25:1 So 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 whole army. He encamped outside the city and built siege works all around it.
25:2 The city was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
25:3 By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat.
25:4 Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled at night through the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, though the Babylonians were surrounding the city. They fled toward the Arabah,
25:5 but the Babylonian army pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him and scattered,
25:6 and he was captured. He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where sentence was pronounced on him.
25:7 They killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon.
25:8 On the seventh day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard, an official of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.
25:9 He set fire to the temple of the LORD, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down.
25:10 The whole Babylonian army, under the commander of the imperial guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem.
25:11 Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exile the people who remained in the city, along with the rest of the populace and those who had gone over to the king of Babylon.
25:12 But the commander left behind some of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields.
25:13 The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars, the movable stands and the bronze Sea that were at the temple of the LORD and they carried the bronze to Babylon.
25:14 They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, dishes and all the bronze articles used in the temple service.
25:15 The commander of the imperial guard took away the censers and sprinkling bowls–all that were made of pure gold or silver.
25:16 The bronze from the two pillars, the Sea and the movable stands, which Solomon had made for the temple of the LORD, was more than could be weighed.
25:17 Each pillar was twenty-seven feet high. The bronze capital on top of one pillar was four and a half feet high and was decorated with a network and pomegranates of bronze all around. The other pillar, with its network, was similar.
25:18 The commander of the guard took as prisoners Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest next in rank and the three doorkeepers.
25:19 Of those still in the city, he took the officer in charge of the fighting men and five royal advisers. He also took the secretary who was chief officer in charge of conscripting the people of the land and sixty of his men who were found in the city.
25:20 Nebuzaradan the commander took them all and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.
25:21 There at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king had them executed. So Judah went into captivity, away from her land.
25:22 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to be over the people he had left behind in Judah.
25:23 When all the army officers 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, Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite, and their men.
25:24 Gedaliah took an oath to reassure them and their men. “Do not be afraid of the Babylonian officials,” he said. “Settle down in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you.”
25:25 In the seventh month, however, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was of royal blood, came with ten men and assassinated Gedaliah and also the men of Judah and the Babylonians who were with him at Mizpah.
25:26 At this, all the people from the least to the greatest, together with the army officers, fled to Egypt for fear of the Babylonians.
25:27 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the year Evil-Merodach became king of Babylon, he released Jehoiachin from prison on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month.
25:28 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon.
25:29 So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king’s table.
25:30 Day by day the king gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance as long as he lived.
25:1 In the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came, he and his whole army, against Jerusalem and encamped against it; and they built a siege wall against it all around.
25:2 So the city came under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
25:3 On the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine was so severe within the city that there was no food for the people of the land.
25:4 Then the city was breached, and all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king s garden, while the Chaldeans were all around the city; and the king went on the way toward the Arabah.
25:5 And the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and they overtook him in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.
25:6 And they seized the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they pronounced judgment upon him.
25:7 And they slaughtered Zedekiah s sons before his eyes then put out Zedekiah s eyes and bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon.
25:8 In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month (this was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon), Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, the servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.
25:9 And he burned the house of Jehovah and the king s house and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every large house he burned with fire.
25:10 And all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the bodyguard broke down the walls around Jerusalem.
25:11 And the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who deserted to the king of Babylon and the rest of the multitude, Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard carried away into exile.
25:12 But the captain of the bodyguard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and field workers.
25:13 And the Chaldeans broke in pieces the bronze pillars, which were in the house of Jehovah, and the bases and the bronze sea, which were in the house of Jehovah. And they carried their bronze to Babylon.
25:14 And they took away the pots and the shovels and the snuffers and the cups and all the bronze vessels with which they ministered.
25:15 And the captain of the bodyguard took away the firepans and the bowls: that which was of gold, for its gold, and that which was of silver, for its silver.
25:16 As for the two pillars, the one sea, and the bases which Solomon had made for the house of Jehovah, the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight.
25:17 The height of one pillar was eighteen cubits, and a bronze capital was upon it; and the height of the capital was three cubits; and a network and pomegranates were upon the capital all around, all of bronze; and the second pillar was like these with a network.
25:18 And the captain of the bodyguard took Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest and the three doorkeepers.
25:19 And from the city he took one eunuch, who was overseer of the men of war, and five men from the king s inner circle who were found in the city, and the scribe of the captain of the army, who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the city.
25:20 And Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon in Riblah.
25:21 And the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death in Riblah, in the land of Hamath; so Judah was carried away into exile out of its land.
25:22 And for the people who were left in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon left behind, he appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan over them.
25:23 And when all the captains of the forces, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, that is, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and Johanan the son of Kareah and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men.
25:24 And Gedaliah swore to them and their men and 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 will be well with you.
25:25 In the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama, of the royal seed, came with ten men with him; and they struck down Gedaliah and he died. And they did the same to the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah.
25:26 And all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces rose up and went to Egypt, for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.
25:27 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin the king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, Evil-merodach the king of Babylon, in the year that he became king, released Jehoiachin the king of Judah from prison.
25:28 And he spoke with him kindly and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon.
25:29 And Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes and ate his food in his presence continually all the days of his life.
25:30 And for his allowance, a continual allowance was given to him by the king, a portion for each day, all the days of his life.