Passage Resources Hebrew/Greek Your Content
Previous Next
Add parallel Print Page Options
Close NLT

2 Kings 25
New Living Translation

25 So on January 15,[a] during the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon led his entire army against Jerusalem. They surrounded the city and built siege ramps against its walls. 2 Jerusalem was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah’s reign.

3 By July 18 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign,[b] the famine in the city had become very severe, and the last of the food was entirely gone. 4 Then a section of the city wall was broken down. Since the city was surrounded by the Babylonians,[c] the soldiers waited for nightfall and escaped[d] through the gate between the two walls behind the king’s garden. Then they headed toward the Jordan Valley.[e]

5 But the Babylonian[f] troops chased the king and overtook him on the plains of Jericho, for his men had all deserted him and scattered. 6 They captured the king and took him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where they pronounced judgment upon Zedekiah. 7 They made Zedekiah watch as they slaughtered his sons. Then they gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him in bronze chains, and led him away to Babylon.

The Temple Destroyed

8 On August 14 of that year,[g] which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard and an official of the Babylonian king, arrived in Jerusalem. 9 He burned down the Temple of the Lord, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He destroyed all the important buildings[h] in the city. 10 Then he supervised the entire Babylonian army as they tore down the walls of Jerusalem on every side. 11 Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took as exiles the rest of the people who remained in the city, the defectors who had declared their allegiance to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the population. 12 But the captain of the guard allowed some of the poorest people to stay behind to care for the vineyards and fields.

13 The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars in front of the Lord’s Temple, the bronze water carts, and the great bronze basin called the Sea, and they carried all the bronze away to Babylon. 14 They also took all the ash buckets, shovels, lamp snuffers, ladles, and all the other bronze articles used for making sacrifices at the Temple. 15 The captain of the guard also took the incense burners and basins, and all the other articles made of pure gold or silver.

16 The weight of the bronze from the two pillars, the Sea, and the water carts was too great to be measured. These things had been made for the Lord’s Temple in the days of Solomon. 17 Each of the pillars was 27 feet[i] tall. The bronze capital on top of each pillar was 7 1⁄2 feet[j] high and was decorated with a network of bronze pomegranates all the way around.

18 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took with him as prisoners Seraiah the high priest, Zephaniah the priest of the second rank, and the three chief gatekeepers. 19 And from among the people still hiding in the city, he took an officer who had been in charge of the Judean army; five of the king’s personal advisers; the army commander’s chief secretary, who was in charge of recruitment; and sixty other citizens. 20 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took them all to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21 And there at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon had them all put to death. So the people of Judah were sent into exile from their land.

Gedaliah Governs in Judah

22 Then King Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan as governor over the people he had left in Judah. 23 When all the army commanders and their men learned that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor, they went to see him at Mizpah. These included Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, Jezaniah[k] son of the Maacathite, and all their men.

24 Gedaliah vowed to them that the Babylonian officials meant them no harm. “Don’t be afraid of them. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and all will go well for you,” he promised.

25 But in midautumn of that year,[l] Ishmael son of Nethaniah and grandson of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family, went to Mizpah with ten men and killed Gedaliah. He also killed all the Judeans and Babylonians who were with him at Mizpah.

26 Then all the people of Judah, from the least to the greatest, as well as the army commanders, fled in panic to Egypt, for they were afraid of what the Babylonians would do to them.

Hope for Israel’s Royal Line

27 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, Evil-merodach ascended to the Babylonian throne. He was kind to[m] Jehoiachin and released him[n] from prison on April 2 of that year.[o] 28 He spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and gave him a higher place than all the other exiled kings in Babylon. 29 He supplied Jehoiachin with new clothes to replace his prison garb and allowed him to dine in the king’s presence for the rest of his life. 30 So the king gave him a regular food allowance as long as he lived.

