2 Kings 25

New American Standard Bible

Nebuchadnezzar Besieges Jerusalem

25 ^(A)Now in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, ^(B)Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, camped against it, and ^(C)built a siege wall all around ^[a]it. ²So the city was under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. ³On the ninth day of the fourth month ^(D)the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. ⁴^(E)Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls that were beside ^(F)the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. And ^[b]they went by way of the Arabah. ⁵But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. ⁶Then ^(G)they captured the king and ^(H)brought him up to the king of Babylon at ^(I)Riblah, and he ^[c]passed sentence on him. ⁷And ^(J)they slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, then ^(K)put out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him with bronze shackles, and brought him to Babylon.

Jerusalem Burned and Plundered

⁸^(L)Now on the seventh day of the ^(M)fifth month, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguards, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. ⁹And ^(N)he burned the house of the Lord, ^(O)the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every great house he burned with fire. ¹⁰So all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the bodyguards ^(P)tore down the walls around Jerusalem. ¹¹Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguards, led into exile ^(Q)the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the ^[d]people. ¹²But the captain of the bodyguards left some of ^(R)the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and farmers.

¹³^(S)Now the Chaldeans smashed to pieces the bronze pillars which were in the house of the Lord, and the stands and ^(T)the bronze ^[e]Sea which were in the house of the Lord, and carried the ^[f]bronze to Babylon. ¹⁴^(U)And they took away the pots, the shovels, the ^[g]shears, the spoons, and all the bronze utensils ^[h]which were used in temple service. ¹⁵The captain of the bodyguards also took away the firepans and the basins, what was fine gold and what was fine silver. ¹⁶The two pillars, the one Sea, and the stands which Solomon had made for the house of the Lord—^[i]^(V)the bronze of all these articles was too heavy to weigh. ¹⁷^(W)The height of the one pillar was ^[j]eighteen cubits, and a bronze capital was on it; the height of the capital was ^[k]three cubits, with latticework and pomegranates on the capital all around, all of bronze. And the second pillar was like these, same features with latticework.

¹⁸Then the captain of the bodyguards took ^(X)Seraiah the chief priest and ^(Y)Zephaniah the second priest, with the three ^[l]doorkeepers. ¹⁹And from the city he took one official who was overseer of the men of war, and ^(Z)five ^[m]of the king’s advisers who were found in the city; and the ^[n]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. ²⁰Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguards took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at ^(AA)Riblah. ²¹Then the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. ^(AB)So Judah went into exile from its land.

Gedaliah Made Governor

²²Now as for the people who were left in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, he appointed ^(AC)Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan over them. ²³^(AD)When all the captains of the forces, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah governor, they came to Gedaliah at ^(AE)Mizpah, namely, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Johanan the son of Kareah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men. ²⁴And Gedaliah swore to them and their men and said to them, “Do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans; live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well for you.”

²⁵^(AF)But it happened in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal ^[o]family, came ^[p]with ten men and struck Gedaliah down so that he died along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. ²⁶^(AG)Then all the people, from the small to the great, and the captains of the forces set out and came to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

²⁷^(AH)Now it came about in the thirty-seventh year of ^(AI)the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he became king, ^[q]^(AJ)released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison; ²⁸and he ^(AK)spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon. ²⁹So ^[r]Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes, and ^[s]^(AL)had his meals in ^[t]the king’s presence regularly all the days of his life; ³⁰and as his ^(AM)allowance, a regular allowance was given to him by the king, a portion for each day, all the days of his life.

Footnotes

2 Kings 25:1 Lit against it
2 Kings 25:4 As in some mss and ancient versions; MT he
2 Kings 25:6 Lit spoke judgment with him
2 Kings 25:11 Lit multitude
2 Kings 25:13 I.e., a very large basin
2 Kings 25:13 Lit bronze of them
2 Kings 25:14 I.e., wick trimmers
2 Kings 25:14 Lit with which they served
2 Kings 25:16 Lit there was no weight for the bronze of
2 Kings 25:17 About 27 ft. or 8 m
2 Kings 25:17 About 4.5 ft. or 1.3 m
2 Kings 25:18 Lit keepers of the threshold
2 Kings 25:19 Lit men of those seeing the king’s face
2 Kings 25:19 Or scribe, a captain
2 Kings 25:25 Lit seed
2 Kings 25:25 Lit and ten men with him
2 Kings 25:27 Lit raised the head of
2 Kings 25:29 Lit he
2 Kings 25:29 Lit ate bread
2 Kings 25:29 Lit his presence

'Druga knjiga o kraljevima 25 ' not found for the version: Hrvatski Novi Zavjet – Rijeka 2001.

2 Rois 25

Louis Segond

25 La neuvième année du règne de Sédécias, le dixième jour du dixième mois, Nebucadnetsar, roi de Babylone, vint avec toute son armée contre Jérusalem; il campa devant elle, et éleva des retranchements tout autour.

