as the next king, and he changed
Mattaniah’s name to Zedekiah.
Zedekiah Rules in Judah
18 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. 19 But Zedekiah did what
was evil in the Lord’s sight, just as Jehoiakim
had done. 20 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.
The Fall of Jerusalem
Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
25
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. 2 Jerusalem was kept
under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah’s reign.
3 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. 4 Then a section of the city wall was broken down. Since the city was surrounded by the
Babylonians,* the soldiers waited for nightfall
and escaped* through the gate between the
two walls behind the king’s garden. Then they
headed toward the Jordan Valley.*
5 But the Babylonian* troops chased the king
and overtook him on the plains of Jericho,
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for his men had all deserted him and scattered. 6 They captured the king and took him
to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where they
pronounced judgment upon Zedekiah. 7 They
made Zedekiah watch as they slaughtered his
sons. Then they gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes,
bound him in bronze chains, and led him away
to Babylon.
The Temple Destroyed
8 On August 14 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 in Jerusalem. 9 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. 10 Then he supervised the entire
Babylonian army as they tore down the walls of
Jerusalem on every side. 11 Then Nebuzaradan,
the captain of the guard, took as exiles 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 population.
12 But the captain of the guard allowed some of
the poorest people to stay behind to care for the
vineyards and fields.
13 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. 14 They also took all the ash buckets,
shovels, lamp snuffers, ladles, and all the other
bronze articles used for making sacrifices at the
Temple. 15 The captain of the guard also took the
incense burners and basins, and all the other
articles made of pure gold or silver.
16 The weight of the bronze from the two pillars, the Sea, and the water carts was too great
to be measured. These things had been made
for the Lord’s Temple in the days of Solomon.
17 Each of the pillars was 27 feet* tall. 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.
18 Nebuzar adan, the captain of the guard,
took with him as prisoners Seraiah the high
priest, Zephaniah the priest of the second rank,
24:13 Or He cut apart. 24:17 Hebrew his. 25:1 Hebrew on
the tenth day of the tenth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar
calendar. A number of events in 2 Kings 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. 25:3 Hebrew By the ninth day of the [fourth] month
[in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign] (compare Jer 39:2;
52:6 and the notes there). This day was July 18, 586 b.c.; also
see note on 25:1. 25:4a Or the Chaldeans; also in 25:13, 25, 26.
25:4b As in Greek version (see also Jer 39:4; 52:7); Hebrew lacks
escaped. 25:4c Hebrew the Arabah. 25:5 Or Chaldean; also
in 25:10, 24. 25:8 Hebrew On the seventh day of the fifth month,
of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This day was August 14,
586 b.c.; also see note on 25:1. 25:9 Or destroyed the houses of
all the important people. 25:17a Hebrew 18 cubits [8.3 meters].
25:17b As in parallel texts at 1 Kgs 7:16, 2 Chr 3:15, and Jer 52:22,
all of which read 5 cubits [2.3 meters]; Hebrew reads 3 cubits,
which is 4.5 feet or 1.4 meters.