Footnotes

  1. 25:1 Hebrew on the tenth day of the tenth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. A number of events in 2 Kings can be cross-checked with dates in surviving Babylonian records and related accurately to our modern calendar. This day was January 15, 588 B.c.
  2. 25:3 Hebrew By the ninth day of the [fourth] month [in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign] (compare Jer 39:2; 52:6 and the notes there). This day was July 18, 586 B.c.; also see note on 25:1.
  3. 25:4a Or the Chaldeans; also in 25:13, 25, 26.
  4. 25:4b As in Greek version (see also Jer 39:4; 52:7); Hebrew lacks escaped.
  5. 25:4c Hebrew the Arabah.
  6. 25:5 Or Chaldean; also in 25:10, 24.
  7. 25:8 Hebrew On the seventh day of the fifth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This day was August 14, 586 B.c.; also see note on 25:1.
  8. 25:9 Or destroyed the houses of all the important people.
  9. 25:17a Hebrew 18 cubits [8.3 meters].
  10. 25:17b As in parallel texts at 1 Kgs 7:16, 2 Chr 3:15, and Jer 52:22, all of which read 5 cubits [2.3 meters]; Hebrew reads 3 cubits, which is 4.5 feet or 1.4 meters.
  11. 25:23 As in parallel text at Jer 40:8; Hebrew reads Jaazaniah, a variant spelling of Jezaniah.
  12. 25:25 Hebrew in the seventh month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This month occurred within the months of October and November 586 B.c.; also see note on 25:1.
  13. 25:27a Hebrew He raised the head of.
  14. 25:27b As in some Hebrew manuscripts and Greek and Syriac versions (see also Jer 52:31); Masoretic Text lacks released him.
  15. 25:27c Hebrew on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This day was April 2, 561 B.c.; also see note on 25:1.
Close NET

2 Kings 25
New English Translation

25 1 So King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Jerusalem with his whole army and set up camp outside[a] it. They built siege ramps all around it. He arrived on the tenth day of the tenth month in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign.[b] 2 The city remained under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year. 3 By the ninth day of the fourth month[c] the famine in the city was so severe the residents[d] had no food. 4 The enemy broke through the city walls,[e] and all the soldiers tried to escape. They left the city during the night.[f] They went through the gate between the two walls, which is near the king’s garden.[g] (The Babylonians were all around the city.) Then they headed for the rift valley.[h] 5 But the Babylonian army chased after the king. They caught up with him in the rift valley plains of Jericho,[i] and his entire army deserted him. 6 They captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah,[j] where he[k] passed sentence on him. 7 Zedekiah’s sons were executed while Zedekiah was forced to watch.[l] The king of Babylon[m] then had Zedekiah’s eyes put out, bound him in bronze chains, and carried him off to Babylon.

Nebuchadnezzar Destroys Jerusalem

8 On the seventh[n] day of the fifth month,[o] in the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard,[p] who served the king of Babylon, arrived in Jerusalem. 9 He burned down the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem, including every large house.[q] 10 The whole Babylonian army that came with the captain of the royal guard tore down the walls that surrounded Jerusalem. 11 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, deported the rest of the people who were left in the city, those who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen.[r] 12 But he[s] left behind some of the poor of the land and gave them fields and vineyards.

13 The Babylonians broke the two bronze pillars in the Lord’s temple, as well as the movable stands and the big bronze basin called “The Sea.”[t] They took the bronze to Babylon. 14 They also took the pots, shovels,[u] trimming shears,[v] pans, and all the bronze utensils used by the priests.[w] 15 The captain of the royal guard took the golden and silver censers[x] and basins. 16 The bronze of the items that King Solomon made for the Lord’s temple—including the two pillars, the big bronze basin called “The Sea,” the twelve bronze bulls under “The Sea,”[y] and the movable stands—was too heavy to be weighed. 17 Each of the pillars was about twenty-seven feet[z] high. The bronze top of one pillar was about 4½ feet[aa] high and had bronze latticework and pomegranate-shaped ornaments all around it. The second pillar with its latticework was like it.

18 The captain of the royal guard took Seraiah, the chief priest, and Zephaniah, the priest who was second in rank, and the three doorkeepers. 19 From the city he took a eunuch who was in charge of the soldiers, five[ab] of the king’s advisers[ac] who were discovered in the city, an official army secretary who drafted citizens[ad] for military service, and sixty citizens from the people of the land who were discovered in the city. 20 Nebuzaradan, captain of the royal guard, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21 The king of Babylon ordered them to be executed[ae] at Riblah in the territory[af] of Hamath. So Judah was deported from its land.

