2 Kings 25
Expanded Bible
The Fall of Jerusalem(A)
25 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army during Zedekiah’s ninth year as king, on the tenth day of the tenth month [C January 15, 588 bc]. He made a camp around the city and ·piled dirt against the city walls to attack it [built siege walls all around it]. 2 The city was under ·attack [siege] until Zedekiah’s eleventh year as king. 3 By ·the ninth day of the fourth month [C July 18, 586 bc], the ·hunger [famine] was ·terrible [severe] in the city. There was no food for the people to eat. 4 Then the wall of the city was breached, and the whole army ran away at night through the gate between the two walls by the king’s garden. ·While [Though] the Babylonians were still surrounding the city, Zedekiah and his men ran away toward the ·Jordan Valley [L Arabah; C a plain near Jericho, east of Jerusalem]. 5 But the Babylonian army chased King Zedekiah and caught up with him in the plains of Jericho. All of his army ·was scattered from [deserted] him, 6 so they captured Zedekiah and took him to the king of Babylon at Riblah. There he passed sentence on Zedekiah. 7 They ·killed [slaughtered] Zedekiah’s sons as he watched. Then they ·put [gouged] out his eyes and put bronze ·chains [shackles] on him and took him to Babylon.
8 Nebuzaradan was the commander of the king’s special guards. This officer of the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem on ·the seventh day of the fifth month [C August 14, 586 bc], in Nebuchadnezzar’s nineteenth year as king of Babylon. 9 Nebuzaradan ·set fire to [burned down] the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord and the ·palace [L king’s house] and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building was burned.
10 The whole Babylonian army, led by the commander of the king’s special guards, ·broke down [demolished] the walls around Jerusalem. 11 Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, ·captured [carried into exile] the people left in Jerusalem, those who had ·surrendered [deserted] to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the people. 12 But the commander of the guard left behind some of the poorest people of the land to ·take care of [work] the vineyards and fields.
13 The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars, the bronze stands, and the large bronze ·bowl [basin] called the Sea [1 Kin. 7:23–45] in the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord. Then they carried the bronze to Babylon. 14 They also took the pots, shovels, ·wick trimmers [snuffers], dishes, and all the bronze objects used to serve in the ·Temple [L house]. 15 The commander of the king’s special guards took away the ·pans for carrying hot coals [censers], the ·bowls [basins], and everything made of ·pure [fine] gold or silver. 16 There were two pillars and the large bronze Sea and the ·movable stands [water carts] which Solomon had made for the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord. There was so much bronze that it could not be weighed. 17 Each pillar was ·about twenty-seven feet [L eighteen cubits; 1 Kin. 7:15–20] high. The bronze capital on top of the pillar was ·about four and one-half feet [L three cubits] high. It was decorated with a ·net design and [latticework/network of] bronze pomegranates all around it. The other pillar also had a ·net design [latticework; network] and was like the first pillar.
Judah Is Taken Prisoner(B)
18 The commander of the guards took some ·prisoners [captives]—Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest next in rank, and the three ·doorkeepers [gatekeepers]. 19 Of the people who were still in the city, he took the officer in charge of the ·fighting men [soldiers], as well as five advisors to the king. He took the royal secretary who ·selected [conscripted] people for the army and sixty other men who were in the city. 20 Nebuzaradan, the commander, took all these people and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21 There at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king had them killed. So the people of Judah were ·led away from their country as captives [sent into exile from their land].
Gedaliah Becomes Governor(C)
22 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon left some people in the land of Judah. He appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, as governor.
23 The army captains and their men heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, so they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. They were Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, Jaazaniah son of the Maacathite, and their men. 24 Then Gedaliah ·promised [vowed/swore to] these army captains and their men, “Don’t be afraid of the Babylonian ·officers [officials]. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and everything will go well for you.”
25 In ·the seventh month [mid-autumn] Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama from the king’s family, came with ten men and ·killed [assassinated; murdered] Gedaliah. They also killed the men of Judah and Babylon who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah. 26 Then all the people, ·from the least important to the most important [both great/high and small/low], along with the army leaders, ran away to Egypt, because they were afraid of the Babylonians.
Jehoiachin Is Set Free(D)
27 Jehoiachin king of Judah was ·held [exiled] in Babylon for thirty-seven years. In the thirty-seventh year Evil-Merodach became king of Babylon, and he let Jehoiachin out of prison on ·the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month [C April 2]. 28 Evil-Merodach spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and gave him a seat of honor above the seats of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 29 So Jehoiachin put ·away [aside] his prison clothes. For ·the rest [L all the days] of his life, he ate ·at [in] the king’s ·table [presence]. 30 Every day, for as long as Jehoiachin lived, the king gave him an allowance.
2 Kings 25
Darby Translation
25 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, [that] Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built turrets against it round about.
2 And the city was besieged until the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.
3 On the ninth of the [fourth] month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.
4 And the city was broken into; and all the men of war [fled] by night, by the way of the gate between the two walls, which [leads] to the king's garden (now the Chaldeans were by the city round about); and they went the way toward the plain.
5 And the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.
6 And they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon unto Riblah; and they pronounced judgment upon him,
7 and slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with chains of brass, and carried him to Babylon.
8 And in the fifth month, on the seventh of the month, which was in the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzar-adan, captain of the body-guard, servant of the king of Babylon, came unto Jerusalem;
9 and he burned the house of Jehovah, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; and every great [man's] house he burned with fire.
10 And all the army of the Chaldeans that were with the captain of the body-guard broke down the walls of Jerusalem round about.
11 And Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard carried away captive the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the deserters that had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude.
12 But the captain of the body-guard left of the poor of the land for vinedressers and husbandmen.
13 And the brazen pillars that were in the house of Jehovah, and the bases, and the brazen sea that was in the house of Jehovah, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and carried the brass thereof to Babylon.
14 The cauldrons also and the shovels and the knives and the cups, and all the vessels of copper wherewith they ministered, they took away.
15 And the censers and the bowls, that which was of gold in gold, and that which was of silver in silver, the captain of the body-guard took away.
16 The two pillars, the one sea, and the bases which Solomon had made for the house of Jehovah: for the brass of all these vessels there was no weight.
17 The height of one pillar was eighteen cubits, and the capital upon it was brass, and the height of the capital three cubits; and the network and the pomegranates, upon the capital round about, all of brass: and similarly for the second pillar with the network.
18 And the captain of the body-guard took Seraiah the high priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three doorkeepers.
19 And out of the city he took a chamberlain that was set over the men of war, and five men of them that were in the king's presence, who were found in the city, and the scribe of the captain of the host, who enrolled the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land that were found in the city.
20 And Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah;
21 and the king of Babylon smote them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive out of his land.
22 And [as for] the people that remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left behind, over them he appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan.
23 And all the captains of the forces, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, and they came to Gedaliah to 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 a Maachathite, they and their men.
24 And Gedaliah swore unto them and to their men, and said to them, Fear not to be servants of the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.
25 And it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal seed, came, and ten men with him, and smote Gedaliah, that he died, and the Jews and the Chaldeans that were with him at Mizpah.
26 And all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces, arose and came to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.
27 And it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh of the month, [that] Evil-Merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison;
28 and he spoke kindly to him, and set his seat above the seat of the kings that were with him in Babylon.
29 And he changed his prison garments; and he ate bread before him continually all the days of his life;
30 and his allowance was a continual allowance given him by the king, every day a portion, all the days of his life.
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