Jeremiah 52

1 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].

Twenty-one years old, was Zedekiah when he began to reign, and eleven years, reigned he, in Jerusalem, —and, his mother’s name, was Hamutal, daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

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

And he did that which was wicked in the eyes of Yahweh, —according to all that Jehoiakim had done.

3 [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.

For it was, because the anger of Yahweh, had come against Jerusalem and Judah until he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

4 [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].

And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his force, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it, —and he built against it a siege-wall round about.

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

And the city came into the siege, —until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.

6 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].

In the fourth month on the ninth of the month, when the famine had become severe in the city, —and there had come to be no bread for the people of the land,

7 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.

then was the city broken up, and all the men of war, beginning to flee went forth out of the city by night, by way of the gate between the two walls which was by the garden of the king the Chaldeans being near the city round about), —and they went the way towards the Waste Plain.

8 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.

And the force of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and overtook Zedekiah, in the Waste Plains of Jericho, —and, all his force, was scattered from him.

9 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.

So they seized the king, and brought him up, unto the king of Babylon at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, —and he pronounced upon him sentences of judgment.

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

And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, —moreover also all the princes of Judah, slew he in Riblah;

11 [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.

and the eyes of Zedekiah, put he out, —and bound him with fetters of bronze and the king of Babylon took him to Babylon, and put him in prison—until the day of his death.

12 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.

And in the fifth month on the tenth of the month, the same, was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, chief of the royal executioners, —who stood before the king of Babylon into, Jerusalem;

13 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].

and he burned the house of Yahweh and the house of the king, —yea all the houses of Jerusalem even every great man’s house, burned he with fire;

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

and all the walls of Jerusalem round about, did all the force of the Chaldeans who were with the chief of the royal executioners, break down.

15 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.

And some of the poor of the people and the residue of the people who were left in the city, and the disheartened who had fallen away unto the king of Babylon and the residue of the multitude, did Nebuzaradan chief of the royal executioners carry away captive.

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

But, others of the poor of the land, did Nebuzaradan chief of the royal executioners leave, for vinedressers and for husbandmen.

17 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.

And the pillars of bronze that pertained to the house of Yahweh and the stands and the sea of bronze which was in the house of Yahweh, did the Chaldeans, break in pieces, —and they carried away all the bronze of them to Babylon;

18 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.

and the caldrons and the shovels and the snuffers and the dashing bowls, and the spoons even all the utensils of bronze wherewith ministration used to be made did they take away;

19 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.

and the basins and the censers and the dashing bowls and the caldrons and the lamps and the spoons and the cups, which were of gold in gold, and which were of silver in silver, did the chief of the royal executioners, take away.

20 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.

As for the two pillars the one sea, and the twelve oxen of bronze which were under the stands which King Solomon had made for the house of Yahweh, without weight was the bronze of all these things.

21 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.

Now as for the pillars, eighteen cubits, was the height of each pillar, and, a line of twelve cubits, compassed it about, —and the thickness thereof was four fingers’ breadth—hollow;

22 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.

and there was, a capital, upon it, of bronze, and the height of each capital, was five cubits, with lattice-work and pomegranates upon the capital round about—the whole was of bronze, —and like these, were the second pillar and the pomegranates.

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

And the pomegranates were ninety-six on a side, —all the pomegranates were a hundred upon the lattice-work round about.

24 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].

And the chief of the royal executioners, took away, Seraiah the first priest, and Zephaniah, the second priest, —and the three keepers of the entrance-hall;

25 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.

and out of the city, took he one eunuch who was in charge over the men of war and seven men of them who used to watch the face of the king, who were found in the city, and the scribe of the prince of the host, who used to muster the people of the land, —and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the midst of the city.

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

And when Nebuzaradan chief the royal executioners, had taken them, and brought them unto the king of Babylon at Riblah,

27 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.

then did the king of Babylon smite them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath, —thus carried he Judah captive away from off their own soil.

28 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.

This, is the people, whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive, —In the seventh year—of them of Judah, three thousand and twenty-three;

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

In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar—out of Jerusalem, eight hundred and thirty-two souls;

30 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].

In the three-and-twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar, Nebuzaradan, chief of the royal executioners took away captive, of them of Judah, seven hundred and forty-five souls: All, the souls, were four thousand and six hundred.

31 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.

And it came to pass, in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year he began to reign, lifted up, the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison;

32 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].

and spake with him comfortable words, —and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon;

33 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.

so he changed his prison garments, —and used to eat bread before his face continually, all the days of his life.

34 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.

And his allowance, was a continual allowance given him from the king of Babylon the portion of the day upon its own day, until the day of his death, —all the days of his life.