CHAPTER 25
So
in the ninth
year
of Zedekiah’s reign,
on the tenth
day of the tenth
month,
King
Nebuchadnezzar
of Babylon
marched
against
Jerusalem
with his entire
army.
They encamped
outside the city
and built
a siege wall
all around it.
By the ninth day
of the fourth month,
the famine
in the city
was so severe
that the people
of the land
had
no
food.
Then the city
was breached;
and though the Chaldeans
had surrounded
the city,
all
the men
of war
fled by night
by way
of the gate
between
the two walls
near
the king’s
garden.
They fled
toward
the Arabah,
but the army
of the Chaldeans
pursued
the king
and overtook
him
in the plains
of Jericho,
and all
his army
was separated
from him.
The Chaldeans seized
the king
and brought him up
to
the king
of Babylon
at Riblah,
where they pronounced
judgment
on him.
And
they slaughtered
the sons
of Zedekiah
before his eyes.
Then
they put out
his
eyes,
bound him
in bronze shackles,
and took
him to Babylon.
On the seventh
day of the fifth
month,
in the nineteenth
year
of Nebuchadnezzar's
reign
over Babylon,
Nebuzaradan
the captain
of the guard,
a servant
of the king
of Babylon,
entered
Jerusalem.
He burned down
the house
of the LORD,
the royal
palace,
and all
the houses
of Jerusalem—
every
significant
building.
And the whole
army
of the Chaldeans
under
the commander
of the guard
broke down
the walls
around
Jerusalem.
Then Nebuzaradan
the captain
of the guard
carried into exile
the people
who remained
in the city,
along with
the deserters
who
had defected
to
the king
of Babylon
and the rest
of the population.
But the captain
of the guard
left behind
some of the poorest
of the land
to tend the vineyards
and fields.
Moreover,
the Chaldeans
broke up
the bronze
pillars
and
the stands
and the bronze
sea
in the house
of the LORD,
and they carried
the bronze
to Babylon.
They also took away
the pots,
shovels,
wick trimmers,
dishes,
and all
the articles
of bronze
used in temple service.
The captain
of the guard
also took away
the censers
and sprinkling bowls—
anything made of
pure gold
or fine silver.
As for the two
pillars,
the
Sea,
and the movable stands
that
Solomon
had made
for the house
of the LORD,
the weight of the bronze
from all
these
articles
was beyond measure.
Each
pillar
was eighteen
cubits
tall.
The bronze
capital
atop one pillar
was three
cubits
high,
with a network
of bronze
pomegranates
all
around.
The second
pillar,
with its network,
was similar.
The captain
of the guard
also took away
Seraiah
the chief
priest,
Zephaniah
the priest
of the second rank,
and the three
doorkeepers.
Of those
still in the city,
he took
a
court official
who
had been appointed
over
the men
of war
and five
royal
advisors,
as well as
the scribe
of the captain
of the army,
who enlisted
the people
of the land,
and sixty
men
who were found
in the city.
Nebuzaradan
the captain
of the guard
took
them
and brought
them
to
the king
of Babylon
at Riblah.
There 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
her land.
Nebuchadnezzar
king
of Babylon
appointed
Gedaliah
son
of Ahikam,
the son
of Shaphan,
over
the people
he had left behind
in the land
of Judah.
When all
the commanders
of the armies
and their men
heard
that
the king
of Babylon
had appointed
Gedaliah as governor,
they came
to
Gedaliah
at Mizpah—
Ishmael
son
of Nethaniah,
Johanan
son
of Kareah,
Seraiah
son
of Tanhumeth
the Netophathite,
and Jaazaniah
son
of the Maacathite,
as well as their men.
And Gedaliah
took an oath
before them
and their men,
assuring
them,
“Do not
be afraid
of the servants
of the Chaldeans.
Live
in the land
and serve
the king
of Babylon,
and it will be well
with you.”
In the seventh
month, however,
Ishmael
son
of Nethaniah,
the son
of Elishama,
of the royal
family,
came
with
ten
men
and struck down
and killed
Gedaliah,
along with the Judeans
and Chaldeans
who
were
with
him at Mizpah.
Then all
the people
small
and
great,
together with the commanders
of the army,
arose
and fled
to Egypt
for
fear
of
the Chaldeans.
On the twenty-seventh
day of the twelfth
month
of the thirty-seventh
year
of the exile
of Judah’s
King
Jehoiachin,
in the year
Evil-merodach
became king
of Babylon,
he released
King
Jehoiachin
of Judah
from
prison.
And he spoke
kindly
to Jehoiachin
and set
his throne
over
the thrones
of the kings
who
were with
him in Babylon.
So Jehoiachin changed
his prison
clothes,
and for the rest
of his life
he dined
regularly
before the king.