2 Kings 24:18-25:21

Holman Christian Standard Bible

Judah’s King Zedekiah

¹⁸ Zedekiah^(A) was 21 years old when he became king^(B) and reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal^(C) daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah. ¹⁹ Zedekiah did what was evil in the Lord’s sight just as Jehoiakim had done.^{(D) 20} Because of the Lord’s anger,^(E) it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that He finally banished them from His presence.^(F) Then, Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.^(G)

Nebuchadnezzar’s Siege of Jerusalem

25 In the ninth year^(H) of Zedekiah’s reign,^(I) on the tenth day of the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem with his entire army.^(J) They laid siege to the city and built a siege wall against it all around.^{(K) 2} The city was under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year.

³ By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that the people of the land had no food.^{(L) 4} Then the city was broken into,^(M) and all the warriors fled^(N) by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden,^(O) even though the Chaldeans surrounded the city. As the king made his way along the route to the Arabah,^{(P) 5} the Chaldean army pursued him and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. Zedekiah’s entire army was scattered from him.^{(Q) 6} The Chaldeans seized the king^(R) and brought him up to the king of Babylon^(S) at Riblah,^(T) and they passed sentence on him. ⁷ They slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes. Finally, the king of Babylon blinded Zedekiah, bound him in bronze chains, and took him to Babylon.^(U)

Jerusalem Destroyed

⁸ On^(V) the seventh day of the fifth month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, a servant of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem.^{(W) 9} He burned the Lord’s temple,^(X) the king’s palace,^(Y) and all the houses of Jerusalem; he burned down^(Z) all the great houses. ¹⁰ The whole Chaldean army with the commander of the guards tore down the walls^(AA) surrounding Jerusalem. ¹¹ Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, deported the rest of the people who were left in the city, the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the population.^{(AB) 12} But the commander of the guards left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and farmers.^(AC)

¹³ Now^(AD) the Chaldeans broke into pieces the bronze pillars^(AE) of the Lord’s temple, the water carts, and the bronze reservoir,^(AF) which were in the Lord’s temple, and carried the bronze to Babylon.^{(AG) 14} They also took the pots, the shovels, the wick trimmers, the dishes, and all the bronze articles used in temple service.^{(AH) 15} The commander of the guards took away the firepans and the sprinkling basins—whatever was gold or silver.^(AI)

¹⁶ As for the two pillars, the one reservoir, and the water carts that Solomon had made for the Lord’s temple, the weight of the bronze of all these articles was beyond measure.^{(AJ) 17} One pillar was 27 feet^[a] tall and had a bronze capital on top of it. The capital, encircled by a grating and pomegranates of bronze, stood five feet^[b] high. The second pillar was the same, with its own grating.^(AK)

¹⁸ The commander of the guards^(AL) also took away Seraiah^(AM) the chief priest, Zephaniah^(AN) the priest of the second rank, and the three doorkeepers. ¹⁹ He took a court official who had been appointed over the warriors from the city; five trusted royal aides^[c](AO) found in the city; the secretary of the commander of the army, who enlisted the people of the land for military duty; and 60 men from the common people^[d] who were found within the city. ²⁰ Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.^{(AP) 21} The king of Babylon put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah went into exile from its land.^(AQ)