¹⁵ in order that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. You will find in the book of the records and learn that this city is a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and that sedition was stirred up in it from of old. That was why this city was laid waste.

¹² be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are ^(A)finishing the walls and repairing the foundations.

⁶ And when they could not find them, ^(A)they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, ⁷ and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against ^(B)the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is ^(C)another king, Jesus.”

⁴ Then ^(A)the high officials and ^(B)the satraps ^(C)sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, ^(D)but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, ^(E)and no error or fault was found in him. ⁵ Then these men said, “We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.”

⁶ Then these ^(F)high officials and ^(G)satraps came by agreement^[a] to the king and said to him, “O ^(H)King Darius, live forever! ⁷ All the ^(I)high officials of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the ^(J)counselors and the governors are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an ^(K)injunction, that whoever makes petition to any god or man for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. ⁸ Now, O king, establish ^(L)the injunction and sign the document, so that it cannot be changed, according to ^(M)the law of ^(N)the Medes and the Persians, ^(O)which cannot be revoked.” ⁹ Therefore King Darius signed the document and ^(P)injunction.

¹⁰ When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where ^(Q)he had windows in his upper chamber open ^(R)toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees ^(S)three times a day and prayed and ^(T)gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously. ¹¹ Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and plea before his God. ¹² Then they ^(U)came near and said before the king, concerning the injunction, “O king! Did you not sign ^(V)an injunction, that anyone who makes petition to any god or man within thirty days except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?” The king answered and said, “The thing stands fast, according to the law of ^(W)the Medes and Persians, ^(X)which cannot be revoked.” ¹³ Then they answered and said before the king, ^(Y)“Daniel, who is one ^(Z)of the exiles ^(AA)from Judah, ^(AB)pays no attention to you, O king, or ^(AC)the injunction you have signed, but makes his petition ^(AD)three times a day.”

³ For because of the anger of the Lord it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he cast them out from his presence.

And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. ^4 (A)And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem, and laid siege to it. And they built siegeworks all around it. ⁵ So the city was besieged till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. ⁶ On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. ⁷ Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled and went out from the city by night by the way of a gate between the two walls, by the king's garden, and the Chaldeans were around the city. And they went in the direction of the Arabah. ⁸ But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. ⁹ Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he passed sentence on him. ¹⁰ The king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and also slaughtered all the officials of Judah at ^(B)Riblah. ^11 (C)He put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in chains, and the king of Babylon took him to Babylon, and put him in prison ^(D)till the day of his death.

The Temple Burned

^12 (E)In the fifth month, on ^(F)the tenth day of the month—that was ^(G)the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, who ^(H)served the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem. ¹³ And he burned the house of the Lord, and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down. ¹⁴ And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. ¹⁵ And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive some of the poorest of the people and the rest of the people who were left in the city and ^(I)the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the artisans. ¹⁶ But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.

¹⁷ And the ^(J)pillars of bronze that were in the house of the Lord, and the stands and the ^(K)bronze sea that were in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and ^(L)carried all the bronze to Babylon. ¹⁸ And they took away ^(M)the pots and the shovels and the snuffers and the basins and the dishes for incense and all the vessels of bronze used in the temple service; ^19 (N)also the small bowls and the fire pans and the basins and the pots and ^(O)the lampstands and ^(P)the dishes for incense ^(Q)and the bowls for drink offerings. What was of gold the captain of the guard took away as gold, and what was of silver, as silver. ²⁰ As for the two pillars, the one sea, ^(R)the twelve bronze bulls that were under the sea,^[a] and the stands, which Solomon the king had made for the house of the Lord, the bronze of all these things was beyond weight. ²¹ As for the pillars, the height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits,^{[b] (S)}its circumference was twelve cubits, and its thickness was four fingers, and it was hollow. ²² On it was a capital of bronze. The height of the one capital was ^(T)five cubits. A network and pomegranates, all of bronze, were around the capital. And the second pillar had the same, with pomegranates. ²³ There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; all the pomegranates were a hundred upon the network all around.

The People Exiled to Babylon

²⁴ And the captain of the guard took ^(U)Seraiah the chief priest, and ^(V)Zephaniah the second priest and the three keepers of the threshold; ²⁵ and from the city he took an officer who had been in command of the men of war, and ^(W)seven 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 midst of the city. ²⁶ And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at ^(X)Riblah. ²⁷ And the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at ^(Y)Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was taken into exile out of its land.

²⁸ This is the number of the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive: ^(Z)in the seventh year, 3,023 Judeans; ^29 (AA)in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem 832 persons; ³⁰ in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Judeans 745 persons; all the persons were 4,600.

Jehoiachin Released from Prison

^31 (AB)And in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, graciously freed^{[c] (AC)}Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison. ³² And he spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat above the seats of ^(AD)the kings who were with him in Babylon. ³³ So Jehoiachin put off his prison garments. And every day of his life he dined regularly at the king's table, ³⁴ and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, according to his daily needs, until the day of his death, as long as he lived.

⁵ And when Haman saw that ^(A)Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage to him, Haman was ^(B)filled with fury. ⁶ But he disdained^[a] to lay hands on Mordecai alone. So, as they had made known to him the people of Mordecai, Haman sought to destroy^[b] all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.

⁷ In the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, ^(C)they cast Pur (that is, they cast lots) before Haman day after day; and they cast it month after month till the twelfth month, which is ^(D)the month of Adar. ⁸ Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. ^(E)Their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king's laws, so that it is not to the king's profit to tolerate them.

⁶ In it was written, “It is reported among the nations, and Geshem^[a] also says it, that you and ^(A)the Jews intend to rebel; that is why you are building the wall. And according to these reports you wish to become their king.

¹⁹ But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant and ^(A)Geshem the Arab heard of it, ^(B)they jeered at us and despised us and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? ^(C)Are you rebelling against the king?”

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 ^(A)the king's garden, and ^(B)the Chaldeans were around the city. And they went in the direction of the ^(C)Arabah.