²La ville fut assiégée jusqu'à la onzième année du roi Sédécias.

³Le neuvième jour du mois, la famine était forte dans la ville, et il n'y avait pas de pain pour le peuple du pays.

⁴Alors la brèche fut faite à la ville; et tous les gens de guerre s'enfuirent de nuit par le chemin de la porte entre les deux murs près du jardin du roi, pendant que les Chaldéens environnaient la ville. Les fuyards prirent le chemin de la plaine.

⁵Mais l'armée des Chaldéens poursuivit le roi et l'atteignit dans les plaines de Jéricho, et toute son armée se dispersa loin de lui.

⁶Ils saisirent le roi, et le firent monter vers le roi de Babylone à Ribla; et l'on prononça contre lui une sentence.

⁷Les fils de Sédécias furent égorgés en sa présence; puis on creva les yeux à Sédécias, on le lia avec des chaînes d'airain, et on le mena à Babylone.

⁸Le septième jour du cinquième mois, -c'était la dix-neuvième année du règne de Nebucadnetsar, roi de Babylone, -Nebuzaradan, chef des gardes, serviteur du roi de Babylone, entra dans Jérusalem.

⁹Il brûla la maison de l'Éternel, la maison du roi, et toutes les maisons de Jérusalem; il livra au feu toutes les maisons de quelque importance.

¹⁰Toute l'armée des Chaldéens, qui était avec le chef des gardes, démolit les murailles formant l'enceinte de Jérusalem.

¹¹Nebuzaradan, chef des gardes, emmena captifs ceux du peuple qui étaient demeurés dans la ville, ceux qui s'étaient rendus au roi de Babylone, et le reste de la multitude.

¹²Cependant le chef des gardes laissa comme vignerons et comme laboureurs quelques-uns des plus pauvres du pays.

¹³Les Chaldéens brisèrent les colonnes d'airain qui étaient dans la maison de l'Éternel, les bases, la mer d'airain qui était dans la maison de l'Éternel, et ils en emportèrent l'airain à Babylone.

¹⁴Ils prirent les cendriers, les pelles, les couteaux, les tasses, et tous les ustensiles d'airain avec lesquels on faisait le service.

¹⁵Le chef des gardes prit encore les brasiers et les coupes, ce qui était d'or et ce qui était d'argent.

¹⁶Les deux colonnes, la mer, et les bases, que Salomon avait faites pour la maison de l'Éternel, tous ces ustensiles d'airain avaient un poids inconnu.

¹⁷La hauteur d'une colonne était de dix-huit coudées, et il y avait au-dessus un chapiteau d'airain dont la hauteur était de trois coudées; autour du chapiteau il y avait un treillis et des grenades, le tout d'airain; il en était de même pour la seconde colonne avec le treillis.

¹⁸Le chef des gardes prit Seraja, le souverain sacrificateur, Sophonie, le second sacrificateur, et les trois gardiens du seuil.

¹⁹Et dans la ville il prit un eunuque qui avait sous son commandement les gens de guerre, cinq hommes qui faisaient partie des conseillers du roi et qui furent trouvés dans la ville, le secrétaire du chef de l'armée qui était chargé d'enrôler le peuple du pays, et soixante hommes du peuple du pays qui se trouvèrent dans la ville.

²⁰Nebuzaradan, chef des gardes, les prit, et les conduisit vers le roi de Babylone à Ribla.

²¹Le roi de Babylone les frappa et les fit mourir à Ribla, dans le pays de Hamath.

²²Ainsi Juda fut emmené captif loin de son pays. Et Nebucadnetsar, roi de Babylone, plaça le reste du peuple, qu'il laissa dans le pays de Juda, sous le commandement de Guedalia, fils d'Achikam, fils de Schaphan.

²³Lorsque tous les chefs des troupes eurent appris, eux et leurs hommes, que le roi de Babylone avait établi Guedalia pour gouverneur, ils se rendirent auprès de Guedalia à Mitspa, savoir Ismaël, fils de Nethania, Jochanan, fils de Karéach, Seraja, fils de Thanhumeth, de Nethopha, et Jaazania, fils du Maacathien, eux et leurs hommes.

²⁴Guedalia leur jura, à eux et à leurs hommes, et leur dit: Ne craignez rien de la part des serviteurs des Chaldéens; demeurez dans le pays, servez le roi de Babylone, et vous vous en trouverez bien.

²⁵Mais au septième mois, Ismaël, fils de Nethania, fils d'Élischama, de la race royale, vint, accompagné de dix hommes, et ils frappèrent mortellement Guedalia, ainsi que les Juifs et les Chaldéens qui étaient avec lui à Mitspa.

²⁶Alors tout le peuple, depuis le plus petit jusqu'au plus grand, et les chefs des troupes, se levèrent et s'en allèrent en Égypte, parce qu'ils avaient peur des Chaldéens.

