12 But because our ancestors angered(A) the God of heaven, he gave them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar the Chaldean, king of Babylon, who destroyed this temple and deported the people to Babylon.(B)

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16 But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed(A) at his prophets until the wrath(B) of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy.(C) 17 He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians,[a](D) who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and did not spare young men(E) or young women, the elderly or the infirm.(F) God gave them all into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar.(G)

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 36:17 Or Chaldeans

39 In the ninth year of Zedekiah(A) king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar(B) king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army and laid siege(C) to it. And on the ninth day of the fourth(D) month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year, the city wall(E) was broken through.(F) Then all the officials(G) of the king of Babylon came and took seats in the Middle Gate: Nergal-Sharezer of Samgar, Nebo-Sarsekim a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer a high official and all the other officials of the king of Babylon. When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled; they left the city at night by way of the king’s garden, through the gate between the two walls,(H) and headed toward the Arabah.[a](I)

But the Babylonian[b] army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah(J) in the plains of Jericho. They captured(K) him and took him to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah(L) in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced sentence on him. There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes and also killed all the nobles(M) of Judah. Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes(N) and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon.(O)

The Babylonians[c] set fire(P) to the royal palace and the houses of the people and broke down the walls(Q) of Jerusalem. Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard carried into exile to Babylon the people who remained in the city, along with those who had gone over to him,(R) and the rest of the people.(S) 10 But Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people, who owned nothing; and at that time he gave them vineyards and fields.

11 Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had given these orders about Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard: 12 “Take him and look after him; don’t harm(T) him but do for him whatever he asks.” 13 So Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard, Nebushazban a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer a high official and all the other officers(U) of the king of Babylon 14 sent and had Jeremiah taken out of the courtyard of the guard.(V) They turned him over to Gedaliah(W) son of Ahikam,(X) the son of Shaphan,(Y) to take him back to his home. So he remained among his own people.(Z)

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 39:4 Or the Jordan Valley
  2. Jeremiah 39:5 Or Chaldean
  3. Jeremiah 39:8 Or Chaldeans

26 “But they were disobedient and rebelled against you; they turned their backs on your law.(A) They killed(B) your prophets,(C) who had warned them in order to turn them back to you; they committed awful blasphemies.(D) 27 So you delivered them into the hands of their enemies,(E) who oppressed them. But when they were oppressed they cried out to you. From heaven you heard them, and in your great compassion(F) you gave them deliverers,(G) who rescued them from the hand of their enemies.

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The Lord sent Babylonian,[a](A) Aramean,(B) Moabite and Ammonite raiders(C) against him to destroy(D) Judah, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by his servants the prophets.(E)

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 24:2 Or Chaldean

we have sinned(A) and done wrong.(B) We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away(C) from your commands and laws.(D)

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Daniel’s Training in Babylon

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim(A) king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar(B) king of Babylon(C) came to Jerusalem and besieged it.(D) And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried(E) off to the temple of his god in Babylonia[a] and put in the treasure house of his god.(F)

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Footnotes

  1. Daniel 1:2 Hebrew Shinar

29 Should I not punish them for this?”
    declares the Lord.
“Should I not avenge(A) myself
    on such a nation as this?

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Sin, Confession and Redemption

59 Surely the arm(A) of the Lord is not too short(B) to save,
    nor his ear too dull to hear.(C)
But your iniquities have separated(D)
    you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
    so that he will not hear.(E)

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40 Therefore the Lord was angry(A) with his people
    and abhorred his inheritance.(B)

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Nebuchadnezzar(A) king of Babylon attacked him and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon.(B) Nebuchadnezzar also took to Babylon articles from the temple of the Lord and put them in his temple[a] there.(C)

The other events of Jehoiakim’s reign, the detestable things he did and all that was found against him, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin his son succeeded him as king.

