2 Kings 25

¹And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem and encamped against it. And they built against it a siege wall all around.

²And the city came under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.

³And on the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine had become so severe in the city that there was no bread for the people of the land.

⁴And the city was breached, and all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the garden of the king. And the Chaldeans were against the city all around. And he went by way of the Arabah.

⁵And the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and they overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him.

⁶And they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they pronounced judgment on him.

⁷And the sons of Zedekiah they killed before his eyes, and the eyes of Zedekiah he put out, and he bound him with bronze fetters and took him to Babylon.

⁸And in the fifth month, on the seventh of the month (it was the ninth year and tenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), Nebuzaradan the captain of the guards, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.

⁹And he burned the house of YHWH, and the house of the king, and all the houses of Jerusalem—and every great house he burned with the fire.

¹⁰And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guards, broke down the walls of Jerusalem all around.

¹¹And the rest of the people remaining in the city, and and the fallen ones who had fallen to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guards carry away.

¹²And the captain of the guards left behind some of the poor of the land to tend the vineyards and to be farmers.

¹³And the bronze pillars that were in the house of YHWH, and the carts and the bronze Sea that were in the house of YHWH, the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried their bronze to Babylon.

¹⁴And also the pots, and the shovels, and the trimmers, and the dishes, and all the bronze vessels with which they ministered, took they away with them.

¹⁵And the firepans, and the sprinkling bowls, the things of pure gold and pure silver, the captain of the guards took away.

¹⁶The two pillars, the one Sea, and the carts that Solomon had made for the house of YHWH—there was no weighing of the brass of all these articles.

¹⁷Eighteen cubits was the height of the one pillar. And the capital on it was of bronze, and the height of the capital was three cubits. And the network and pomegranates on the capital all around—all were of bronze, and like these was the second pillar, with the network.

¹⁸And the captain of the guards took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold.

¹⁹And out of the city He took one eunuch because he was an inspector over the men of war, and five men seeing the face of the king who were found in the city, and the scribe of the captain of the army who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land found in the city.

²⁰And Nebuzaradan captain of the guards took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.

²¹And the king of Babylon struck them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. And he removed Judah from its own land.

²²And for the people who remained in the land of Judah whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, he made governor over them Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan.

²³And all the captains of the armies heard—they and the men—that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, and they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and Johanan son of Kareah, and Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah son of the Maacathite—they and their men.

²⁴And Gedaliah and their men took an oath before them, and he said to them, “Do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you.”

²⁵And it came to pass in the seventh month, that came Ishmael son of Nethaniah son of Elishama, of the seed of the kingdom, and ten men with him, and they struck Gedaliah and he died, along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah.

²⁶And all the people arose, from small even to great, and the captains of the armies, and they went to Egypt. For they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

²⁷And it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the removal of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon in the year of his reigning lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of the house of restraint.

²⁸And He spoke to him kindly and gave to him a seat above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon.

²⁹And he changed the garments of his restraint, and he ate bread regularly before his face all the days of his life.

³⁰And his allowance—there was a regular allowance given to him by the king, a portion day by day all the days of his life.