Kings IV 25
1 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, [that] Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon came, and all his host, against Jerusalem; and he encamped against it, and built a mound against 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.
2 And the city was besieged until the eleventh year of king Sedekias on the ninth day of the month.
The city remained under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
3 And the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread 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.
4 And the city was broken up, and all the men of war went forth by night, by the way of the gate between the walls, this is [the gate] of the king's garden: and the Chaldeans [were set] against the city round about: and [the king] went by the way of the plain.
Then the city wall was broken through, and all the soldiers escaped at night through the gate between the two walls by the king's garden, even though the Babylonians had the city surrounded. They ran away in the direction of the Arabah,
5 And the force of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho: and all his army was dispersed from about him.
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.
6 And they took the king, and brought him to the king of Babylon to Reblatha; and he gave judgement upon him.
They captured the king and took him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where he was sentenced.
7 And he killed the sons of Sedekias before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Sedekias, and bound him in fetters, and brought him to Babylon.
They slaughtered Zedekiah's sons while he watched, and then gouged out his eyes, bound him in bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon.
8 And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month (this [is] the nineteenth year of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon), came Nabuzardan, captain of the guard, who stood before the king of Babylon, to Jerusalem.
On the seventh 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.
9 And he burnt the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every house did the captain of the guard burn.
He burned down the Lord's Temple, the royal palace, and all the large buildings of Jerusalem.
10 And the force of the Chaldeans pulled down the wall of Jerusalem round about.
The whole Babylonian army under the commander of the guard knocked down the walls around Jerusalem.
11 And Nabuzardan the captain of the guard removed the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the men who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude.
Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, deported 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 population.
12 But the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be vine-dressers and husbandmen.
But the commander of the guard allowed the poor people who were left in the country to stay and take care of the vineyards and the fields.
13 And the Chaldeans broke to pieces the brazen pillars that were in the house of the Lord, and the bases, and the brazen sea that was in the house of the Lord, and carried their brass 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.
14 And the cauldrons, and the shovels, and the bowls, and the censers, and all the brazen vessels with which they minister, he took.
They also took all the pots, shovels, lamp snuffers, dishes, and all the other bronze items used in the Temple service.
15 And the captain of the guard took the fire-pans, and the gold and silver bowls.
The commander of the guard removed the censers and bowls, anything that was made of pure gold or silver.
16 Two pillars, and one sea, and the bases which Solomon made for the house of the Lord: there was no weight of the brass of all the vessels.
The amount of bronze that came from the two columns, the Sea and the movable carts, which Solomon had made for the Lord's Temple, all of this weighed more than could be measured.
17 The height of one pillar [was] eighteen cubits, and the chapiter upon it was of brass: and the height of the chapiter was three cubits: the border, and the pomegranates on the chapiter round about were all of brass: and so it was with the second pillar with its border.
Each column was eighteen cubits tall. The bronze capital on top of one column was three cubits high, with a network of bronze pomegranates around it. The second column was the same, and also had a decorative network.
18 And the captain of the guard took Saraias the high-priest, and Sophonias the second in order, and the three doorkeepers.
The commander of the guard took as prisoners Seraiah, the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest, second in rank, and the three Temple doorkeepers.
19 And they took out of the city one eunuch who was commander of the men of war, and five men that saw the face of the king, that were found in the city, and the secretary of the commander-in-chief, who took account of the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land that were found in the city.
From those left in the city he took the officer in charge of the soldiers, and five 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.
20 And Nabuzardan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Reblatha.
Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, took them and brought them before the king of Babylon at Riblah.
21 And the king of Babylon struck them and killed them at Reblatha in the land of Aemath. So Juda was carried 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.
22 And [as for] the people that were left in the land of Juda, whom Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon left, even over them he set Godolias son of Achicam son of Saphan.
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, appointed Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, as governor over the people he had left in the land of Judah.
23 And all the captains of the host, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had [thus] appointed Godolias, and they came to Godolias to Massephath, both Ismael the son of Nathanias, and Jona son of Careth, and Saraias, son of Thanamath the Netophathite, and Jezonias son of a Machathite, they and their men.
When all the army officers of Judah and their men learned that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor, they and their men met with Gedaliah at Mizpah. They included: Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan, son of Kareah, Seraiah, son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, Jaazaniah, son of the Maakathite.
24 And Godolias swore to them and their men, and said to them, Fear not the incursion of the Chaldeans; dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.
Gedaliah swore an oath to them and their men, telling them, “Don't be afraid of the Babylonian officials. Stay here in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and you'll be fine.”
25 And it came to pass in the seventh month [that] Ismael son of Nathanias son of Helisama, of the seed royal, came, and ten men with him, and he struck Godolias, that he died, [him] and the Jews and the Chaldeans that were with him in Massepha.
But in the seventh month, Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of royal blood, came with ten men. They attacked and killed Gedaliah, along with the men of Judea and Babylonians who were with him at Mizpah.
26 And all the people, great and small rose up, [they] and the captains of the forces, and went into Egypt; because they were afraid of the Chaldeans.
As a result, all the people, from the least to the greatest, along with the army commanders, ran away to Egypt, terrified of what the Babylonians would do.
27 And it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the carrying away of Joachim king of Juda, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, [that] Evialmarodec king of Babylon in the [first] year of his reign lifted up the head of Joachim king of Juda, and brought him out of his prison-house.
In the year Evil-merodach became king of Babylon, he released Jehoiachin, king of Judah, from prison. This happened on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin, king of Judah.
28 And he spoke kindly to him, and set his throne above the thrones of the kings that 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.
29 And changed his prison garments: and he ate bread continually before him all the days 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.
30 And his portion, a continual portion, was given him out of the house of the king, a daily rate for every day all the days of his life.
The king provided Jehoiachin with a daily allowance for the rest of his life.
