Jeremiah 52
International Standard Version
The Fall of Jerusalem
52 Zedekiah was 21 years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for 11 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 2 Zedekiah[a] had done evil in the Lord’s sight, just as Jehoiakim had done. 3 Because Jerusalem and Judah had angered the Lord, he cast them out of his presence. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon, 4 and in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Jerusalem with all his army. He encamped near it and set up siege works all around it. 5 The city was under siege until the eleventh year of the reign of[b] King Zedekiah. 6 By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine became so severe that there was no food for the people of the land. 7 The wall of[c] the city was broken through, and all the soldiers fled, leaving the city at night through the gate between the two walls next to the king’s garden, even though the Chaldeans were all around the city. They went in the direction of the Arabah.[d]
8 The Chaldean army went after the king, overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his troops were scattered from him. 9 They captured the king and brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where the king of Babylon[e] passed judgment on him. 10 The king of Babylon killed Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes, and he also killed all the Judean officials[f] at Riblah. 11 He blinded Zedekiah and bound him in bronze shackles. Then the king of Babylon took him to Babylon and put him in prison until he died.
The Destruction of the Temple
12 In the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month—it was the nineteenth year of the reign of[g] King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard who served[h] the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem. 13 He burned the Lord’s Temple, the king’s house, and all the houses in Jerusalem. He also burned every public building[i] with fire. 14 All the Chaldean troops who were with the captain of the guard tore down all the walls around Jerusalem. 15 Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile some of the poorest of the people, the rest of the people left in the city, the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen. 16 But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poorest people of the land to be vinedressers and farmers.[j]
17 The Chaldeans broke in pieces the bronze pillars that were in the Lord’s Temple and the stands and the bronze sea that were in the Lord’s Temple, and they carried all the[k] bronze to Babylon. 18 They took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the basins, the pans, and all the bronze utensils that were used in the temple service. 19 The captain of the guard took away the bowls, the fire pans, the basins, the pots, the lamp stands, the pans, and the bowls for libations, both those made of gold and those made of silver. 20 There was too much bronze to weigh in the two pillars, the one sea, the twelve bronze oxen that were under the sea,[l] and the stands which King Solomon had made for the Lord’s Temple. 21 Each of the pillars was twelve cubits[m] high and its circumference twelve cubits.[n] It was hollow and about a handbreadth[o] thick. 22 On each pillar[p] was a capital of bronze, and the height of each capital was five cubits.[q] Latticework and pomegranates, all of bronze, were all around the capital. And the second pillar was like this, including the pomegranates. 23 There were 96 pomegranates open to view.[r] In all, there were 100 pomegranates all around the latticework.
Executions and Deportations to Babylon
24 The captain of the guard arrested Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the next ranking priest,[s] and the three guards of the gate.[t] 25 From the city he arrested one of the officers who had been in charge of the troops, seven men from the king’s personal advisors who were found in the city, the secretary of the commander of the army who mustered the people of the land, and 60 men of the people of the land who were found inside the city. 26 Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard arrested them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27 The king of Babylon struck them down and killed them at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah went into exile from the land.
28 These are the people Nebuchadnezzar took into exile: in the seventh year, 3,023 Judeans; 29 in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year, 832 people from Jerusalem; 30 in Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty-third year, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took 745 people from Judah into exile. All the people taken into exile[u] numbered 4,600.
Jehoiachin Released from Prison
31 In the first year of his reign, King Evil-merodach of Babylon, showed favor to King Jehoiachin of Judah by releasing him from prison on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah. 32 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat above the seats of the other[v] kings who were in Babylon with him. 33 Jehoiachin[w] changed his prison clothes and regularly dined with the king[x] as long as he lived. 34 As for his living expenses, a regular allowance was given him daily by the king of Babylon as long as he lived,[y] until the day of his death.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 52:2 Lit. He
- Jeremiah 52:5 The Heb. lacks the reign of
- Jeremiah 52:7 The Heb. lacks The wall of
- Jeremiah 52:7 I.e. the Jordan Valley
- Jeremiah 52:9 Lit. he
- Jeremiah 52:10 Or princes
- Jeremiah 52:12 The Heb. lacks the reign of
- Jeremiah 52:12 Lit. who stood before
- Jeremiah 52:13 Or He burned every large house
- Jeremiah 52:16 Lit. tillers
- Jeremiah 52:17 Lit. their bronze
- Jeremiah 52:20 The Heb. lacks the sea
- Jeremiah 52:21 I.e. about eighteen feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
- Jeremiah 52:21 Lit. a line of twelve cubits would surround it;i.e. about eighteen feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
- Jeremiah 52:21 Lit. four fingers
- Jeremiah 52:22 Lit. on it
- Jeremiah 52:22 I.e. about seven and a half feet; a cubit was about eighteen inches
- Jeremiah 52:23 Or evenly spread
- Jeremiah 52:24 Lit. the number two priest
- Jeremiah 52:24 Lit. of the threshold; i.e. high Temple officials
- Jeremiah 52:30 The Heb. lacks taken into exile
- Jeremiah 52:32 The Heb. lacks other
- Jeremiah 52:33 Lit. He
- Jeremiah 52:33 Lit. ate food before him
- Jeremiah 52:34 Lit. all the days of his life
Jeremiah 52
Lexham English Bible
The Fall of Jerusalem
52 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old[a] at his beginning to reign, and he reigned eleven years[b] in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 2 And he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh like all that Jehoiakim had done. 3 For because of the anger[c] of Yahweh this happened in Jerusalem and Judah until his casting them from his presence.[d] And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 4 And then[e] in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came against Jerusalem, he and all his army. And they laid siege to it, and built siege works[f] against it all around. 5 So the city came under siege[g] until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
6 In the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the famine in the city became severe and there was no food for the people of the land. 7 Then the city was breached, and all the soldiers[h] fled and went out from the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls that are at the garden of the king, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. And they went in the direction of the Jordan Valley.[i] 8 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king and they 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.[j] 10 And the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also slaughtered all the officials of Judah at Riblah. 11 Then he made blind the eyes of Zedekiah, and they tied him up with bronze fetters, and the king of Babylon brought him to Babylon. And he put him in prison[k] until the day of his death.