²⁷La trente-septième année de la captivité de Jojakin, roi de Juda, le vingt-septième jour du douzième mois, Évil Merodac, roi de Babylone, dans la première année de son règne, releva la tête de Jojakin, roi de Juda, et le tira de prison.

²⁸Il lui parla avec bonté, et il mit son trône au-dessus du trône des rois qui étaient avec lui à Babylone.

²⁹Il lui fit changer ses vêtements de prison, et Jojakin mangea toujours à sa table tout le temps de sa vie.

³⁰Le roi pourvut constamment à son entretien journalier tout le temps de sa vie.

2 Kings 25

New Catholic Bible

Chapter 25

¹It was during the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, that Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and all his army came up against Jerusalem. He camped and made siege-works all around it.^[a] ²The city was under siege until the eleventh year of the reign of King Zedekiah. ³By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe that there was no food left for the people of the land.

⁴There was a breach in the city wall, and all of the warriors fled at night by way of the gate between the two walls by the king’s garden, even though the Chaldeans surrounded the city. They went toward the Arabah.

⁵The Chaldean army chased after them and caught up with the king in the plains of Jericho, scattering his entire army. ⁶They captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon who was at Riblah where he pronounced his judgment. ⁷They killed Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes, and then they put out his eyes, bound him in brass fetters, and carried him off to Babylon.

Destruction of Jerusalem. ⁸On the seventh day of the fifth month of the ninth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard and a servant of the king of Babylon, came up to Jerusalem. ⁹He burned down the temple of the Lord, the royal palace, all of the buildings of Jerusalem. He burned down every large building. ¹⁰All of the Chaldean army that was with the captain of the guard broke down all of the walls surrounding Jerusalem. ¹¹Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried off the rest of the people who remained in the city, those who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude.

¹²But the captain of the guard left the poorest of the people who were to be vinedressers and herdsmen.

¹³The Chaldeans broke into pieces the bronze pillars in the temple of the Lord and the bronze sea and its base in the temple of the Lord. They carried the bronze off to Babylon. ¹⁴They took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the spoons, and all of the bronze vessels that were used for ministry there. ¹⁵The captain of the guard also took away the censers and the bowls, and everything that was made with gold or silver. ¹⁶One could not even measure the weight of the bronze from all these things: the two pillars, the sea, and its base that were made by Solomon for the temple of the Lord. ¹⁷Each bronze pillar with its capital was eighteen cubits tall. The capital was three cubits high, along with a bronze network and pomegranates upon the capital. The other pillar was identical with its network.

¹⁸The captain of the guard took away Seraiah, the chief priest, Zephaniah, the second priest, as well as three of the doormen. ¹⁹He also took the officer who was in charge of the fighting men out of the city as well as five of the king’s advisors who were caught in the city. He took the scribe assigned to the leader of the army, the one who would muster the people of the land. He also took sixty of the people of the land who were found in the city.

²⁰Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon in Riblah. ²¹The king of Babylon struck them down and killed them in Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus, Judah was carried away from their land into exile.

²²Gedaliah Governs Judah.^[b] As for the rest of the people who had remained in the land of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, appointed Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, over them.

²³When all of the captains of the army (they and their men) heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, they came to Gedaliah in Mizpah. They were Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, Johanan, the son of Kareah, Seraiah, the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah, the son of the Maachathite, and their men.

²⁴Gedaliah swore to them and to their men, saying to them, “Do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and everything will be all right with you.”

²⁵But during the seventh month, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, a member of the royal family, came with ten men and struck down Gedaliah. He died along with the Jews and Chaldeans who were with him in Mizpah.

²⁶All of the people then rose up, the small and the great, and the captains of the army, and they went to Egypt because they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

²⁷Jehoiachin’s Release from Prison.^[c] In the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month, Evil-merodach who had become king that year, released Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, from prison. ²⁸He spoke kindly to him and he set him upon his throne which was above the thrones of the kings who were with him in Babylon. ²⁹He changed his prison clothes, and he ate his meals with him for the rest of his life. ³⁰He was given a regular allowance from the king, a portion for each day of the rest of his life.

Footnotes

2 Kings 25:1 For the third time, the Babylonian army invaded Judah, destroying the temple and taking the people captive. Judah, like Israel, was unfaithful to God, who gave them many opportunities to turn back to him.
2 Kings 25:22 These painful incidents are told in detail in Jeremiah (Jer 40–42). Judah is now like “a desert that no one can cross” (Jer 9:12), since Babylonia does not introduce new inhabitants as Assyria had done in the case of Israel. But the wintry silence is preparing for the germination of new seed. This will produce a new people, one that has the law written in its heart and that will come to rebuild these ruins (Jer 31:33).
2 Kings 25:27 Evil-merodach succeeds his father, Nebuchadnezzar, in 561 B.C. and being a more humane man, takes pity on Jehoiachin, who has been in prison since 597 B.C. His treatment of the vassal king has been brilliantly confirmed by discoveries in 1940 that mention “Jaukinu, king of the land of Judah” as among those who receive supplies from the king’s treasury.