³⁵ And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there ^(A)I will plead My case with you face to face.

²⁷ Then the king of Babylon struck them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive from its own land.

^28 (A)These are the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive: ^(B)in the seventh year, ^(C)three thousand and twenty-three Jews; ^29 (D)in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred and thirty-two persons; ³⁰ in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred and forty-five persons. All the persons were four thousand six hundred.

Jehoiachin Released from Prison^(E)

^31 (F)Now it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, that ^[a]Evil-Merodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, ^(G)lifted^[b] up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison.

Joy in the Fellowship of God

A Psalm of David ^(A)when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

^12 (A)Then Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his servants, his princes, and his officers went out to the king of Babylon; and the king of Babylon, ^(B)in the eighth year of his reign, took him prisoner.

The Captivity of Jerusalem

^13 (C)And he carried out from there all the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house, and he ^(D)cut in pieces all the articles of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, ^(E)as the Lord had said. ¹⁴ Also ^(F)he carried into captivity all Jerusalem: all the captains and all the mighty men of valor, ^(G)ten thousand captives, and ^(H)all the craftsmen and smiths. None remained except ^(I)the poorest people of the land. ¹⁵ And ^(J)he carried Jehoiachin captive to Babylon. The king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officers, and the mighty of the land he carried into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. ^16 (K)All the valiant men, seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths, one thousand, all who were strong and fit for war, these the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.

^47 (A)“Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart, ^(B)for the abundance of everything, ⁴⁸ therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the Lord will send against you, in ^(C)hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything; and He ^(D)will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you.