The Fall of Jerusalem
4 Kingdoms 25, verse 1. In the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and encamped against it. They built a siege wall against it all around. 4 Kingdoms 25, verse 2. So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 4 Kingdoms 25, verse 3. By the ninth day of the month, the famine was severe in the city, and there was no food for the people of the land. 4 Kingdoms 25, verse 4. Then the city wall was broken through, and all the men of war fled at night. They ran by way of the gate, between the walls, through the gate of the king's garden. They and the king ran out, even though the Chaldeans still encircled the entire city. They left by way of the plain toward Arabah. 4 Kingdoms 25, verse 5. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and they overtook him in the plains of Jericho. The king's army was scattered all about him. 4 Kingdoms 25, verse 6. So they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and he pronounced judgment on him. 4 Kingdoms 25, verse 7. And before his eyes, they killed the sons of Zedekiah. They then put out his eyes, bound him with fetters, and took him to Babylon.
The Temple Is Destroyed
4 Kingdoms 25, verse 8. In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, in the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, came before the king of Babylon in Jerusalem. 4 Kingdoms 25, verse 9. He burned the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every house was burned 4 Kingdoms 25, verse 10. by the captain of the guard. 4 Kingdoms 25, verse 11. Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive the people who remained in the city, and those who deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude. 4 Kingdoms 25, verse 12. But the captain of the guard left some of the poor of the land as vinedressers and farmers. 4 Kingdoms 25, verse 13. The Chaldeans broke into pieces the bronze pillars, and the bases, and the bronze Sea in the house of the Lord. They carried their bronze to Babylon. 4 Kingdoms 25, verse 14. They also took away the pots, the shovels, the trimmers, the spoons, and all the bronze utensils used by the priests to minister. 4 Kingdoms 25, verse 15. The captain of the guard took away the fire-pans, the golden bowls, and the silver. 4 Kingdoms 25, verse 16. The amount of bronze in the two pillars, the one Sea, and the carts, and all the articles made by Solomon for the house of the Lord, was beyond measure. 4 Kingdoms 25, verse 17. The height of one pillar was eighteen cubits, and the capital on it was of bronze. The height of the capital was three cubits, and the network and pomegranates all around the capital were all of bronze. The second pillar was the same, with a network. 4 Kingdoms 25, verse 18. And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the high-priest, and Zephaniah the second in order, and the three doorkeepers. 4 Kingdoms 25, verse 19. And they took out of the city one eunuch who was commander of the men of war, and five men who saw the face of the king that were found in the city, and the secretary of the commander-in-chief, who took account of the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land that were found in the city. 4 Kingdoms 25, verse 20. And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon, to Reblatha. 4 Kingdoms 25, verse 21. And the king of Babylon struck them and killed them at Reblatha in the land of Amath. So Judah was carried away from his land.
Judah Is Captive in Babylon
4 Kingdoms 25, verse 22. As for the people who remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take away captive, he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, governor over them. 4 Kingdoms 25, verse 23. All the captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon made Gedaliah governor, so they—Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Johanan the son of Careah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of a Maachathite—they and their men came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. 4 Kingdoms 25, verse 24. Then Gedaliah made them and their men take an oath, 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 shall be well with you.” 4 Kingdoms 25, verse 25. But in the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama of the royal family, came with ten men and struck and killed Gedaliah at Mizpah, and the Jews as well as the Chaldeans with him. 4 Kingdoms 25, verse 26. So all the people, small and great, and the captains of the armies arose and went to Egypt because they were afraid of the Chaldeans.
Jehoiachin Is Freed from Prison
4 Kingdoms 25, verse 27. In the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, Evil-Merodach king of Babylon, in the year he began to reign, released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. 4 Kingdoms 25, verse 28. He spoke kindly to him and gave him a more prominent seat than those of the kings with him in Babylon. 4 Kingdoms 25, verse 29. So Jehoiachin changed from his prison garments and ate bread regularly before the king all the days of his life. 4 Kingdoms 25, verse 30. And as for his provisions, there was a regular ration given him by the king, a portion for each day, all the days of his life.