< Jeremiah 52 >

1 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.
Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign; he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal; she was the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah.
2 He did evil in the Lord's sight, just as Jehoiakim had done.
He did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh; he did everything that Jehoiakim had done.
3 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.
Through Yahweh's anger, all these events happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until he drove them from before himself. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
4 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.
It happened that in the ninth year of the reign of King Zedekiah, in the tenth month, and on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came with all his army against Jerusalem. They camped opposite it, and they built a siege wall around it.
5 The city remained under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah's reign.
6 By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so bad that the people had nothing left to eat.
By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.
7 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,
Then the city was broken into, and all the fighting men fled and went out of the city at night by the way of the gate that was between the two walls, by the king's garden, although the Chaldeans were all around the city. So they went in the direction of the Arabah.
8 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.
But the army of Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of the Jordan River valley near Jericho. All his army was scattered away from him.
9 They captured the king and took him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where he sentenced him.
They captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he passed sentence on him.
10 The king of Babylon slaughtered Zedekiah's sons while he watched, and also killed the officials of Judah there at Riblah.
The king of Babylon slaughtered Zedekiah's sons before his own eyes, and at Riblah he also slaughtered all the leaders of Judah.
11 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.
Then he put out Zedekiah's eyes, bound him in bronze chains, and brought him to Babylon. The king of Babylon put him in prison until the day of his death.
12 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.
Now in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan came to Jerusalem. He was the commander of the king's bodyguards and a servant of the king of Babylon.
13 He burned down the Lord's Temple, the royal palace, and all the large buildings of Jerusalem.
He burned the house of Yahweh, the king's palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem; also every important building in the city he burned.
14 The whole Babylonian army under the commander of the guard knocked down all the walls around Jerusalem.
As for the walls around Jerusalem, all the army of the Babylonians who were with the commander of the bodyguards destroyed them.
15 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.
As for the poorest people, the rest of the people who were left in the city, those who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen— Nebuzaradan, the commander of the bodyguards, took some of them away into exile.
16 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.
But Nebuzaradan, the commander of the bodyguards, left some of the poorest of the land to work the vineyards and fields.
17 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.
As for the bronze pillars that belonged to the house of Yahweh, and the stands, and the large bronze basin called “The Sea” that were in the house of Yahweh, the Chaldeans broke them into pieces and carried all the bronze back to Babylon.
18 They also took all the pots, shovels, lamp snuffers, sprinkling bowls, and all the other bronze items used in the Temple service.
The pots, shovels, lamp trimmers, bowls, and all the utensils of bronze with which the priests had served in the temple—the Chaldeans took them all away.
19 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.
The basins and the incense burners, the bowls, pots, lampstands, pans, and basins that were made of gold, and those made of silver—the commander of the king's guard took them away as well.
20 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.
The two pillars, the large bronze basin known as “The Sea,” and the twelve bronze bulls that were under the stands, things that Solomon had made for the house of Yahweh, contained more bronze than could be weighed.
21 Each column was eighteen cubits tall and twelve cubits around. They were hollow with walls four fingers thick.
The pillars were eighteen cubits high each, and a line around each one measured twelve cubits. Each was four fingers thick and hollow.
22 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.
A capital of bronze was on top of it. The capital was five cubits high, with latticework and pomegranates all around. It was all made of bronze. The other pillar and its pomegranates were the same as the first.
23 There were ninety-six bronze pomegranates around each column. Above the network were a total of one hundred pomegranates.
So there were ninety-six pomegranates on the capital's sides, and one hundred pomegranates above the surrounding latticework.
24 The commander of the guard took as prisoners Seraiah, the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest, second in rank, and the three Temple doorkeepers.
The commander of the bodyguards took prisoner Seraiah, the high priest, together with Zephaniah, the second priest, and the three gatekeepers.
25 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.
From the city he took prisoner an officer who was in charge of soldiers, and seven men of those who advised the king, who were still in the city. He also took prisoner the king's army officer responsible for drafting men into the army, along with sixty important men from the land who were in the city.
26 Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, took them and brought them before the king of Babylon at Riblah.
Then Nebuzaradan, the commander of the bodyguards, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.
27 The king of Babylon had them executed at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So the people of Judah had to leave their land.
The king of Babylon put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. In this way, Judah went out of its land into exile.
28 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.
These were the people who Nebuchadnezzar exiled: In the seventh year, 3,023 Judeans.
29 In his eighteenth year Nebuchadnezzar took another 832 from Jerusalem.
In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar he took 832 people from Jerusalem.
30 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.
In the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan, the commander of the king's bodyguards, exiled 745 Judean people. All the exiled people totaled 4,600.
31 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.
It happened later in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, that Awel-Marduk, king of Babylon released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. This happened in the year that Awel-Marduk began to reign.
32 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.
He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat more honorable than that of the other kings who were with him in Babylon.
33 So Jehoiachin was able to remove his prison clothes, and he ate frequently at the king's table for the rest of his life.
Awel-Marduk removed Jehoiachin's prison clothes, and Jehoiachin ate regularly at the king's table for the rest of his life,
34 The king provided Jehoiachin with a daily allowance for the rest of his life until he died.
and a regular food allowance was given to him every day for the rest of his life until his death.

< Jeremiah 52 >