Gedaliah Appointed Governor

22 Now King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, as governor over the people whom he allowed to remain in the land of Judah.[ag] 23 All the officers of the Judahite army[ah] and their troops heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah to govern. So they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. The officers who came were Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah son of the Maacathite. 24 Gedaliah took an oath so as to give them and their troops some assurance of safety.[ai] He said, “You don’t need to be afraid to submit to the Babylonian officials. Settle down in the land and submit to the king of Babylon. Then things will go well for you.” 25 But in the seventh month[aj] Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family,[ak] came with ten of his men and murdered Gedaliah,[al] as well as the Judeans and Babylonians who were with him at Mizpah. 26 Then all the people, from the youngest to the oldest, as well as the army officers, left for[am] Egypt, because they were afraid of what the Babylonians might do.

Jehoiachin in Babylon

27 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, on the twenty-seventh[an] day of the twelfth month,[ao] King Evil Merodach of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, pardoned[ap] King Jehoiachin of Judah and released him[aq] from prison. 28 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a more prestigious position than[ar] the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 29 Jehoiachin[as] took off his prison clothes and ate daily in the king’s presence for the rest of his life. 30 He was given daily provisions by the king for the rest of his life until the day he died.[at]

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 25:1 tn Or “against.”
  2. 2 Kings 25:1 sn This would have been Jan 15, 588 b.c. The reckoning is based on the calendar that begins the year in the spring (Nisan = March/April).
  3. 2 Kings 25:3 tn The MT has simply “of the month,” but the parallel passage in Jer 52:6 has “fourth month,” and this is followed by almost all English translations. The word “fourth,” however, is not actually present in the MT of 2 Kgs 25:3.sn According to modern reckoning that would have been July 18, 586 b.c. The siege thus lasted almost a full eighteen months.
  4. 2 Kings 25:3 tn Heb “the people of the land.”
  5. 2 Kings 25:4 tn Heb “the city was breached.”
  6. 2 Kings 25:4 tn The Hebrew text is abrupt here: “And all the men of war by the night.” The translation attempts to capture the sense.
  7. 2 Kings 25:4 sn The king’s garden is mentioned again in Neh 3:15 in conjunction with the pool of Siloam and the stairs that go down from the City of David. This would have been in the southern part of the city near the Tyropean Valley which agrees with the reference to the “two walls” which were probably the walls on the eastern and western hills.
  8. 2 Kings 25:4 sn The rift valley (עֲרָבָה, ʿarabah) extends northward of the Dead Sea past Galilee and southward to the Gulf of Aqaba. Here the southern part of the Jordan Valley is in view with the intention to escape across the Jordan river to Moab or Ammon. It appears from Jer 40:14; 41:15 that the Ammonites were known to harbor fugitives from the Babylonians.
  9. 2 Kings 25:5 sn The rift valley plains of Jericho refer to the parts of the Jordan Valley in the vicinity of Jericho (see HALOT 880 s.v. עֲרָבָה). There the terrain is fairly level and slopes gently down to the Jordan, a descent of about 450 feet over five miles. Many translations render this as “the plains of Jericho” (ESV, NASB, NIV, KJV). See the note at Num 22:1.
  10. 2 Kings 25:6 sn Riblah was a strategic town on the Orontes River in Syria. It was at a crossing of the major roads between Egypt and Mesopotamia. Pharaoh Necho had earlier received Jehoahaz there and put him in chains (2 Kgs 23:33) prior to taking him captive to Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar had set up his base camp for conducting his campaigns against the Palestinian states there and was now sitting in judgment on prisoners brought to him.
  11. 2 Kings 25:6 tn The Hebrew text has the plural form of the verb, but the parallel passage in Jer 52:9 has the singular.
  12. 2 Kings 25:7 tn Heb “were killed before his eyes.”
  13. 2 Kings 25:7 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king of Babylon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  14. 2 Kings 25:8 tn The parallel account in Jer 52:12 has “tenth.”
  15. 2 Kings 25:8 sn The seventh day of the month would have been August 14, 586 b.c. in modern reckoning.
