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.
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.
2 And the city enters into siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
The city remained under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
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 bad that the people had nothing left to eat.
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 wall was broken through, and all the soldiers escaped at night through the gate between the two walls by the king's garden, even though the Babylonians had the city surrounded. They ran away in the direction of 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 Babylonian army chased after the king and caught up with him on the plains of Jericho. His whole army had scattered and left him.
6 and they seize the king, and bring him up to the king of Babylon, to Riblah, and they speak judgment with him.
They captured the king and took him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where he was sentenced.
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.
They slaughtered Zedekiah's sons while he watched, and then gouged out his eyes, bound him in 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, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, an officer 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 Lord's Temple, the royal palace, and all the large buildings of Jerusalem.
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.
The whole Babylonian army under the commander of the guard knocked 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;
Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, deported 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 population.
12 and of the poor of the land the chief of the executioners has left for vinedressers and for farmers.
But the commander of the guard allowed the poor people who were left in the country to stay and take care of the vineyards and the 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.
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.
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 all the pots, shovels, lamp snuffers, dishes, and all the other bronze items 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 commander of the guard removed the censers and bowls, anything that was made of pure gold or 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;
The amount of bronze that came from the two columns, the Sea and the movable carts, which Solomon had made for the Lord's Temple, all of this weighed more than could be measured.
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 column was eighteen cubits tall. The bronze capital on top of one column was three cubits high, with a network of bronze pomegranates around it. The second column was the same, and also had a decorative network.
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 commander of the guard took as prisoners Seraiah, the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest, second in rank, and the three Temple 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;
From those left in the city he took the officer in charge of the soldiers, and five 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.
20 and Nebuzaradan chief of the executioners takes them, and causes them to go to the king of Babylon, to Libnah,
Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, took them and brought them before 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.
The king of Babylon had them executed at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So the people of Judah had to leave their 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, son of Shaphan, as governor over the people he had left 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 army officers of Judah and their men learned that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor, they and their men met with Gedaliah at Mizpah. They included: Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan, son of Kareah, Seraiah, son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, Jaazaniah, son of the Maakathite.
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.”
Gedaliah swore an oath to them and their men, telling them, “Don't be afraid of the Babylonian officials. Stay here in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and you'll be fine.”
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.
But in the seventh month, Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of royal blood, came with ten men. They attacked and killed Gedaliah, along with the men of Judea and Babylonians 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.
As a result, all the people, from the least to the greatest, along with the army commanders, ran away to Egypt, terrified of what the Babylonians would do.
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,
In the year Evil-merodach became king of Babylon, he released Jehoiachin, king of Judah, from prison. This happened on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin, king of Judah.
28 and speaks good things with him and puts his throne above the throne of the kings who [are] 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.
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 was able to remove his prison clothes, and he ate frequently 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.
The king provided Jehoiachin with a daily allowance for the rest of his life.
