2 Kings 25
1 On January 15 of the ninth year that Zedekiah had been ruling, King Nebuchadnezzar arrived with his whole army, and they surrounded Jerusalem. They built ramps [made of dirt against the walls of the city], so that they could climb up the ramps and attack the city.
And it was in [the] year ninth of reigning his in the month tenth on the ten of the month he came Nebuchadnezzar [the] king of Babylon he and all army his on Jerusalem and he encamped on it and they built on it a siege-wall all around.
2 They did that for two years.
And it came the city in state of siege until one [plus] ten year of the king Zedekiah.
3 After Zedekiah had been ruling for eleven years, the (famine/shortage of food) had become very bad. All their food was gone.
(In the month fourth *X*) on [day] nine of the month and it was severe the famine in the city and not it belonged food to [the] people of the land.
4 On July 18 of that year, the Babylonian soldiers broke through part of the city wall, [and that enabled them to enter the city]. All the soldiers of Judah [wanted to escape]. But the Babylonian soldiers surrounded the city, so the [king and] the soldiers of Judah waited until it was nighttime. Then they fled through the gate that was between the two walls near the king’s park. They ran across the fields and started to go down to the Jordan [River] Valley.
And it was broken into the city and all [the] men of war - this night [the] way of [the] gate - between the two walls which [was] at [the] garden of the king and [the] Chaldeans [were] on the city all around and he went [the] direction of the Arabah.
5 But the Babylonian soldiers chased/ran after them. They caught the king when he was by himself in the valley near the Jordan River. He was by himself because all his soldiers had abandoned him.
And they pursued [the] army of [the] Chaldeans after the king and they overtook him in [the] plains of Jericho and all army his they were scattered from with him.
6 The Babylonian soldiers took King Zedekiah to Riblah [city] in Babylon. There the king of Babylon decided what they would do to punish him.
And they seized the king and they brought up him to [the] king of Babylon Riblah towards and they spoke with him judgment.
7 There the king of Babylon forced Zedekiah to watch as the Babylonian soldiers killed all of Zedekiah’s sons. Then they gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes. They put bronze chains on [his hands and feet] and then they took him to Babylon.
And [the] sons of Zedekiah they slaughtered to eyes his and [the] eyes of Zedekiah he made blind and he bound him with bronze fetters and he brought him Babylon.
8 On August 14 of that year, after Nebuchadnezzar had been ruling for 19 years, Nebuzaradan arrived in Jerusalem. He was one of king Nebuchadnezzar’s officials and captain of the men that guarded the king.
And in the month fifth on [day] seven of the month it [was] year nine-teen year of the king Nebuchadnezzar [the] king of Babylon he came Nebuzaradan [the] chief of [the] bodyguards [the] servant of [the] king of Babylon Jerusalem.
9 He [commanded his soldiers to] burn down the temple of Yahweh, the king’s palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem. So they burned down all the important buildings in the city.
And he burned [the] house of Yahweh and [the] house of the king and all [the] houses of Jerusalem and every house of a great [person] he burned with fire.
10 Then Nebuzaradan supervised all the soldiers of the Babylonian army as they tore down the walls of Jerusalem.
And [the] walls of Jerusalem all around they broke down all [the] army of [the] Chaldeans who [was the] chief of [the] bodyguards.
11 Then he and his soldiers took to Babylon the people who were still living in the city, the other people [who lived in that area], and the soldiers who had previously surrendered to the Babylonian army.
And [the] rest of the people which remained in the city and those [who] fell who they fell on the king of Babylon and [the] rest of the multitude he took into exile Nebuzaradan [the] chief of [the] bodyguards.
12 But Nebuzaradan allowed some of the very poor people to stay in Judah to take care of the vineyards and [to plant crops in] the fields.
And some of [the] poor people of the land he left behind [the] chief of [the] bodyguards to vinedressers and to ploughmen.
13 The Babylonian soldiers broke into pieces the bronze pillars, the bronze carts with wheels, and the huge bronze basin, all of which were in the temple courtyard, and they took all the bronze to Babylon.
And [the] pillars of bronze which [were] [the] house of Yahweh and the stands and [the] sea of bronze which [was] in [the] house of Yahweh they broke [the] Chaldeans and they carried bronze their Babylon towards.
14 They also took the pots, the shovels, the instruments for (snuffing out/extinguishing) [the wicks of] the lamps, the dishes, and all the other bronze items that the Israeli priests had used for offering sacrifices at the temple.
And the pots and the shovels and the snuffers and the pans and all [the] articles of bronze which people served with them they took.
15 The soldiers also took away the (firepans/trays for carrying burning coals), the basins, and [all the other] items made of pure gold or pure silver.
And the fire-pans and the bowls which [were] gold gold and which [were] silver silver he took [the] chief of [the] bodyguards.
16 The bronze from the two pillars, the carts with wheels, and the huge basin were very heavy; they could not be weighed. (Those things had been made/A man named Hiram had made these things) for the temple when Solomon [was the king of Israel].