  16. 2 Kings 25:8 tn For the meaning of this phrase see BDB 371 s.v. טַבָּח 2, and compare the usage in Gen 39:1.
  17. 2 Kings 25:9 tn Heb “and every large house he burned down with fire.”
  18. 2 Kings 25:11 tc The MT has “the multitude.” But הֶהָמוֹן (hehamon) should probably be emended to הֶאָמוֹן (heʾamon). See Jeremiah 52:15.
  19. 2 Kings 25:12 tn Heb “the captain of the royal guard.” However, the subject is clear from the preceding and contemporary English style would normally avoid repeating the proper name and title.
  20. 2 Kings 25:13 tn Heb “the bronze pillars that were in the Lord’s house and the stands and the bronze sea that were in the Lord’s house the Babylonians broke.”sn See the note at 1 Kgs 7:23.
  21. 2 Kings 25:14 sn These shovels were used to clean the altar.
  22. 2 Kings 25:14 sn These were used to trim the wicks.
  23. 2 Kings 25:14 tn Heb “with which they served [or, ‘fulfilled their duty’].”
  24. 2 Kings 25:15 sn These held the embers used for the incense offerings.
  25. 2 Kings 25:16 tc The MT lacks “the twelve bronze bulls under ‘the Sea,’” but these words have probably been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton. The scribe’s eye may have jumped from the וְהָ (veha) on וְהַבָּקָר (vehabbaqar), “and the bulls,” to the וְהָ on וְהַמְּכֹנוֹת (vehammekhonot), “and the movable stands,” causing him to leave out the intervening words. See the parallel passage in Jer 52:20.
  26. 2 Kings 25:17 tn Heb “18 cubits.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about 18 inches (45 cm) long.
  27. 2 Kings 25:17 tn Heb “3 cubits.” The parallel passage in Jer 52:22 has “five.”
  28. 2 Kings 25:19 tn The parallel passage in Jer 52:25 has “seven.”
  29. 2 Kings 25:19 tn Heb “five men seeing the king’s face.”
  30. 2 Kings 25:19 tn Heb “the people of the land.”
  31. 2 Kings 25:21 tn Heb “struck them down and killed them.”
  32. 2 Kings 25:21 tn Heb “land.”
  33. 2 Kings 25:22 tn Heb “And the people who were left in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon left, he appointed over them Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan.”
  34. 2 Kings 25:23 tn Heb “of the army.” The word “Judahite” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
  35. 2 Kings 25:24 tn The words “so as to give them…some assurance of safety” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
  36. 2 Kings 25:25 sn It is not altogether clear whether this is in the same year that Jerusalem fell or not. The wall was breached in the fourth month (= early July; Jer 39:2) and Nebuzaradan came and burned the palace, the temple, and many of the houses and tore down the wall in the fifth month (= early August; Jer 52:12). That would have left time between the fifth month and the seventh month (October) to gather in the harvest of grapes, dates and figs, and olives (Jer 40:12). However, many commentators feel that too much activity takes place in too short a time for this to have been in the same year and posit that it happened the following year or even five years later when a further deportation took place, possibly in retaliation for the murder of Gedaliah and the Babylonian garrison at Mizpah (Jer 52:30). The assassination of Gedaliah had momentous consequences and was commemorated in one of the post exilic fast days lamenting the fall of Jerusalem (Zech 8:19).
  37. 2 Kings 25:25 tn Heb “[was] from the seed of the kingdom.”
  38. 2 Kings 25:25 tn Heb “and they struck down Gedaliah and he died.”
  39. 2 Kings 25:26 tn Heb “arose and went to.”
  40. 2 Kings 25:27 sn The parallel account in Jer 52:31 has “twenty-fifth.”
  41. 2 Kings 25:27 sn The twenty-seventh day would be March 22, 561 b.c. in modern reckoning.
  42. 2 Kings 25:27 tn Heb “lifted up the head of.”
  43. 2 Kings 25:27 tn The words “released him” are supplied in the translation on the basis of Jer 52:31.
  44. 2 Kings 25:28 tn Heb “made his throne above the throne of.”
  45. 2 Kings 25:29 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehoiachin) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  46. 2 Kings 25:30 tc The words “until the day he died” do not appear in the MT, but they are included in the parallel passage in Jer 52:34. Probably they have been accidentally omitted by homoioteleuton. A scribe’s eye jumped from the final vav (ו) on בְּיוֹמוֹ (beyomo), “in his day,” to the final vav (ו) on מוֹתוֹ (moto), “his death,” leaving out the intervening words.
Next
2 Kings 24
1 Chronicles 1
Next
dropdown
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


New English Translation (NET)

NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.