the Fourth Week of Advent
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Bishop's Bible
2 Kings 25
1 And it fortuned, that in the ninth yere of his raigne, the tenth day of the tenth moneth, Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon came, he & all his hoast, against Hierusalem, and pitched against it, and made engins against it on euery syde.2 And the citie was besieged vnto the eleuenth yere of king Zedekia.3 And the ninth day of the moneth, there was so great hunger in the citie, that there was no bread for the people of the lande.4 And the citie was broken vp, and all the men of armes [fled] by night by a way through a gate [which is] betweene two walles by the kinges garden (the Chaldees lying about the citie:) And the king went the way toward the playne.5 And the souldiers of the Chaldees folowed after the king, and toke him in the playne of Iericho: and all his army were scattered away from him.6 So they toke the king, and brought him to [Nabuchodonosor] the king of Babylon to Ribla, where they gaue iudgement vpon him.7 And they slue the sonnes of Zedekia before his eyes, and he put out the eyes of Zedekia, and fettered him with chaynes, and carryed him to Babylon.
8 And the seuenth day of the fifth moneth (which is the nineteenth yere of king Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon) came Nebusaradan a seruaunt of the king of Babylon & chiefe captayne of the men of warre, vnto Hierusalem:9 And burnt the house of the Lord, and the kinges house, and all the houses of Hierusalem, and all great houses burnt he with fire.10 And all the souldiers of the Chaldees that were with the chiefe captayne of the men of warre, brake downe the walles of Hierusalem rounde about.11 But the rest of the people that were left in the citie, and them that were fled to the king of Babylon, with the remnaunt of the common people, did Nabusaradan the chiefe captayne of the men of warre carry away.12 But the captaine of the souldiers left of the poore of the land, to dresse the vines and to tyll the grounde.13 And the pillers of brasse that were in the house of the Lorde, and the sockets, and the brasen lauatorie that was in the house of the Lorde, did the Chaldees breake, & carryed all the brasse of them to Babylon.14 And the pots, shouels, instrumentes of musicke, spoones, and all the vessels of brasse that they ministred in, toke they away,15 And the fire pannes, and basons: and such thinges as were of golde and of siluer, them toke ihe chiefe captayne away:16 Euen two pillers, one lauatorie, and the sockets which Solomon had made for the house of the Lorde: The brasse of al these vessels was without waight.17 The height of the one piller was eightteene cubites, and the pommel thereof was brasse: and the height of the pommel was with wreathen worke three cubites, & pomegranates vpon the pommel rounde about all of brasse: And of the same fashion was the second piller, with a wreathen worke.18 And the chiefe captayne of the men of warre toke Saraia the chiefe priest, and Zephoniah the highest priest saue one, and the three kepers of the holy things:19 And out of the citie he toke a chamberlayne that had the ouersight of the men of warre, & fiue men of them that were euer in the kinges presence which were founde in the citie, and him that was scribe to the captaine of the hoast which brought out the people of the lande to warre, and threescore men of the people of the lande that were founde in the citie.20 And Nebusaradan the chiefe captaine of the men of warre, toke these, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Ribla.21 And the king of Babylon smote them, and slue them at Ribla in the lande of Hamath: And so Iuda was carryed away out of their lande.
22 Howebeit, there remayned people in the lande of Iuda, whom Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon left, & made Gedalia the sonne of Ahikam the sonne of Saphan ruler ouer them.23 And all the captaynes of the souldiers, & other men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedalia gouernour, and there came to Gedalia to Mizpah Ismael ye sonne of Nathania, Iohannan the sonne of Karea, Saraia the sonne of Thanhumeth the Netophatite, and Iaazania the sonne of Maachati, they and their men.24 And Gedalia sware to them and to the men whom they had with them, and saide vnto them: Feare not ye because ye are the seruauntes of the Chaldees: dwell in the lande, and serue the king of Babylon, and ye shall be well.25 But it chaunced in the seuenth moneth, that Ismael the sonne of Nathania the sonne of Elisama of the kinges blood, came, and ten men with him, and smote Gedalia that he dyed: and so did he the Iewes and the Chaldees that were with him at Mizpah.26 And all the people both small & great, and the captaynes of warre, arose and came to Egypt: for they were afrayde of the Chaldees.27 Notwithstading, yet in the seuen & thirtith yere after Iehoachin king of Iuda was carryed away, the seuen and twentith day of the twelfth moneth Euilmerodach king of Babylon the same yere that he began to raigne, did lyft vp the head of Iehoachin king of Iuda out of pryson.28 And spake kindely to him, and set his seate aboue the seate of the kinges that were with him in Babylon,29 And chaunged his pryson garmentes, and he did euer eate bread before him al the dayes of his lyfe.30 His portion was a continuall portion that was assigned him of the king, euery day a certaine as long as he lyued.