2 Kings 25:3 | New International Reader’s Version

New International Reader’s Version

1 Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon. He marched out against Jerusalem. His whole army went with him. It was in the ninth year of the rule of Zedekiah. It was on the tenth day of the tenth month. Nebuchadnezzar set up camp outside the city. He brought in war machines all around it. 2 It was surrounded until the 11th year of King Zedekiah’s rule. 3 By the ninth day of the fourth month, there wasn’t any food left in the city. So the people didn’t have anything to eat. 4 Then the Babylonians broke through the city wall. Judah’s whole army ran away at night. They went out through the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden. They escaped even though the Babylonians surrounded the city. Judah’s army ran towards the Arabah Valley. 5 But the Babylonian army chased King Zedekiah. They caught up with him in the plains near Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him. They had scattered in every direction. 6 The king was captured. He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah. That’s where Nebuchadnezzar decided how he would be punished. 7 Nebuchadnezzar’s men killed the sons of Zedekiah. They forced him to watch it with his own eyes. Then they poked out his eyes. They put him in bronze chains. And they took him to Babylon. 8 Nebuzaradan was an official of the king of Babylon. In fact, he was commander of the royal guard. He came to Jerusalem. It was in the 19th year that Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon. It was on the seventh day of the fifth month. 9 Nebuzaradan set the LORD’s temple on fire. He also set fire to the royal palace and all the houses in Jerusalem. He burned down every important building. 10 The whole Babylonian army broke down the walls around Jerusalem. That’s what the commander told them to do. 11 Some people still remained in the city. But Nebuzaradan the commander took them away as prisoners. He also took the rest of the people of the land. That included those who had joined the king of Babylon. 12 But the commander left behind some of the poorest people of the land. He told them to work in the vineyards and fields. 13 The Babylonian army destroyed the LORD’s temple. They broke the bronze pillars into pieces. They broke up the bronze stands that could be moved around. And they broke up the huge bronze bowl. Then they carried the bronze away to Babylon. 14 They also took away the pots, shovels, wick cutters and dishes. They took away all the bronze objects used for any purpose in the temple. 15 The commander of the royal guard took away the shallow cups for burning incense. He took away the sprinkling bowls. So he took away everything made out of pure gold or silver. 16 The bronze was more than anyone could weigh. It included the bronze from the two pillars, the huge bowl and the stands. Solomon had made all those things for the LORD’s temple. 17 Each pillar was 9 metres high. The bronze top of one pillar was 1.5 metres high. It was decorated with a set of bronze chains and pomegranates all around it. The other pillar was just like it. It also had a set of chains. 18 The commander of the guard took some prisoners. They included Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the priest who was next in rank. They also included the three men who guarded the temple doors. 19 Some people were still left in the city. The commander took as a prisoner the officer who was in charge of the fighting men. He took the five men who gave advice to the king. He also took the secretary. He was the chief officer in charge of getting the people of the land to serve in the army. And he took 60 of those people serving in the army who were still in the city. 20 Nebuzaradan the commander took all of them away. He brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21 There the king had them put to death. Riblah was in the land of Hamath. So the people of Judah were taken as prisoners. They were taken far away from their own land. 22 Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had left some people behind in Judah. He appointed Gedaliah to govern them. Gedaliah was the son of Ahikam. Ahikam was the son of Shaphan. 23 All of Judah’s army officers and their men heard about what had happened. They heard that the king had appointed Gedaliah as governor. So they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, came. So did Johanan, the son of Kareah. Seraiah, the son of Tanhumeth, also came. And so did Jaazaniah, the son of the Maakathite. All their men came too. Seraiah was from Netophah. 24 Gedaliah promised to help them and their men. He spoke in a kind way to them. He said, ‘Don’t be afraid of the Babylonian officials. Make your homes in the land of Judah. Serve the king of Babylon. Then things will go well with you.’ 25 But in the seventh month Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, came with ten men. He killed Gedaliah. He also killed the people of Judah and the Babylonians who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah. Nethaniah was the son of Elishama. Ishmael was a member of the royal family. 26 After he had killed Gedaliah, all the people ran away to Egypt. Everyone from the least important of them to the most important ran away. The army officers went with them. All of them went to Egypt because they were afraid of the Babylonians.

Jehoiachin is set free

27 Awel-Marduk set Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, free from prison. It was in the 37th year after Jehoiachin had been taken away to Babylon. It was also the year Awel-Marduk became king of Babylon. It was on the 27th day of the 12th month. 28 Awel-Marduk spoke kindly to Jehoiachin. He gave him a place of honour. Other kings were with Jehoiachin in Babylon. But his place was more important than theirs. 29 So Jehoiachin put his prison clothes away. For the rest of Jehoiachin’s life the king provided what he needed. 30 The king did that for Jehoiachin day by day as long as he lived.

English Standard Version

Fall and Captivity of Judah

1 And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem and laid siege to it. And they built siegeworks all around it. (2Ch 36:17; Jer 34:1; Jer 39:1; Jer 52:4; Eze 21:22; Eze 24:2; Eze 26:8)

2Ch 36:17Jer 34:1Jer 39:1Jer 52:4Eze 21:22Eze 24:2Eze 26:8

2 So the city was besieged till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 3 On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. (La 4:9) 4 Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, by the king’s garden, and the Chaldeans were around the city. And they went in the direction of the Arabah. (De 1:1; 2Ki 24:2; Ne 3:15) 5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. 6 Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they passed sentence on him. (2Ki 23:33; Jer 32:4) 7 They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains and took him to Babylon. (Eze 12:13) 8 In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month—that was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. (Jer 39:8; Jer 52:12) 9 And he burned the house of the Lord and the king’s house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down. (2Ch 36:19; Ps 79:1; Ho 8:14; Am 2:5)

2Ch 36:19Ps 79:1Ho 8:14Am 2:5

10 And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem. (Ne 1:3) 11 And the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the multitude, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile. (2Ch 36:20) 12 But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen. (2Ki 24:14; Jer 40:7) 13 And the pillars of bronze that were in the house of the Lord, and the stands and the bronze sea that were in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried the bronze to Babylon. (1Ki 7:15; 1Ki 7:23; 1Ki 7:27; 2Ch 36:18; Jer 27:19; Jer 27:22; Jer 52:17)

1Ki 7:151Ki 7:231Ki 7:272Ch 36:18Jer 27:19Jer 27:22Jer 52:17

14 And they took away the pots and the shovels and the snuffers and the dishes for incense and all the vessels of bronze used in the temple service, (Ex 27:3; 1Ki 7:45; 1Ki 7:50) 15 the fire pans also and the bowls. What was of gold the captain of the guard took away as gold, and what was of silver, as silver. 16 As for the two pillars, the one sea, and the stands that Solomon had made for the house of the Lord, the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight. (1Ki 7:47) 17 The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits,^[1] and on it was a capital of bronze. The height of the capital was three cubits. A latticework and pomegranates, all of bronze, were all around the capital. And the second pillar had the same, with the latticework. (1Ki 7:15; 2Ch 3:15) 18 And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest and the three keepers of the threshold; (1Ch 6:14; Ezr 7:1; Jer 21:1; Jer 29:25; Jer 37:3; Jer 52:24)

1Ch 6:14Ezr 7:1Jer 21:1Jer 29:25Jer 37:3Jer 52:24

19 and from the city he took an officer who had been in command of the men of war, and five men of the king’s council who were found in the city; and the secretary of the commander 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. (Es 1:14; Jer 52:25) 20 And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. (2Ki 23:33) 21 And the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was taken into exile out of its land. (Le 26:33; De 28:64; 2Ki 23:27; 2Ki 25:20)

Le 26:33De 28:642Ki 23:272Ki 25:20

Gedaliah Made Governor of Judah

22 And over the people who remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, he appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, governor. (2Ki 22:12; Jer 39:14; Jer 40:5) 23 Now when all the captains and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah governor, they came with their men to Gedaliah at Mizpah, namely, 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. (Jos 18:26; Jer 40:7) 24 And Gedaliah swore to them and their men, saying, “Do not be afraid because of the Chaldean officials. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.” 25 But in the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with ten men and struck down Gedaliah and put him to death along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. (Jer 40:14; Jer 41:1) 26 Then all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces arose and went to Egypt, for they were afraid of the Chaldeans. (Jer 43:4)

Jehoiachin Released from Prison

27 And in the thirty-seventh year of the exile 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 that he began to reign, graciously freed^[2] Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. (Ge 40:13; Ge 40:20; 2Ki 24:12; 2Ki 24:15; Jer 52:31)

Ge 40:13Ge 40:202Ki 24:122Ki 24:15Jer 52:31

28 And he spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat above the seats of the kings who were with him in Babylon. 29 So Jehoiachin put off his prison garments. And every day of his life he dined regularly at the king’s table, (2Sa 9:7; 2Sa 9:13) 30 and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, according to his daily needs, as long as he lived.