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and the three chief gatekeepers. 19 And from
among the people still hiding in the city, he took
an officer who had been in charge of the Judean
army; five of the king’s personal advisers; the
army commander’s chief secretary, who was
in charge of recruitment; and sixty other citizens. 20 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard,
took them all to the king of Babylon at Riblah.
21 And there at Riblah, in the land of Hamath,
the king of Babylon had them all put to death.
So the people of Judah were sent into exile from
their land.
Gedaliah Governs in Judah
22 Then King Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan as
governor over the people he had left in Judah.
23 When all the army commanders and their men
learned that the king of Babylon had appointed
Gedaliah as governor, they went to see him at
Mizpah. These included Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of
25:23 As in parallel text at Jer 40:8; Hebrew reads Jaazaniah,
a variant spelling of Jezaniah. 25:25 Hebrew in the seventh
month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This month
occurred within the months of October and November
586 b.c.; also see note on 25:1. 25:27a Hebrew He raised the
head of. 25:27b As in some Hebrew manuscripts and Greek
and Syriac versions (see also Jer 52:31); Masoretic Text lacks
released him. 25:27c Hebrew on the twenty-seventh day of
the twelfth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This
day was April 2, 561 b.c.; also see note on 25:1.
2 KINGS 25
Tanhumeth the Netophathite, Jezaniah* son of
the Maacathite, and all their men.
24 Gedaliah vowed to them that the Babylonian officials meant them no harm. “Don’t
be afraid of them. Live in the land and serve the
king of Babylon, and all will go well for you,”
he promised.
25 But in midautumn of that year,* Ishmael
son of Nethaniah and grandson of Elishama,
who was a member of the royal family, went to
Mizpah with ten men and killed Gedaliah. He
also killed all the Judeans and Babylonians who
were with him at Mizpah.
26 Then all the people of Judah, from the least
to the greatest, as well as the army commanders, fled in panic to Egypt, for they were afraid
of what the Babylonians would do to them.
Hope for Israel’s Royal Line
27 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King
Jehoiachin of Judah, Evil-merodach ascended to
the Babylonian throne. He was kind to* Jehoiachin and released him* from prison on April 2 of
that year.* 28 He spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and
gave him a higher place than all the other exiled
kings in Babylon. 29 He supplied Jehoiachin with
new clothes to replace his prison garb and allowed him to dine in the king’s presence for the
rest of his life. 30 So the king gave him a regular
food allowance as long as he lived.