Jeremiah 52

The Fall of Jerusalem Recounted

1Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah.

1Zedekiah was a son of twenty-one years in his reigning, and eleven years he reigned in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

2And Zedekiah did evil in the sight of the LORD, just as Jehoiakim had done.

2And He did the evil in the eyes of YHWH, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.

3For because of the anger of the LORD, all this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until He finally banished them from His presence.

And Zedekiah also rebelled against the king of Babylon.

3For because of the anger of YHWH it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until His casting them from His presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

4So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army. They encamped outside the city and built a siege wall all around it.

4And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, that came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon—he and all his army—against Jerusalem. And they encamped against it and built against it a siege wall all around.

5And the city was kept under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year.

5And the city came to be under siege until the one and tenth year of King Zedekiah.

6By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so severe that the people of the land had no food.

6In the fourth month, on the ninth of the month, the hunger had become strong in the city, and there was not food for the people of the land.

7Then the city was breached; and though the Chaldeans had surrounded the city, all the men of war fled the city by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden.

They headed toward the Arabah,

7And the city was broken through, and all the men of war fled and went out from the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls that was by the garden of the king—and the Chaldeans were upon the city all around. They went by way of the Arabah,

8but the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and his whole army deserted him.

8and the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and they overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him.

9The Chaldeans seized the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced judgment on Zedekiah.

9And they took the king, and brought up him to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath; and he spoke against him the judgment.

10There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also killed all the officials of Judah.

10And the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and all the officials of Judah he killed in Riblah.

11Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon, where he kept him in custody until his dying day.

11And he put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and he bound him in bronze fetters, and the king of Babylon took him to Babylon, and put him in the house of oversight until the day of his death.

The Temple Destroyed

12On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign over Babylon, Nebuzaradan captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem.

12In the fifth month, on the tenth of the month—it was the ninth year and tenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guards, who served before the King of Babylon, into Jerusalem.

13He burned down the house of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem—every significant building.

13And He burned the house of YHWH, and the house of the king, and all the houses of Jerusalem—and all the houses of the great he burned with fire.

14And the whole army of the Chaldeans under the captain of the guard broke down all the walls around Jerusalem.

14And all the surrounding walls of Jerusalem they broke down—all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guards.

15Then Nebuzaradan captain of the guard carried into exile some of the poorest people and those who remained in the city, along with the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon and the rest of the craftsmen.

15And of the poor of the people and the rest of the people remaining in the city, and and those falling away who had fallen to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guards carried into exile.

16But Nebuzaradan captain of the guard left behind some of the poorest of the land to tend the vineyards and fields.

16And of the poor of the land, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guards left behind, as vinedressers and as farmers.

17Moreover, the Chaldeans broke up the bronze pillars and stands and the bronze Sea in the house of the LORD, and they carried all the bronze to Babylon.

17And the pillars of bronze that were in the house of YHWH, and the carts, and the sea of bronze that was in the house of YHWH, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and they carried away all their bronze to Babylon.

18They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes, and all the articles of bronze used in the temple service.

18And the pots, and the shovels, and the trimmers, and the bowls, and the spoons, and all the vessels of bronze with which they ministered, they took away.

19The captain of the guard also took away the basins, censers, sprinkling bowls, pots, lampstands, pans, and drink offering bowls—anything made of pure gold or fine silver.

19And the basins, and the firepans, and the bowls, and the pots, and the lampstands, and the spoons, and the cups—that which was pure gold and that which was pure silver, the captain of the guards took away.

20As for the two pillars, the Sea, the twelve bronze bulls under it, and the movable stands that King Solomon had made for the house of the LORD, the weight of the bronze from all these articles was beyond measure.

20The two pillars, the one sea, and the twelve bronze bulls that were under it, and the carts that king Solomon had made for the house of YHWH. There was no weighing of the bronze of all these articles.

21Each pillar was eighteen cubits tall and twelve cubits in circumference; each was hollow, four fingers thick.

21As to the pillars, eighteen cubits was the height of the one pillar, and a measuring line of twelve cubits could turn around it; its thickness was four fingers; it was hollow.

22The bronze capital atop one pillar was five cubits high, with a network of bronze pomegranates all around. The second pillar, with its pomegranates, was similar.

22A capital of bronze was upon it, and the height of the one capital was five cubits, and with a network and pomegranates on the capital all around, all of bronze; and like these for the second pillar, with pomegranates.

23Each capital had ninety-six pomegranates on the sides, and a total of a hundred pomegranates were above the surrounding network.

23The pomegranates were ninety-six on the side; all the pomegranates were a hundred on the lattice-work all around.

Captives Carried to Babylon

24The captain of the guard also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of second rank, and the three doorkeepers.

24And the captain of the guards took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold.

25Of those still in the city, he took a court official who had been appointed over the men of war, as well as seven trusted royal advisers. He also took the scribe of the captain of the army, who had enlisted the people of the land, and sixty men who were found in the city.

25And from the city he took a certain officer who had charge over the men of war, and seven men from those seeing the face of the king, who were found in the city; and the scribe of an official of the army, the one conscripting the people of the land; and sixty men from the people of the land who were found in the midst of the city.

26Nebuzaradan captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.

26Nebuzaradan the captain of the guards took these, and he brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.

27There at Riblah in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death. So Judah was taken into exile, away from its own land.

27And the king of Babylon struck them, and he put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. And Judah was carried away captive from his own land.

28These are the people Nebuchadnezzar carried away:

in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews;

28This is the people whom Nebuchadnezzar exiled: In the seventh year, three thousand and twenty-three Jews;

29in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year, 832 people from Jerusalem;

29in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, eight hundred thirty-two persons from Jerusalem;

30in Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty-third year, Nebuzaradan captain of the guard carried away 745 Jews.

So in all, 4,600 people were taken away.

30in the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guards exiled seven hundred forty-five Jews; all the souls were four thousand and six hundred.

Jehoiachin Released from Prison

31On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the first year of the reign of Evil-merodach king of Babylon, he pardoned Jehoiachin king of Judah and released him from prison.

31And it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the two and tenth month, on the twenty-fifth of the month, in the year of his becoming king that Evil-Merodach king of Babylon lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and he brought him out of the house of imprisonment.

32And he spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and set his throne above the thrones of the other kings who were with him in Babylon.

32And he spoke to him kindly, and he set his seat above the seat of the kings who were with him in Babylon.

33So Jehoiachin changed out of his prison clothes, and he dined regularly at the king’s table for the rest of his life.

33And Jehoiachin changed the garments of his imprisonment, and he ate bread before his face continually all the days of his life.

34And the king of Babylon provided Jehoiachin a daily portion for the rest of his life, until the day of his death.

34And his ration was a regular ration given to him by the king of Babylon, a portion for the day on each day until the day of his death, all the days of his life.