Jeremiah 52

1 A son of twenty and one years [is] Zedekiah in his reigning, and eleven years he hath reigned in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother [is] Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

Zedekiah was twenty-one when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother's name was Hamutal, daughter of Jeremiah She came from Libnah.

2 and he doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that Jehoiakim hath done,

He did evil in the Lord's sight, just as Jehoiakim had done.

3 for, because of the anger of Jehovah, it hath been in Jerusalem and Judah till He hath cast them from before His face, and Zedekiah doth rebel against the king of Babylon.

All this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, because of the Lord's anger, until he eventually banished them from his presence. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

4 And it cometh to pass, in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth of the month, come hath Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon — he and all his force — against Jerusalem, and they encamp against it, and build against it a fortification round about;

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.

5 and the city cometh into siege till the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.

The city remained under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.

6 In the fourth month, in the ninth of the month, when the famine is severe in the city, and there hath been no 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.

7 then is the city broken up, and all the men of war flee, and go forth from the city by night, the way of the gate between the two walls, that [is] by the king's garden — and the Chaldeans [are] by the city round about — and they go the way of the plain.

Then the city wall was broken through, and all the soldiers ran away, escaping at night through the gate between the two walls by the king's garden, even though the Babylonians had the city surrounded. They went in the direction of the Arabah,

8 And the forces of the Chaldeans pursue after the king, and overtake Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his forces 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.

9 and they capture the king, and bring him up unto the king of Babylon to Riblah, in the land of Hamath, and he speaketh with him — judgments.

They captured the king and took him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where he sentenced him.

10 And the king of Babylon slaughtereth the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and also all the princes of Judah hath he slaughtered in Riblah;

The king of Babylon slaughtered Zedekiah's sons while he watched, and also killed the officials of Judah there at Riblah.

11 and the eyes of Zedekiah he hath blinded, and he bindeth him in brazen fetters, and the king of Babylon bringeth him to Babylon, and putteth him in the house of inspection unto the day of his death.

Then he gouged out Zedekiah's eyes, and bound him in bronze shackles. The king of Babylon took him to Babylon and imprisoned him there until the day he died.

12 And in the fifth month, in the tenth of the month — it [is] the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon — come hath Nebuzar-Adan, chief of the executioners; he hath stood before the king of Babylon in Jerusalem,

On the tenth 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.

13 and he burneth the house of Jehovah, and the house of the king, and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house he hath burned with fire,

He burned down the Lord's Temple, the royal palace, and all the large buildings of Jerusalem.

14 and all the walls of Jerusalem round about broken down have all the forces of the Chaldeans that [are] with the chief of the executioners.

The whole Babylonian army under the commander of the guard knocked down all the walls around Jerusalem.

15 And of the poor of the people, and the remnant of the people who are left in the city, and those who are falling away, who have fallen unto the king of Babylon, and the remnant of the multitude, hath Nebuzar-Adan chief of the executioners, removed;

Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, deported some of the poor people and 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 craftsmen.

16 and of the poor of the land hath Nebuzar-Adan, chief of the executioners, left for vine-dressers and for husbandmen.

But Nebuzaradan allowed others of the poor people who were left in the country to stay and take care of the vineyards and the fields.

17 And the pillars of brass that [are] to the house of Jehovah, and the bases, and the brasen sea that [is] in the house of Jehovah, have the Chaldeans broken, and they bear away all the brass of them 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.

18 and the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the bowls, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass with which they minister, they have taken away;

They also took all the pots, shovels, lamp snuffers, sprinkling bowls, and all the other bronze items used in the Temple service.

19 and the basins, and the fire-pans, and the bowls, and the pots, and the candlesticks, and the spoons, and the cups, the gold of that which [is] gold, and the silver of that which [is] silver, hath the chief of the executioners taken.

The commander of the guard removed the basins, censers, sprinkling bowls, pots, lampstands, dishes and bowls, anything that was made of pure gold or silver.

20 The two pillars, the one sea, and the twelve brazen oxen that [are] beneath the bases, that king Solomon made for the house of Jehovah, there was no weighing of the brass of all these vessels.

The amount of bronze that came from the two columns, the Sea, the twelve bronze bulls under it, and the movable carts, which Solomon had made for the Lord's Temple, all of this weighed more than could be measured.

21 As to the pillars, eighteen cubits [is] the height of the one pillar, and a cord of twelve cubits doth compass it, and its thickness [is] four fingers hollow.

Each column was eighteen cubits tall and twelve cubits around. They were hollow with walls four fingers thick.

22 And the chapiter upon it [is] of brass, and the height of the one chapiter [is] five cubits, and net-work and pomegranates [are] on the chapiter round about, the whole [is] of brass; and like these have the second pillar, and pomegranates.

The bronze capital on top of one column was five cubits high, with a network of bronze pomegranates around it. The second column was the same, and also had a decorative network.

23 And the pomegranates are ninety and six on a side, all the pomegranates [are] a hundred on the net-work round about.

There were ninety-six bronze pomegranates around each column. Above the network were a total of one hundred pomegranates.

24 And the chief of the executioners taketh 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.

25 and out of the city he hath taken a certain eunuch, who hath been inspector over the men of war, and seven men of those seeing the king's face, who have been found in the city, and the head scribe of the host, who mustereth the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land, who are found in the midst of the city;

From those left in the city he took the officer in charge of the soldiers, and seven 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.

26 and Nebuzar-Adan, chief of the executioners, taketh them, and bringeth them unto the king of Babylon to Riblah,

Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, took them and brought them before the king of Babylon at Riblah.

27 and the king of Babylon smiteth them, and putteth them to death in Riblah, in the land of Hamath, and he removeth Judah from off its own ground.

The king of Babylon had them executed at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So the people of Judah had to leave their land.

28 This [is] the people whom Nebuchadrezzar hath removed: in the seventh year, of Jews, three thousand and twenty and three;

This is a record of the number of people Nebuchadnezzar took into exile. In the seventh year of his reign he took 3,023 Judeans.

29 in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar — from Jerusalem, souls, eight hundred thirty and two;

In his eighteenth year Nebuchadnezzar took another 832 from Jerusalem.

30 in the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar, hath Nebuzar-Adan chief of the guard removed of Jewish souls, seven hundred forty and five; all the souls [are] four thousand and six hundred.

In his twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, took another 745 Judeans, making a total of 4,600.

31 And it cometh to pass, in the thirty and seventh year of the removal of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the twenty and fifth of the month, hath Evil-Merodach king of Babylon lifted up, in the year of his reign, the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and bringeth him out from 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-fifth day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin, king of Judah.

32 and speaketh with him good things, and setteth 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.

33 and he hath changed his prison garments, and he hath eaten bread before him continually, 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.

34 And his allowance — a continual allowance — hath been given to him by the king of Babylon, the matter of a day in its day, till the day of his death — all days of his life.

The king provided Jehoiachin with a daily allowance for the rest of his life until he died.