The pillars - two the sea one and the stands which he had made Solomon for [the] house of Yahweh not it belonged weight to [the] bronze of all the articles these.
17 Each of the pillars was (27 feet/8 meters) tall. The bronze capital/top of each pillar was (7-1/2 feet/2.3 meters) high. They were each decorated all around with something that looked like a net made of bronze chains connecting bronze pomegranates.
[was] eight-Teen cubit[s] [the] height of - the pillar one and a capital [was] on it - bronze and [the] height of the capital [was] three (cubits *Q(K)*) and a network and pomegranates [were] on the capital all around everything [was] bronze and like these [things] [belonged] to the pillar second with the network.
18 Nebuzaradan took with him to Babylon Seraiah the Supreme Priest, Zephaniah his assistant, and the three men who guarded the entrance [to the temple].
And he took [the] chief of [the] bodyguards Seraiah [the] priest of the head and Zephaniah a priest second and [the] three [the] keepers of the threshold.
19 And they found people who were still hiding in Jerusalem. From those people he took one officer from the Judean army, five of the king’s advisors, the chief secretary of the army commander who was in charge of recruiting men to join the army, and 60 other important Judean men.
And from the city he took a court-official one who he [was] overseer - over [the] men of war and five men from [those who] saw [the] face of the king who they were found in the city and the scribe [the] commander of the army who mustered [the] people of the land and sixty man from [the] people of the land who were found in the city.
20 Nebuzaradan took them all to the king of Babylon at Riblah [city].
And he took them Nebuzaradan [the] chief of [the] bodyguards and he brought them to [the] king of Babylon Riblah towards.
21 There at Riblah, in Hamath province, the king of Babylon commanded that they all be executed. That is what happened when the people of Judah were (taken forcefully/exiled) from their land [to Babylon].
And he struck down them [the] king of Babylon and he put to death them at Riblah in [the] land of Hamath and it went into exile Judah from on land its.
22 Then King Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah, who was the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, to be the governor of the people who were still living in Judah.
And the people who remained in [the] land of Judah whom he left behind Nebuchadnezzar [the] king of Babylon and he appointed over them Gedaliah [the] son of Ahikam [the] son of Shaphan.
23 When all the army captains of Judah and their soldiers who had not surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar found out that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah to be the governor, they met with him at Mizpah [town]. These army captains were Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Johanan the son of Kareah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth from Netophah [town], and Jaazaniah from the Maacah region.
And they heard all [the] commanders of the armies they and the men that he had appointed [the] king of Babylon Gedaliah and they came to Gedaliah Mizpah and Ishmael [the] son of Nethaniah and Johanan [the] son of Kareah and Seraiah [the] son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite and Jaazaniah [the] son of the Maacathite they and men their.
24 Gedaliah solemnly promised them [that the officials from Babylon were not planning to harm them]. He said, “You may live in this land [without being afraid] and serve the king of Babylon, and [if you do], everything will go well for you.”
And he swore an oath to them Gedaliah and to men their and he said to them may not you be afraid from [the] servants of the Chaldeans dwell in the land and serve [the] king of Babylon so it may go well for you.
25 But in October of that year, Ishmael, whose grandfather Elishama was one of the relatives of the descendants of King David, went to Mizpah along with ten other men and assassinated/killed Gedaliah and all the men who were with him. There were also men from Judah and men from Babylon whom they assassinated.
And it was - in the month seventh he came Ishmael [the] son of Nethaniah [the] son of Elishama one of [the] offspring of royalty and ten men with him and they struck down Gedaliah and he died and the Jews and the Chaldeans who they were with him at Mizpah.
26 Then many [HYP] of the people from Judah, important people and unimportant ones, and the army captains, were very afraid of [what] the Babylonians [would do to them], so they fled to Egypt.
And they arose all the people from [the] small and unto [the] great and [the] commanders of the armies and they went Egypt for they were afraid of [the] Chaldeans.
27 Thirty-seven years after King Jehoiachin of Judah was taken to Babylon, [Nebuchadnezzar’s son] Evil-Merodach became the king of Babylon. He was kind to Jehoiachin, and on April 2 of that year, he released/freed Jehoiachin from prison.
And it was in thirty and seven year of [the] exile of Jehoiachin [the] king of Judah in two [plus] ten month on [day] twenty and seven of the month he lifted up Evil-Merodach [the] king of Babylon in [the] year became king he [the] head of Jehoiachin [the] king of Judah from [the] house of imprisonment.
28 He always spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and honored him more than the other kings who had been taken/exiled to Babylon.
And he spoke with him good and he set throne his above [the] throne of the kings who [were] with him in Babylon.
29 He gave Jehoiachin new clothes to replace the clothes that he had been wearing in prison, and he allowed Jehoiachin to eat at the king’s table every day for the rest of his life.
And he changed [the] clothes of imprisonment his and he ate bread continually before him all [the] days of life his.
30 The king of Babylon also gave him money every day, so that he could buy the things that he needed. The king continued to do that until Jehoiachin died.
And allowance his an allowance of continuity it was given to him from with the king [the] matter of a day in day its all [the] days of life his.