Jehoiachin King of Judah(D)

Jehoiachin(E) was eighteen[b] years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. 10 In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and brought him to Babylon,(F) together with articles of value from the temple of the Lord, and he made Jehoiachin’s uncle,[c] Zedekiah, king over Judah and Jerusalem.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 36:7 Or palace
  2. 2 Chronicles 36:9 One Hebrew manuscript, some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac (see also 2 Kings 24:8); most Hebrew manuscripts eight
  3. 2 Chronicles 36:10 Hebrew brother, that is, relative (see 2 Kings 24:17)

24 ‘This is what the Lord says: I am going to bring disaster(A) on this place and its people(B)—all the curses(C) written in the book that has been read in the presence of the king of Judah. 25 Because they have forsaken me(D) and burned incense to other gods and aroused my anger by all that their hands have made,[a] my anger will be poured out on this place and will not be quenched.’

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 34:25 Or by everything they have done

19 “But if you[a] turn away(A) and forsake(B) the decrees and commands I have given you[b] and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will uproot(C) Israel from my land,(D) which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule(E) among all peoples. 21 This temple will become a heap of rubble. All[c] who pass by will be appalled(F) and say,(G) ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ 22 People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them(H)—that is why he brought all this disaster on them.’”

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 7:19 The Hebrew is plural.
  2. 2 Chronicles 7:19 The Hebrew is plural.
  3. 2 Chronicles 7:21 See some Septuagint manuscripts, Old Latin, Syriac, Arabic and Targum; Hebrew And though this temple is now so imposing, all

On the seventh day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard, an official of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He set fire(A) to the temple of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down.(B) 10 The whole Babylonian army under the commander of the imperial guard broke down the walls(C) around Jerusalem. 11 Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exile(D) the people who remained in the city, along with the rest of the populace and those who had deserted to the king of Babylon.(E) 12 But the commander left behind some of the poorest people(F) of the land to work the vineyards and fields.

13 The Babylonians broke(G) up the bronze pillars, the movable stands and the bronze Sea that were at the temple of the Lord and they carried the bronze to Babylon. 14 They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, dishes(H) and all the bronze articles(I) used in the temple service. 15 The commander of the imperial guard took away the censers and sprinkling bowls—all that were made of pure gold or silver.(J)

16 The bronze from the two pillars, the Sea and the movable stands, which Solomon had made for the temple of the Lord, was more than could be weighed. 17 Each pillar(K) was eighteen cubits[a] high. The bronze capital on top of one pillar was three cubits[b] high and was decorated with a network and pomegranates of bronze all around. The other pillar, with its network, was similar.

18 The commander of the guard took as prisoners Seraiah(L) the chief priest, Zephaniah(M) the priest next in rank and the three doorkeepers.(N) 19 Of those still in the city, he took the officer in charge of the fighting men, and five royal advisers. He also took the secretary who was chief officer in charge of conscripting the people of the land and sixty of the conscripts who were found in the city. 20 Nebuzaradan the commander took them all and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21 There at Riblah,(O) in the land of Hamath, the king had them executed.(P)

So Judah went into captivity,(Q) away from her land.(R)

22 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon appointed Gedaliah(S) son of Ahikam,(T) the son of Shaphan, to be over the people he had left behind in Judah. 23 When all the army officers and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, Jaazaniah the son of the Maakathite, and their men. 24 Gedaliah took an oath to reassure them and their men. “Do not be afraid of the Babylonian officials,” he said. “Settle down in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you.”

25 In the seventh month, however, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was of royal blood, came with ten men and assassinated(U) Gedaliah and also the men of Judah and the Babylonians who were with him at Mizpah.(V) 26 At this, all the people from the least to the greatest, together with the army officers, fled to Egypt(W) for fear of the Babylonians.

Jehoiachin Released(X)

27 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the year Awel-Marduk became king of Babylon, he released Jehoiachin(Y) king of Judah from prison. He did this on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month. 28 He spoke kindly(Z) to him and gave him a seat of honor(AA) higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 29 So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king’s table.(AB) 30 Day by day the king gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance as long as he lived.(AC)

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 25:17 That is, about 27 feet or about 8.1 meters
  2. 2 Kings 25:17 That is, about 4 1/2 feet or about 1.4 meters

25 So in the ninth(A) year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar(B) king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. He encamped outside the city and built siege works(C) all around it.

