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Jerusalem Destroyed

¹ Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled for eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ² Zedekiah did what was sinful in the eyes of the Lord, like all that Jehoiakim had done. ³ The Lord became so angry with Jerusalem and Judah that He had them sent away from Him. And Zedekiah turned against the king of Babylon.

⁴ On the tenth day of the tenth month in the ninth year of his rule, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came with all his army to fight against Jerusalem. His soldiers gathered outside the city and built a battle-wall all around it. ⁵ So the city was shut in by the army of the Babylonians until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. ⁶ On the ninth day of the fourth month, the hunger became very bad in the city. There was no food for the people of the land. ⁷ Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war ran away. They left the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls, by the king's garden, while the Babylonians were all around the city. They went by way of the Arabah. ⁸ But the Babylonian army went after King Zedekiah and came to him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was divided and ran away from him. ⁹ They took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath. And he decided what Zedekiah's punishment would be. ¹⁰ The king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah in front of his eyes. He killed all the leaders of Judah in Riblah. ¹¹ Then he put out Zedekiah's eyes, put him in chains of brass, and took him to Babylon. There he was put in prison until the day of his death.

The House of God Destroyed

¹² On the tenth day of the fifth month in the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Nebuzaradan came to Jerusalem. Nebuzaradan was the captain of the prison soldiers and served the king of Babylon. ¹³ And he burned the house of the Lord, the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He burned down every great house. ¹⁴ The whole Babylonian army that was with the captain of the prison soldiers broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. ¹⁵ Then Nebuzaradan, captain of the prison soldiers, carried away to Babylon some of the poorest of the people, the rest of the people who were left in the city, those who had joined the king of Babylon, and the rest of the able workmen. ¹⁶ But Nebuzaradan left some of the poorest people of the land to take care of the vines and fields.

¹⁷ The Babylonians broke in pieces the brass pillars which belonged to the house of the Lord, and the stands and the brass pool which were in the Lord's house. And they carried all the brass to Babylon. ¹⁸ They also took away the pots, the tools, the objects for putting out the lamps, the washing pots, the dishes for special perfume, and all the brass objects used in the work of the Lord's house. ¹⁹ The captain of the prison soldiers also took away the deep dishes, the fire holders, the washing pots, the other pots, the lamp-stands, the dishes for special perfume, and the dishes for drink gifts, that were made of fine gold and fine silver. ²⁰ He took the two pillars, the brass pool, the twelve brass bulls that were under the pool, and the stands, which King Solomon had made for the house of the Lord. The brass of all these objects was too heavy to weigh. ²¹ Each pillar was five times taller than a man, as long around as six long steps, as wide as four fingers, and empty inside. ²² Its top part was brass and as tall as a man can raise his hand, with a network and pomegranates all around the top part, all made of brass. The second pillar with its pomegranates was the same. ²³ There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides. There were one hundred pomegranates on the network all around.

The People Taken to Babylon

²⁴ Then the captain of the prison soldiers took Seraiah, the head religious leader, and Zephaniah, the second religious leader, and the three door keepers of the Lord's house. ²⁵ He also took from the city one captain who had been over the men of war, and seven of the king's wise men who were found in the city. He took the writer who worked for the captain of the army, who called together the people of the land. And he took sixty men of the land who were found in the city. ²⁶ Nebuzaradan the captain of the prison soldiers took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah, ²⁷ and the king of Babylon killed them. He put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was led out of its land in chains.

²⁸ These are the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away to Babylon: In the seventh year he took 3,023 Jews. ²⁹ In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar he took 832 people from Jerusalem. ³⁰ In the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the prison soldiers took away 745 Jews. There were 4,600 people taken away in all.

³¹ On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month in the thirty-seventh year since King Jehoiachin of Judah was taken away to Babylon, Evilmerodach king of Babylon showed favor to Jehoiachin king of Judah. It was the first year of his rule, and he brought Jehoiachin out of prison. ³² He spoke to him with kindness, and gave him a seat of honor higher than the other kings who were with him in Babylon. ³³ So Jehoiachin changed from his prison clothes, and ate with the king every day for the rest of his life. ³⁴ And a share of money was given to him by the king of Babylon every day as long as he lived, until the day of his death.