²⁰ Because of the Lord’s anger,^(A) it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he finally banished them from his presence.^(B) Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.^(C)

Nebuchadnezzar’s Siege of Jerusalem

25 In the ninth year^(D) of Zedekiah’s reign,^(E) on the tenth day of the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem with his entire army.^(F) They laid siege to the city and built a siege wall against it all around.^{(G) 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 common people had no food.^{(H) 4} Then the city was broken into,^(I) and all the warriors fled^(J) at night by way of the city gate between the two walls near the king’s garden,^(K) even though the Chaldeans surrounded the city. As the king made his way along the route to the Arabah,^{(L) 5} the Chaldean army pursued him and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. Zedekiah’s entire army left him and scattered.^{(M) 6} The Chaldeans seized the king^(N) and brought him up to the king of Babylon^(O) at Riblah,^(P) 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.^(Q)