2 Kings 25
1 And it comes to pass, in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has come, he and all his force, against Jerusalem, and encamps against it, and builds a surrounding fortification against it.
So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army. They encamped outside the city and built a siege wall all around it.
2 And the city enters into siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
And the city was kept under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year.
3 On the ninth of the month, when the famine is severe in the city, then there has not been bread for the people of the land.
By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so severe that the people of the land had no food.
4 And the city is broken up, and all the men of war [go] by night the way of the gate, between the two walls that [are] by the garden of the king, and the Chaldeans [are] against the city all around, and [the king] goes the way of the plain.
Then the city was breached; and though the Chaldeans had surrounded the city, all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden. They headed toward the Arabah,
5 And the force of the Chaldeans pursue after the king, and overtake him in the plains of Jericho, and all his force have been scattered from him;
but the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was separated from him.
6 and they seize the king, and bring him up to the king of Babylon, to Riblah, and they speak judgment with him.
The Chaldeans seized the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where they pronounced judgment on him.
7 And they have slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he has blinded the eyes of Zedekiah, and binds him with bronze chains, and they bring him to Babylon.
And they slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon.
8 And in the fifth month, on the seventh of the month (it [is] the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), Nebuzaradan chief of the executioners, servant of the king of Babylon, has come to Jerusalem,
On the seventh day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign over Babylon, Nebuzaradan captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem.
9 and he burns the house of YHWH, and the house of the king, and all the houses of Jerusalem, indeed, he has burned every great house with fire;
He burned down the house of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem—every significant building.
10 and all the forces of the Chaldeans, who [are] with the chief of the executioners, have broken down the walls of Jerusalem all around.
And the whole army of the Chaldeans under the captain of the guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem.
11 And the rest of the people, those left in the city, and those falling who have fallen to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude, Nebuzaradan chief of the executioners has removed;
Then Nebuzaradan captain of the guard carried into exile the people who remained in the city, along with the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon and the rest of the population.
12 and of the poor of the land the chief of the executioners has left for vinedressers and for farmers.
But the captain of the guard left behind some of the poorest of the land to tend the vineyards and fields.
13 And the pillars of bronze that [are] in the house of YHWH, and the bases, and the sea of bronze, that [is] in the house of YHWH, the Chaldeans have broken in pieces, and carry away their bronze to Babylon.
Moreover, the Chaldeans broke up the bronze pillars and stands and the bronze Sea in the house of the LORD, and they carried the bronze to Babylon.
14 And the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the spoons, and all the vessels of bronze with which they minister, they have taken;
They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, dishes, and all the articles of bronze used in the temple service.
15 and the fire-pans, and the bowls that [are] wholly of silver, the chief of the executioners has taken.
The captain of the guard also took away the censers and sprinkling bowls—anything made of pure gold or fine silver.
16 The two pillars, the one sea, and the bases that Solomon made for the house of YHWH, there was no weighing of the bronze of all these vessels;
As for the two pillars, the Sea, and the movable stands that Solomon had made for the house of the LORD, the weight of the bronze from all these articles was beyond measure.
17 eighteen cubits [is] the height of the one pillar, and the capital on it [is] of bronze, and the height of the capital [is] three cubits, and the net and the pomegranates [are] on the capital all around—the whole [is] of bronze; and the second pillar has like these, with the net.
Each pillar was eighteen cubits tall. The bronze capital atop one pillar was three cubits high, with a network of bronze pomegranates all around. The second pillar, with its network, was similar.
18 And the chief of the executioners takes Seraiah the head priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold;
The captain of the guard also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of second rank, and the three doorkeepers.
19 and he has taken out of the city a certain eunuch who is appointed over the men of war, and five men of those seeing the king’s face who have been found in the city, and the head scribe of the host who musters the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who are found in the city;
Of those still in the city, he took a court official who had been appointed over the men of war, as well as five royal advisors. He also took the scribe of the captain of the army, who had enlisted the people of the land, and sixty men who were found in the city.
20 and Nebuzaradan chief of the executioners takes them, and causes them to go to the king of Babylon, to Libnah,
Nebuzaradan captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.
21 and the king of Babylon strikes them, and puts them to death in Riblah, in the land of Hamath, and he removes Judah from off its land.
There at Riblah in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death. So Judah was taken into exile, away from its own land.
22 And the people that are left in the land of Judah whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has left—he appoints Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, over them.
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, over the people he had left behind in the land of Judah.
23 And all the heads of the forces hear—they and the men—that the king of Babylon has appointed Gedaliah, and they come to Gedaliah, to Mizpah, even Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and Johanan son of Kareah, and Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah son of the Maachathite—they and their men;
When all the commanders of the armies and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah son of the Maacathite, as well as their men.
24 and Gedaliah swears to them and to their men, and says to them, “Do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans, dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it is good for you.”
And Gedaliah took an oath before them and their men, assuring them, “Do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you.”
25 And it comes to pass, in the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nathaniah has come, son of Elishama of the seed of the kingdom, and ten men with him, and they strike Gedaliah, and he dies, and the Jews and the Chaldeans who have been with him in Mizpah.
In the seventh month, however, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family, came with ten men and struck down and killed Gedaliah, along with the Judeans and Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah.
26 And all the people rise, from small even to great, and the heads of the forces, and come to Egypt, for they have been afraid of the presence of the Chaldeans.
Then all the people small and great, together with the commanders of the army, arose and fled to Egypt for fear of the Chaldeans.
27 And it comes to pass, in the thirty-seventh year of the expulsion of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh of the month, Evil-Merodach king of Babylon has lifted up, in the year of his reigning, the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, out of the house of restraint,
On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Judah’s King Jehoiachin, in the year Evil-merodach became king of Babylon, he released King Jehoiachin of Judah from prison.
28 and speaks good things with him and puts his throne above the throne of the kings who [are] with him in Babylon,
And he spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and set his throne above the thrones of the other kings who were with him in Babylon.
29 and has changed the garments of his restraint, and he has eaten bread continually before him all [the] days of his life,
So Jehoiachin changed out of his prison clothes, and he dined regularly at the king’s table for the rest of his life.
30 and his allowance—a continual allowance—has been given to him from the king, the matter of a day in its day, all [the] days of his life.
And the king provided Jehoiachin a daily portion for the rest of his life.
