Jeremiah 52

1 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king; he was king for eleven years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

Zedekiah was twenty-one when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother's name was Hamutal, daughter of Jeremiah She came from Libnah.

2 And he did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as Jehoiakim had done.

He did evil in the Lord's sight, just as Jehoiakim had done.

3 And because of the wrath of the Lord this came about in Jerusalem and Judah, till he had sent them away from before him: and Zedekiah took up arms against the king of Babylon.

All this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, because of the Lord's anger, until he eventually banished them from his presence. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

4 And in the ninth year of his rule, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, came against Jerusalem with all his army and took up his position before it, building earthworks all round it.

In the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, attacked Jerusalem with his entire army. He set up camp around the city and built siege ramps against the walls.

5 So the town was shut in by their forces till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.

The city remained under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.

6 In the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the store of food in the town was almost gone, so that there was no food for the people of the land.

By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so bad that the people had nothing left to eat.

7 Then an opening was made in the wall of the town, and all the men of war went in flight out of the town by night through the doorway between the two walls which was by the king's garden; (now the Chaldaeans were stationed round the town: ) and they went by the way of the Arabah.

Then the city wall was broken through, and all the soldiers ran away, escaping at night through the gate between the two walls by the king's garden, even though the Babylonians had the city surrounded. They went in the direction of the Arabah,

8 And the Chaldaean army went after King Zedekiah and overtook him on the other side of Jericho, and all his army went in flight from him in every direction.

but the Babylonian army chased after the king and caught up with him on the plains of Jericho. His whole army had scattered and left him.

9 Then they made the king a prisoner and took him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath to be judged.

They captured the king and took him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where he sentenced him.

10 And the king of Babylon put the sons of Zedekiah to death before his eyes: and he put to death all the rulers of Judah in Riblah.

The king of Babylon slaughtered Zedekiah's sons while he watched, and also killed the officials of Judah there at Riblah.

11 And he put out Zedekiah's eyes; and the king of Babylon, chaining him in iron bands, took him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death.

Then he gouged out Zedekiah's eyes, and bound him in bronze shackles. The king of Babylon took him to Babylon and imprisoned him there until the day he died.

12 Now in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, in the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the armed men, a servant of the king of Babylon, came into Jerusalem.

On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, an officer of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem.

13 And he had the house of the Lord and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house, burned with fire:

He burned down the Lord's Temple, the royal palace, and all the large buildings of Jerusalem.

14 And the walls round Jerusalem were broken down by the Chaldaean army which was with the captain.

The whole Babylonian army under the commander of the guard knocked down all the walls around Jerusalem.

15 Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the armed men, took away as prisoners the rest of the people who were still in the town, and those who had given themselves up to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the workmen.

Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, deported some of the poor people and those who were left in the city, even those who had gone over to the side of the king of Babylon, as well as the rest of the craftsmen.

16 But Nebuzaradan, the captain of the armed men, let the poorest of the land go on living there, to take care of the vines and the fields.

But Nebuzaradan allowed others of the poor people who were left in the country to stay and take care of the vineyards and the fields.

17 And the brass pillars which were in the house of the Lord, and the wheeled bases and the great brass water-vessel in the house of the Lord, were broken up by the Chaldaeans, who took all the brass away to Babylon.

The Babylonians broke into pieces the bronze pillars, the movable carts, and the bronze Sea that belonged to the Lord's Temple, and they took all the bronze to Babylon.

18 And the pots and the spades and the scissors for the lights and the spoons, and all the brass vessels used in the Lord's house, they took away.

They also took all the pots, shovels, lamp snuffers, sprinkling bowls, and all the other bronze items used in the Temple service.

19 And the cups and the fire-trays and the basins and the pots and the supports for the lights and the spoons and the wide basins; the gold of the gold vessels, and the silver of the silver vessels, the captain of the armed men took away.

The commander of the guard removed the basins, censers, sprinkling bowls, pots, lampstands, dishes and bowls, anything that was made of pure gold or silver.

20 The two pillars, the great water-vessel, and the twelve brass oxen which were under it, and the ten wheeled bases, which King Solomon had made for the house of the Lord: the brass of all these vessels was without weight.

The amount of bronze that came from the two columns, the Sea, the twelve bronze bulls under it, and the movable carts, which Solomon had made for the Lord's Temple, all of this weighed more than could be measured.

21 And as for the pillars, one pillar was eighteen cubits high, and twelve cubits measured all round, and it was as thick as a man's hand: it was hollow.

Each column was eighteen cubits tall and twelve cubits around. They were hollow with walls four fingers thick.

22 And there was a crown of brass on it: the crown was five cubits high, circled with a network and apples all of brass; and the second pillar had the same.

The bronze capital on top of one column was five cubits high, with a network of bronze pomegranates around it. The second column was the same, and also had a decorative network.

23 There were ninety-six apples on the outside; the number of apples all round the network was a hundred.

There were ninety-six bronze pomegranates around each column. Above the network were a total of one hundred pomegranates.

24 And the captain of the armed men took Seraiah, the chief priest, and Zephaniah, the second priest, and the three door-keepers;

The commander of the guard took as prisoners Seraiah, the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest, second in rank, and the three Temple doorkeepers.

25 And from the town he took the unsexed servant who was over the men of war, and seven of the king's near friends who were in the town, and the scribe of the captain of the army, who was responsible for getting the people of the land together in military order, and sixty men of the people of the land who were in the town.

From those left in the city he took the officer in charge of the soldiers, and seven of the king's advisors. He also took the secretary to the army commander who was in charge of calling up the people for military service, and sixty other men who were present in the city.

26 These Nebuzaradan, the captain of the armed men, took with him to the king of Babylon at Riblah.

Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, took them and brought them before the king of Babylon at Riblah.

27 And the king of Babylon put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was taken prisoner away from his land.

The king of Babylon had them executed at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So the people of Judah had to leave their land.

28 These are the people whom Nebuchadrezzar took away prisoner: in the seventh year, three thousand and twenty-three Jews:

This is a record of the number of people Nebuchadnezzar took into exile. In the seventh year of his reign he took 3,023 Judeans.

29 And in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar he took away as prisoners from Jerusalem eight hundred and thirty-two persons:

In his eighteenth year Nebuchadnezzar took another 832 from Jerusalem.

30 In the twenty-third year of Nebuchadrezzar, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the armed men, took away as prisoners seven hundred and forty-five of the Jews: all the persons were four thousand and six hundred.

In his twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, took another 745 Judeans, making a total of 4,600.

31 And in the thirty-seventh year after Jehoiachin, king of Judah, had been taken prisoner, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, Evil-merodach, king of Babylon, in the first year after he became king, took Jehoiachin, king of Judah, out of prison.

In the year Evil-merodach became king of Babylon, he released Jehoiachin, king of Judah, from prison. This happened on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin, king of Judah.

32 And he said kind words to him and put his seat higher than the seats of the other kings who were with him in Babylon.

The king of Babylon treated him well him and gave him a position of honor higher than the other kings there with him in Babylon.

33 And his prison clothing was changed, and he was a guest at the king's table every day for the rest of his life.

So Jehoiachin was able to remove his prison clothes, and he ate frequently at the king's table for the rest of his life.

34 And for his food, the king gave him a regular amount every day till the day of his death, for the rest of his life.

The king provided Jehoiachin with a daily allowance for the rest of his life until he died.