12 Now in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard,[l] who stood before[m] the king of Babylon, entered into Jerusalem. 13 And he burned the temple[n] of Yahweh, and the palace[o] of the king, and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house he burned with fire. 14 And all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard[p] broke down all the walls of Jerusalem all around. 15 And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard[q] deported some of the poor of the people, and the rest of the people who were left in the city, and the deserters who deserted to the king of Babylon, along with the rest of the craftsmen. 16 But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard[r] left some of the poor of the land to serve as vinedressers and farmers.
17 And the Chaldeans broke the pillars of bronze that were in the temple[s] of Yahweh, and the kettle stands and the sea of bronze that were in the temple[t] of Yahweh, and they carried all their bronze to Babylon. 18 And they took with them the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the sprinkling bowls, and the pans, and all the vessels of bronze which were used in temple service. 19 And the captain of the guard[u] took the bowls, and the firepans, and the sprinkling bowls, and the pots, and the lampstands, and the pans, and the libation bowls, those made of solid gold[v] and those made of solid silver.[w] 20 The two pillars, the one sea, and the twelve bronze oxen that were under the kettle stands which King Solomon had made for the temple[x] of Yahweh—there was not a weight for the bronze of all these vessels! 21 Now the pillars, the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits,[y] and a thread of twelve cubits[z] surrounded it, and its thickness was four fingers, hollowed out. 22 And a capital upon it was bronze and the height of the one capital was five cubits, and latticework and pomegranates were on the capital on all sides, all of bronze. And like these was the second pillar with pomegranates. 23 And there were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides;[aa] all the pomegranates on the latticework on all sides were a hundred.
24 Then the captain of the guard[ab] took Seraiah the chief priest,[ac] and Zephaniah the second priest,[ad] and three keepers of the threshold. 25 And from the city he took one high official who was chief officer over the soldiers,[ae] and seven men of the king’s advisors[af] who were found in the city, and the secretary of the commander of the army who levied for military service the people of the land, and sixty men[ag] of the people of the land who were found in the midst of the city. 26 Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard[ah] took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27 And the king of Babylon struck them down and killed them at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah left from its land.
28 This is the number of the people whom Nebuchadnezzar deported: in the seventh year, three thousand twenty-three Judeans; 29 in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, eight hundred and thirty-two persons[ai] from Jerusalem; 30 in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard,[aj] deported seven hundred and forty-five Judean persons;[ak] there were four thousand six hundred persons[al] in all.
An Allowance for Jehoiachin
31 And then[am] in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, Evil-merodach, the king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, and brought him out from prison.[an] 32 Then he spoke with him kindly and gave his seat above the seats[ao] of the kings who were with him in Babylon. 33 So he changed the garments of his imprisonment and he ate food before him[ap] continually all the days of his life. 34 And his allowance, a continual allowance was given to him by the king of Babylon on a daily basis[aq] all the days of his life up to the day of his death.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 52:1 Literally “a son of twenty-one year”
- Jeremiah 52:1 Hebrew “year”
- Jeremiah 52:3 Literally “nose”
- Jeremiah 52:3 Literally “face”
- Jeremiah 52:4 Literally “And it was”
- Jeremiah 52:4 Literally “siege work”
- Jeremiah 52:5 Literally “into the siege”
- Jeremiah 52:7 Literally “the men of the battle”
- Jeremiah 52:7 Or “Arabah”
- Jeremiah 52:9 Literally “he spoke to him judgments”
- Jeremiah 52:11 Literally “the house of the watch”
- Jeremiah 52:12 Hebrew “guards”
- Jeremiah 52:12 Literally “to the face of”
- Jeremiah 52:13 Literally “house”
- Jeremiah 52:13 Or “house”
- Jeremiah 52:14 Hebrew “guards”
- Jeremiah 52:15 Hebrew “guards”
- Jeremiah 52:16 Hebrew “guards”
- Jeremiah 52:17 Literally “house”
- Jeremiah 52:17 Literally “house”
- Jeremiah 52:19 Hebrew “guards”
- Jeremiah 52:19 Literally “which gold gold”
- Jeremiah 52:19 Literally “which silver silver”
- Jeremiah 52:20 Literally “house”
- Jeremiah 52:21 Hebrew “cubit”
- Jeremiah 52:21 Hebrew “cubit”
- Jeremiah 52:23 Literally “breath”
- Jeremiah 52:24 Hebrew “guards”
- Jeremiah 52:24 Literally “the priest of the head”
- Jeremiah 52:24 Literally “the priest of the second”
- Jeremiah 52:25 Literally “the men of the battle”
- Jeremiah 52:25 Literally “those who see the face of the king”
- Jeremiah 52:25 Hebrew “man”
- Jeremiah 52:26 Hebrew “guards”
- Jeremiah 52:29 Hebrew “person”
- Jeremiah 52:30 Hebrew “guards”
- Jeremiah 52:30 Hebrew “person”
- Jeremiah 52:30 Hebrew “person”
- Jeremiah 52:31 Literally “and it was”
- Jeremiah 52:31 Literally “the house of the imprisonment”
- Jeremiah 52:32 Hebrew “seat”
- Jeremiah 52:33 Literally “to the face of him”
- Jeremiah 52:34 Literally “a matter of a day in its day”
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