Jerusalem is Burned and the Temple Demolished

⁸ On the seventh^[a] day of the fifth month, which was during the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar’s reign as king of Babylon, captain of the guard Nebuzaradan, a servant of the king of Babylon, arrived in Jerusalem ⁹ and set fire to the Lord’s Temple, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He even incinerated the lavish^[b] homes. ¹⁰ The Chaldean army that accompanied the captain of the guard demolished the walls that surrounded Jerusalem. ¹¹ Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried the survivors of the people who remained in the city, those who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude into exile. ¹² However, the captain of the guard left some of the poor people of the land to work as vinedressers and farmers.

¹³ The Chaldeans also broke into pieces and carried back to Babylon the bronze pillars that stood in the Lord’s Temple, along with the stands and the bronze sea^[c] that used to be in the Lord’s Temple. ¹⁴ They also confiscated^[d] the pots, shovels, snuffers, spoons, and the rest of the bronze vessels that were used in ministry. ¹⁵ The captain of the guard also confiscated^[e] the fire pans, basins, and whatever had been crafted of pure gold and pure silver. ¹⁶ The bronze contained in the two pillars, the one sea, and the stands that Solomon had crafted for the Lord’s Temple could not be inventoried for weight. ¹⁷ The height of one of the pillars was eighteen cubits,^[f] and the capital on top of it was three cubits^[g] high.^[h] A latticework carved in the form of pomegranates encircled the capital, crafted completely out of brass. The second pillar was identical to the first.^[i]

Judah’s Leaders are Executed

¹⁸ The captain of the guard arrested Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, three temple officials,^{[j] 19} one overseer from the city who supervised the soldiers, five of the king’s advisors who had been discovered in the city, the scribe who served the army captain who mustered the army of the land, and 60 men of the land who were discovered in the city. ²⁰ Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took them to the king of Babylon at Riblah, ²¹ where the king of Babylon executed them in the land of Hamath. And so Judah was transported into exile from the land.

Gedaliah is Appointed Governor

²² Now as for the people who remained in the land of Judah whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had left behind, he appointed Ahikam’s son Gedaliah, the grandson of Shaphan, to rule. ²³ When all the captains of the armies, along with their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, these men visited Gedaliah at Mizpah: Nethaniah’s son Ishmael, Kareah’s son Johanan, Tanhumeth the Netophathite’s son Seraiah, and Jaazaniah, who was descended from the Maacathites. ²⁴ Gedaliah made this promise to them and to their men: “Don’t be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and things will go well with you.” ²⁵ Nevertheless, seven months later, Nethaniah’s son Ishmael, the grandson of Elishama from the royal family, came with ten men and attacked Gedaliah. As a result, he died along with the Jews and Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. ²⁶ Then all the people, including those who were insignificant and those who were important, fled with the captains of the armed forces to Egypt, because they were afraid of the Chaldeans.