Jeremiah 52

1 One and twenty years was Zedekiah old when he became king, and eleven years did he reign in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Chamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became the King [of Judah]. He ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of [a man named] Jeremiah from Libnah [town].

2 And he did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, in accordance with all that Jehoyakim had done.

Zedekiah did [many] things that Yahweh says are evil, like [his father] Jehoiakim had done.

3 For through the anger of the Lord it came to pass against Jerusalem and Judah, till he had cast them out of his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

[The events that are summarized here happened] because Yahweh was angry with [the people of] Jerusalem and [of other places in] Judah, and finally he (exiled them/forced them to go to other countries) [and said that he did not want to have anything to do with] them any more. 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 day of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and they encamped against it, and built against it works of attack round about.

[So, ] on January 15, when Zedekiah had been ruling for almost nine years, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon led his entire army to attack Jerusalem. They surrounded the city and built dirt ramps up to the top of the city walls [to enable them to attack the city].

5 So the city was placed in a state of siege until the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.

They continued to surround Jerusalem until Zedekiah had been ruling for almost eleven years.

6 And in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, when the famine was severe in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land:

When Zedekiah had been ruling for almost eleven years, by July 18 of that year, the (famine/lack of food) in the city had become very severe, and there was no [more] food for the people [to eat].

7 The city was broken in, 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 near the king's garden; [while the Chaldeans were round about the city; ] and they went by the way of the plain.

Then [the soldiers of Babylonia] broke through [a section of] the city wall, and all the [Israeli] soldiers fled. But because the city was surrounded by soldiers from Babylonia, [Zedekiah and the Israeli] soldiers [waited until] it became dark. Then they left the city through the gate between the two walls behind the king’s garden. Then they ran towards the Jordan River Valley.

8 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and they overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho: and all his army was scattered from him.

But the soldiers of Babylonia pursued King Zedekiah, and they caught up with him on the plains near Jericho. [He was alone because] all his men had deserted him and had scattered.

9 And they caught the king, and they brought him up unto the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Chamath: and he called him to account.

The soldiers of Babylonia took him to the king of Babylon, who was at Riblah in the Hamath [region]. There the king of Babylon told [his soldiers what] they should do to punish Zedekiah.

10 And the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: and also all the princes of Judah did he slaughter in Riblah.

They forced Zedekiah to watch while they killed his sons and all the officials from Judah.

11 And the eyes of Zedekiah did he blind; and the king of Babylon bound him with brazen fetters, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in the ward-house till the day of his death.

[Then] they gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes. They fastened him with bronze chains and took him to Babylon. They put him in a prison, and he remained there until the day that he died.

12 And in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, [who] served the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem.

On August 17 of that year, which was when King Nebuchadnezzar had been ruling for almost 19 years, Nebuzaradan, who was the captain of the king’s bodyguards and one of the king’s officials, arrived in Jerusalem.

13 And he burnt the house of the Lord, and the king's house: and all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great men, did he burn with fire:

He [commanded his soldiers to] burn down the temple of Yahweh, the king’s palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem. They [also] destroyed all the important buildings [in the city].

14 And all the walls of Jerusalem round about did all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the guard, pull down.

Then he supervised the soldiers from Babylonia while they tore down the walls on all sides of Jerusalem.

15 And certain of the poorest of the people, and the residue of the people that had been left in the city, and the deserters, that had run away to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude, did Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carry away into exile.

Then Nebuzaradan (forced to go/exiled) [to Babylon] some of the poorest people, those Israelis who had said they would support the king of Babylon, the rest of the craftsmen, and other people who had remained in Jerusalem.

16 But certain of the poorest of the land did Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard leave for vine-dressers and for husbandmen.

But Nebuzaradan allowed some of the very poor people to remain [in Judah] to take care of the vineyards and fields.

17 Also 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, and they carried off all their copper to Babylon.

The soldiers from Babylonia broke [into pieces] the [huge] bronze pillars that were in front of the temple, and the [large] bronze water tank, and the [ten bronze water] carts, and they took all the bronze to Babylon.

18 And the pots, and the shovels, and the knives, and the bowls, and the spoons, and all the vessels of copper wherewith they used to perform the service, did they take away.

They also took away the basins [for holding the ashes from the burned sacrifices], the shovels [for cleaning out the ashes], the tools for snuffing out the wicks of the lamps, the basins [for holding the blood of the sacrificed animals], the dishes [for incense], and all the [other] bronze items that were used when sacrifices were made at the temple.