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10 At that time the officers of Nebuchadnezzar(A) king of Babylon advanced on Jerusalem and laid siege to it, 11 and Nebuchadnezzar himself came up to the city while his officers were besieging it. 12 Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his attendants, his nobles and his officials all surrendered(B) to him.

In the eighth year of the reign of the king of Babylon, he took Jehoiachin prisoner. 13 As the Lord had declared,(C) Nebuchadnezzar removed the treasures(D) from the temple of the Lord and from the royal palace, and cut up the gold articles(E) that Solomon(F) king of Israel had made for the temple of the Lord. 14 He carried all Jerusalem into exile:(G) all the officers and fighting men,(H) and all the skilled workers and artisans—a total of ten thousand. Only the poorest(I) people of the land were left.

15 Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin(J) captive to Babylon. He also took from Jerusalem to Babylon the king’s mother,(K) his wives, his officials and the prominent people(L) of the land. 16 The king of Babylon also deported to Babylon the entire force of seven thousand fighting men, strong and fit for war, and a thousand skilled workers and artisans.(M) 17 He made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king in his place and changed his name to Zedekiah.(N)

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12 Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster(A) on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle.(B) 13 I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line(C) used against the house of Ahab. I will wipe(D) out Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 I will forsake(E) the remnant(F) of my inheritance and give them into the hands of enemies. They will be looted and plundered by all their enemies; 15 they have done evil(G) in my eyes and have aroused(H) my anger from the day their ancestors came out of Egypt until this day.”

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“But if you[a] or your descendants turn away(A) from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you[b] and go off to serve other gods(B) and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land(C) I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name.(D) Israel will then become a byword(E) and an object of ridicule(F) among all peoples. This temple will become a heap of rubble. All[c] who pass by will be appalled(G) and will scoff and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’(H) People will answer,(I) ‘Because they have forsaken(J) the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why the Lord brought all this disaster(K) on them.’”

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 9:6 The Hebrew is plural.
  2. 1 Kings 9:6 The Hebrew is plural.
  3. 1 Kings 9:8 See some Septuagint manuscripts, Old Latin, Syriac, Arabic and Targum; Hebrew And though this temple is now imposing, all

Gideon

The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord,(A) and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites.(B)

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So the Lord sold them(A) into the hands of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor.(B) Sisera,(C) the commander of his army, was based in Harosheth Haggoyim.

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14 In his anger(A) against Israel the Lord gave them into the hands(B) of raiders who plundered(C) them. He sold them(D) into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist.(E)

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30 How could one man chase a thousand,
    or two put ten thousand to flight,(A)
unless their Rock had sold them,(B)
    unless the Lord had given them up?(C)

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17 And in that day I will become angry(A) with them and forsake(B) them; I will hide(C) my face(D) from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters(E) and calamities will come on them, and in that day they will ask, ‘Have not these disasters come on us because our God is not with us?’(F)

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24 All the nations will ask: “Why has the Lord done this to this land?(A) Why this fierce, burning anger?”

25 And the answer will be: “It is because this people abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the covenant he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt.(B) 26 They went off and worshiped other gods and bowed down to them, gods they did not know, gods he had not given them. 27 Therefore the Lord’s anger burned against this land, so that he brought on it all the curses written in this book.(C) 28 In furious anger and in great wrath(D) the Lord uprooted(E) them from their land and thrust them into another land, as it is now.”

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Curses for Disobedience

15 However, if you do not obey(A) the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today,(B) all these curses will come on you and overtake you:(C)

16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.(D)

17 Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed.(E)

18 The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.(F)

19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.(G)

20 The Lord will send on you curses,(H) confusion and rebuke(I) in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin(J) because of the evil(K) you have done in forsaking him.[a] 21 The Lord will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess.(L) 22 The Lord will strike you with wasting disease,(M) with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought,(N) with blight(O) and mildew, which will plague(P) you until you perish.(Q) 23 The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron.(R) 24 The Lord will turn the rain(S) of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.

