Fall and Captivity of Judah

25 ^(A)And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, ^(B)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem and laid siege to it. ^(C)And they built siegeworks all around it. ² So the city was besieged till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. ³ On 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 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 ^(E)the king's garden, and ^(F)the Chaldeans were around the city. And they went in the direction of the ^(G)Arabah. 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 ^(H)and brought him up to the king of Babylon at ^(I)Riblah, and they passed sentence on him. ⁷ They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, ^(J)and put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains and took him to Babylon.

^8 (K)In the fifth month, on ^(L)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. ^9 (M)And he burned the house of the Lord ^(N)and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down. ¹⁰ And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, ^(O)broke down the walls around Jerusalem. ^11 (P)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. ¹² But the captain of the guard left ^(Q)some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.

^13 (R)And the pillars ^(S)of bronze that were in the house of the Lord, and ^(T)the stands and ^(U)the bronze sea that were in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried the bronze to Babylon. ^14 (V)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, 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, ^(W)the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight. ^17 (X)The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits,^[a] 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.

^18 (Y)And the captain of the guard took ^(Z)Seraiah the chief priest and ^(AA)Zephaniah the second priest and the three keepers of the threshold; ¹⁹ and from the city he took an officer who had been in command of the men of war, and ^(AB)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. ²⁰ And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at ^(AC)Riblah. ²¹ And the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at ^(AD)Riblah in the land of Hamath. ^(AE)So Judah was taken into exile out of its land.

The Exiles Return

2 ^(A)Now these were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles ^(B)whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried captive to Babylonia. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town. ² They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, ^(C)Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah.

The number of the men of the people of Israel: ^3 (D)the sons of Parosh, 2,172. ⁴ The sons of Shephatiah, 372. ⁵ The sons of Arah, 775. ⁶ The sons of Pahath-moab, namely the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,812. ⁷ The sons of Elam, 1,254. ⁸ The sons of Zattu, 945. ⁹ The sons of Zaccai, 760. ¹⁰ The sons of Bani, 642. ¹¹ The sons of Bebai, 623. ¹² The sons of Azgad, 1,222. ¹³ The sons of Adonikam, 666. ¹⁴ The sons of Bigvai, 2,056. ¹⁵ The sons of Adin, 454. ¹⁶ The sons of Ater, namely of Hezekiah, 98. ¹⁷ The sons of Bezai, 323. ¹⁸ The sons of Jorah, 112. ¹⁹ The sons of Hashum, 223. ²⁰ The sons of Gibbar, 95. ²¹ The sons of Bethlehem, 123. ²² The men of Netophah, 56. ²³ The men of Anathoth, 128. ²⁴ The sons of Azmaveth, 42. ²⁵ The sons of Kiriath-arim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743. ²⁶ The sons of Ramah and Geba, 621. ²⁷ The men of Michmas, 122. ²⁸ The men of Bethel and Ai, 223. ²⁹ The sons of Nebo, 52. ³⁰ The sons of Magbish, 156. ³¹ The sons of ^(E)the other Elam, 1,254. ³² The sons of Harim, 320. ³³ The sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 725. ³⁴ The sons of Jericho, 345. ³⁵ The sons of Senaah, 3,630.

³⁶ The priests: the ^(F)sons of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, 973. ³⁷ The sons of Immer, 1,052. ³⁸ The ^(G)sons of Pashhur, 1,247. ³⁹ The sons of Harim, 1,017.

⁴⁰ The Levites: the sons of ^(H)Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the sons of Hodaviah, 74. ⁴¹ The singers: the sons of ^(I)Asaph, 128. ⁴² The sons of the ^(J)gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, and the sons of Shobai, in all 139.

^43 (K)The temple servants: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth, ⁴⁴ the sons of Keros, the sons of Siaha, the sons of Padon, ⁴⁵ the sons of Lebanah, the sons of Hagabah, the sons of Akkub, ⁴⁶ the sons of Hagab, the sons of Shamlai, the sons of Hanan, ⁴⁷ the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, the sons of Reaiah, ⁴⁸ the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda, the sons of Gazzam, ⁴⁹ the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, the sons of Besai, ⁵⁰ the sons of Asnah, the sons of Meunim, the sons of Nephisim, ⁵¹ the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur, ⁵² the sons of Bazluth, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha, ⁵³ the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah, ⁵⁴ the sons of Neziah, and the sons of Hatipha.

^55 (L)The sons of Solomon's servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Hassophereth, the sons of Peruda, ⁵⁶ the sons of Jaalah, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel, ⁵⁷ the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim, and the sons of Ami.

⁵⁸ All the temple servants and the sons of Solomon's servants were 392.

⁵⁹ The following were those who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, ^(M)though they could not prove their fathers' houses or their descent, whether they belonged to Israel: ⁶⁰ the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, and the sons of Nekoda, 652. ⁶¹ Also, of the sons of the priests: the sons of Habaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, and the sons of ^(N)Barzillai (who had taken a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called by their name). ⁶² These sought their registration among those enrolled in the genealogies, but they were not found there, and ^(O)so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. ⁶³ The ^(P)governor told them that they were not ^(Q)to partake of the most holy food, until there should be a priest to consult ^(R)Urim and Thummim.

^64 (S)The whole assembly together was 42,360, ⁶⁵ besides their male and female servants, of whom there were 7,337, and they had 200 male and female ^(T)singers. ⁶⁶ Their horses were 736, their mules were 245, ⁶⁷ their camels were 435, and their donkeys were 6,720.

^68 (U)Some of the heads of families, when they came to the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem, made freewill offerings for the house of God, to erect it on its site. ⁶⁹ According to their ability they gave to ^(V)the treasury of the work 61,000 darics^[a] of gold, 5,000 minas^[b] of silver, and 100 priests' garments.

^70 (W)Now the priests, the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants lived in their towns, and all the rest of Israel^[c] in their towns.