19 And the basins, and the censers, and the bowls, and the pots, and the candlesticks, and the spoons, and the purifying-tubes: of what was of gold the gold, and of what was of silver the silver, did the captain of the guard take away.

Nebuzaradan also [told his soldiers to] take away the small bowls, the dishes for burning incense, the basins, pots, lampstands, bowls [for incense], and the bowls used for pouring out the wine offerings. They took all the other items that were made of pure gold or silver.

20 The two pillars, the one sea, and the twelve copper oxen that served instead of the bases, which king Solomon had made for the house of the Lord: the copper of all these vessels could not be weighed.

The bronze from the two pillars, the [large water] tank and the twelve statues of oxen that were beneath it, and the water carts, was more/heavier than they could weigh. Those things had been made for the temple during the time that Solomon was the king.

21 And as regardeth the pillars, eighteen cubits was the height of each one pillar; and a thread of twelve cubits would compass it; and its thickness was four fingers: it was hollow.

Each of the pillars was (27 feet/8 meters) tall and (18 feet/5.5 meters) around. They were hollow, and each had sides/walls that were (3 in./8 cm.) thick.

22 And a capital was upon it of copper; and the height of the one capital was five cubits, with network and pomegranates upon the capital round about, all of copper. And the like was the case with the second pillar and the pomegranates.

The bronze head on the top of each pillar was (7-1/2 feet/over 2 meters) high and was decorated all around with a bronze [network of figures that represented] pomegranates.

23 And the pomegranates were ninety and six on every side: all the pomegranates upon the network were one hundred round about.

There was a total of 100 figures of pomegranates on the network at the top, 96 of which could be seen from the ground.

24 And the captain of the guard took Serayah the chief priest, and Zephanyah the priest second in rank, and the three door-keepers;

When Nebuzaradan [returned to Babylon], he took [with him as prisoners] Seraiah the Supreme Priest, Zephaniah who was Seraiah’s deputy, and the three men who guarded the entrances [to the temple].

25 And out of the city he took a certain court-officer, who had the supervision of the men of war: and seven men of those that had free access to the kings 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 midst of the city;

He found [some other] people who were [hiding] in the city. [So] from them he took a commander of the army [of Judah], seven of the king’s advisors, the army commander’s chief secretary who was in charge of recruiting [soldiers for the army], and 60 [other] soldiers.

26 And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and led them away unto the king of Babylon to Riblah.

Nebuzaradan took them all to the king of Babylon, [who was still] at Riblah.

27 And the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death in Riblah in the land of Chamath. Thus Judah was carried away into exile out of his own country.

There at Riblah in the Hamath region, the king of Babylon commanded that they [all] be executed. [Many of the people of] Judah were (forced to leave/exiled from) their own land.

28 This is the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away into exile: in the seventh year, three thousand and twenty and three Jews;

The number of people who were captured and sent to Babylon at that time, when Nebuchadnezzar had been ruling for almost seven years, was 3,023.

29 In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar from Jerusalem, eight hundred thirty and two persons;

Then, when he had been ruling for almost 18 years, his [soldiers] took 832 [more Israeli people to Babylonia].

30 In the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar, did Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carry away into exile of the Jews seven hundred forty and five persons; all the persons were four thousand and six hundred.

When he had been ruling almost 23 years, he sent Nebuzaradan [to Jerusalem again], and he brought back 745 [more Israelis to Babylonia]. That was a total of 4,600 Israelis [who were taken to Babylonia].

31 And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the exile of Jehoyachin the king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the five and twentieth day of the month that Evil-merodach the king of Babylon in the [first] year of his reign lifted up the head of Jehoyachin the king of Judah, and brought him forth out of the prison-house;

After King Jehoiachin of Judah had been in prison [in Babylon] for almost thirty-seven years, Evil-Merodach became the king of Babylon. He was kind to Jehoiachin and ordered that he be released from prison. That was on March 31 of the year that Evil-Merodach became king.

32 And he spoke kindly with him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon,

He [always] spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and gave him a position in which he was honored more than [all] the other kings [who had been exiled/taken to Babylon].

33 And he changed his prison-garments: and he ate bread before him continually all the days of his life.

He [supplied new clothes] for Jehoiachin, to replace the clothes that he had been wearing in prison. [He also allowed] Jehoiachin to eat with him every day, all during the rest of his life.

34 And his allowance was a continual allowance given him by the king, the necessary ration for the day on its day, until the day of his death, all the days of his life.

Every day, the King [of Babylon] gave him some money [to buy the things that he needed. That continued] until the day that Jehoiachin died.