25 The Lord will cause you to be defeated(T) before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven,(U) and you will become a thing of horror(V) to all the kingdoms on earth.(W) 26 Your carcasses will be food for all the birds(X) and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away.(Y) 27 The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt(Z) and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured. 28 The Lord will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind. 29 At midday you will grope(AA) about like a blind person in the dark. You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue(AB) you.

30 You will be pledged to be married to a woman, but another will take her and rape her.(AC) You will build a house, but you will not live in it.(AD) You will plant a vineyard, but you will not even begin to enjoy its fruit.(AE) 31 Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will eat none of it. Your donkey will be forcibly taken from you and will not be returned. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and no one will rescue them. 32 Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation,(AF) and you will wear out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand. 33 A people that you do not know will eat what your land and labor produce, and you will have nothing but cruel oppression(AG) all your days.(AH) 34 The sights you see will drive you mad.(AI) 35 The Lord will afflict your knees and legs with painful boils(AJ) that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.(AK)

36 The Lord will drive you and the king(AL) you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your ancestors.(AM) There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone.(AN) 37 You will become a thing of horror,(AO) a byword(AP) and an object of ridicule(AQ) among all the peoples where the Lord will drive you.(AR)

38 You will sow much seed in the field but you will harvest little,(AS) because locusts(AT) will devour(AU) it. 39 You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the wine(AV) or gather the grapes, because worms will eat(AW) them.(AX) 40 You will have olive trees throughout your country but you will not use the oil, because the olives will drop off.(AY) 41 You will have sons and daughters but you will not keep them, because they will go into captivity.(AZ) 42 Swarms of locusts(BA) will take over all your trees and the crops of your land.

43 The foreigners who reside among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower.(BB) 44 They will lend to you, but you will not lend to them.(BC) They will be the head, but you will be the tail.(BD)

45 All these curses will come on you. They will pursue you and overtake you(BE) until you are destroyed,(BF) because you did not obey the Lord your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you. 46 They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever.(BG) 47 Because you did not serve(BH) the Lord your God joyfully and gladly(BI) in the time of prosperity, 48 therefore in hunger and thirst,(BJ) in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the Lord sends against you. He will put an iron yoke(BK) on your neck(BL) until he has destroyed you.

49 The Lord will bring a nation against you(BM) from far away, from the ends of the earth,(BN) like an eagle(BO) swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand,(BP) 50 a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old(BQ) or pity for the young. 51 They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine(BR) or olive oil,(BS) nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined.(BT) 52 They will lay siege(BU) to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the Lord your God is giving you.(BV)

53 Because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you.(BW) 54 Even the most gentle and sensitive man among you will have no compassion on his own brother or the wife he loves or his surviving children, 55 and he will not give to one of them any of the flesh of his children that he is eating. It will be all he has left because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of all your cities.(BX) 56 The most gentle and sensitive(BY) woman among you—so sensitive and gentle that she would not venture to touch the ground with the sole of her foot—will begrudge the husband she loves and her own son or daughter(BZ) 57 the afterbirth from her womb and the children she bears. For in her dire need she intends to eat them(CA) secretly because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of your cities.

58 If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law,(CB) which are written in this book, and do not revere(CC) this glorious and awesome name(CD)—the Lord your God— 59 the Lord will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses. 60 He will bring on you all the diseases of Egypt(CE) that you dreaded, and they will cling to you. 61 The Lord will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law,(CF) until you are destroyed.(CG) 62 You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky(CH) will be left but few(CI) in number, because you did not obey the Lord your God. 63 Just as it pleased(CJ) the Lord to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please(CK) him to ruin and destroy you.(CL) You will be uprooted(CM) from the land you are entering to possess.

64 Then the Lord will scatter(CN) you among all nations,(CO) from one end of the earth to the other.(CP) There you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known.(CQ) 65 Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place(CR) for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you an anxious mind, eyes(CS) weary with longing, and a despairing heart.(CT) 66 You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life. 67 In the morning you will say, “If only it were evening!” and in the evening, “If only it were morning!”—because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the sights that your eyes will see.(CU) 68 The Lord will send you back in ships to Egypt on a journey I said you should never make again.(CV) There you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 28:20 Hebrew me

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