^28 (A)These are the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive: ^(B)in the seventh year, ^(C)three thousand and twenty-three Jews;

Daniel and His Friends Obey God^(A)

1 In the third year of the reign of ^(B)Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. ² And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with ^(C)some of the articles of ^[a]the house of God, which he carried ^(D)into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; ^(E)and he brought the articles into the treasure house of his god.

³ Then the king instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring ^(F)some of the children of Israel and some of the king’s descendants and some of the nobles,

^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.

^2 (A)And the Lord sent against him raiding ^[a]bands of Chaldeans, bands of Syrians, bands of Moabites, and bands of the people of Ammon; He sent them against Judah to destroy it, ^(B)according to the word of the Lord which He had spoken by His servants the prophets. ³ Surely at the commandment of the Lord this came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight ^(C)because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done,

²⁰ And ^(A)those who escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon, ^(B)where they became servants to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia,