Jeremiah 52

1 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Hamutal, 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 sight of Jehovah, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.

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

3 For, because the anger of Jehovah was against Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence, Zedekiah rebelled 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 it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, [that] Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem; and they encamped against it, and built turrets against it round about.

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 And the city was besieged until 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 of the month, 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.

7 And the city was broken into: and all the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king's garden (now the Chaldeans were near the city round about); and they went the way toward the plain.

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 army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from 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.

9 And they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon, unto Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he pronounced judgment upon him.

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

10 And the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; and he slaughtered also all the princes 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 the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with chains of brass; and the king of Babylon carried 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 And in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, which was in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzar-adan, captain of the body-guard, who stood before the king of Babylon, came unto 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 burned the house of Jehovah, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; and every great [man's] house he burned with fire.

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

14 And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the body-guard, broke down all the walls of Jerusalem round about.

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

15 And Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard carried away captive of the poorest sort of the people, and the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the deserters that had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude.

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 Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard left of the poor of the land for vinedressers and for husbandmen.

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 brazen pillars that were in the house of Jehovah, and the bases, and the brazen sea that was in the house of Jehovah, the Chaldeans broke up, and carried all the brass thereof 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 The pots also, and the shovels, and the knives, and the bowls, and the cups, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, 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 basons and the censers, and the bowls, and the pots, and the candlesticks, and the cups, and the goblets, that which was of gold in gold, and that which was of silver in silver, the captain of the body-guard 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 one sea, and the twelve brazen oxen that formed the bases, which king Solomon had made for the house of Jehovah: for the brass of all these vessels there was no 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 to the pillars: the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits, and a line of twelve cubits encompassed it; and the thickness thereof was four fingers: it was hollow.

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

22 And the capital upon it was brass, and the height of the one capital [was] five cubits; and the network and the pomegranates, upon the capital round about, all of brass; and similarly for the second pillar, and the pomegranates.

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 And there were ninety-six pomegranates on the [four] sides; all the pomegranates upon the network were a hundred round about.

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 body-guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, 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.

25 And out of the city he took a eunuch that was set over the men of war, and seven men of them that were in the king's presence, who were found in the city, and the scribe of the captain of the host, who enrolled the people of the land. And sixty men of the people of the land that were found in the midst of the city.

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 And Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to 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 smote them, and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive out of 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 This is the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive: 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 in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar [he carried away captive] 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, Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred and forty-five persons: all the persons were four thousand 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 it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth of the month, [that] Evil-Merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth 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 spoke kindly unto him, and set his seat above the seat 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.

33 And he changed his prison garments; and he ate bread before him continually 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.

34 and his allowance was a continual allowance given him by the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life.

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