< 2 Kings 25 >
1 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built a mound all around about it.
2 And the city was put in a state of siege until the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.
3 And on the ninth of the month, when the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land:
4 The city was broken into, and all the men of war [fled] in the night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king's garden; [while the Chaldeans were all round about the city; ] and the people went the way toward the plain.
5 And the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho: and all his army were scattered from around him.
6 And they seized the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they called him to account.
7 And they slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he blinded the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon.
8 And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, came Nebusaradan, the chief of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem:
9 And he burnt the house of the Lord, and the king's house; also, all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man's house burnt he with fire.
10 And the walls of Jerusalem round about did all the army of the Chaldeans that were with the captain of the guard tear down.
11 And the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the deserters that had run over to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the multitude, did Nebusaradan the captain of the guard lead away into exile;
12 But from the poorest of the land the captain of the guard left some to be vine-dressers and husbandmen.
13 And the pillars of copper that were in the house of the Lord, and the bases, and the copper sea that was in the house of the Lord, did the Chaldeans break up, and they carried the copper thereof to Babylon.
14 And the pots, and the shovels, and the knives, and the spoons, and all the vessels of copper wherewith they ministered, took they away.
15 And the censers, and the bowls, the gold of the golden things, and the silver of the silver things, took the captain of the guard away.
16 The two pillars, the one sea, and the bases which Solomon had made for the house of the Lord: the copper of all these vessels was too much to be weighed.
17 Eighteen cubits was the height of the one pillar, and the capital upon it was copper; and the height of the capital was three cubits; and the wreathed work, and the pomegranates upon the capitals round about, were all of copper: and the same had the second pillar together with the wreathed work.
18 And the captain of the guard took Serayah the chief-priest, and Zephanyahu the second priest, and the three door-keepers;
19 And out of the city he took one court-officer that was appointed over the men of war, and five men of those that could come into the king's presence, who were found in the city, and the scribe of the chief of the army, who ordered to the army the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land that were found in the city:
20 And Nebusaradan the captain of the guard took these, and conducted them to the king of Babylon to Riblah;
21 And the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Chamath. So did Judah wander away into exile out of their land.
22 And as for the people that were left in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had left, he appointed over them Gedalyahu the son of Achikam, the son of Shaphan.
23 And when all the captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedalyahu, they came to Gedalyahu to Mizpah; even Ishma'el the son of Nethanyah, and Jochanan the son of Kareach, and Serayah the son of Tanchumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazanyahu the son of a Ma'achathite, they and their men.
24 And Gedalyahu swore to them, and to their men, and said unto them, Be not afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans: remain in the land, and serve the king of Babylon; and it will be well with you.
25 But it happened in the seventh month, that there came Ishma'el the son of Nethanyah, the son of Elishama', of the seed royal, and ten men with him, and they smote Gedalyahu, so that he died, also the Jews and the Chaldeans that were with him at Mizpah.
26 And then arose all the people, from small to great, and the captains of the armies, and went to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.
27 And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoyachin the king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth [day] of the month, that Evil-merodach the king of Babylon in the year that he became king did lift up the head of Jehoyachin the king of Judah out of the prison;
28 And he spoke kindly to him, and set his chair above the chair of the kings that were with him in Babylon:
29 And changed his prison garments: and he ate bread continually before him all the days of his life.
30 And his allowance was a continual allowance given him by the king, the necessary ration for the day on its day, all the days of his life.
