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Jeremiah 52
New English Translation

The Fall of Jerusalem

52 [a] Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal[b] daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah. 2 He did what displeased the Lord[c] just as Jehoiakim had done.

3 What follows is a record of what happened to Jerusalem and Judah because of the Lord’s anger when he drove them out of his sight.[d] Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 4 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Jerusalem with his whole army and set up camp outside it.[e] They built siege ramps all around it. He arrived on the tenth day of the tenth month in the ninth year that Zedekiah ruled over Judah.[f] 5 The city remained under siege until Zedekiah’s eleventh year. 6 By the ninth day of the fourth month[g] the famine in the city was so severe the residents[h] had no food. 7 They broke through the city walls, and all the soldiers tried to escape. They left the city during the night. They went through the gate between the two walls that is near the king’s garden.[i] (The Babylonians had the city surrounded.) Then they headed for the rift valley.[j] 8 But the Babylonian army chased after the king. They caught up with Zedekiah in the plains[k] of Jericho, and his entire army deserted him. 9 They captured him and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah[l] in the territory of Hamath and he passed sentence on him there. 10 The king of Babylon had Zedekiah’s sons put to death while Zedekiah was forced to watch. He also had all the nobles of Judah put to death there at Riblah. 11 He had Zedekiah’s eyes put out and had him bound in chains.[m] Then the king of Babylon had him led off to Babylon and he was imprisoned there until the day he died.

12 On the tenth[n] day of the fifth month,[o] in the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard[p] who served[q] the king of Babylon, arrived in Jerusalem. 13 He burned down the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem, including every large house. 14 The whole Babylonian army that came with the captain of the royal guard tore down the walls that surrounded Jerusalem. 15 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, took into exile some of the poor,[r] the rest of the people who remained in the city, those who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen. 16 But he[s] left behind some of the poor[t] and gave them fields and vineyards.

17 The Babylonians broke the two bronze pillars in the temple of the Lord, as well as the movable stands and the large bronze basin called “The Sea.”[u] They took all the bronze to Babylon. 18 They also took the pots, shovels,[v] trimming shears,[w] basins, pans, and all the bronze utensils used by the priests.[x] 19 The captain of the royal guard took the gold and silver bowls, censers,[y] basins, pots, lampstands, pans, and vessels.[z] 20 The bronze of the items that King Solomon made for the Lord’s temple (including the two pillars, the large bronze basin called “The Sea,” the twelve bronze bulls under “The Sea,” and the movable stands[aa]) was too heavy to be weighed. 21 Each of the pillars was about 27 feet[ab] high, about 18 feet[ac] in circumference, three inches[ad] thick, and hollow. 22 The bronze top of one pillar was about 7½ feet[ae] high and had bronze latticework and pomegranate-shaped ornaments all around it. The second pillar with its pomegranate-shaped ornaments was like it. 23 There were 96 pomegranate-shaped ornaments on the sides; in all there were 100 pomegranate-shaped ornaments over the latticework that went around it.

24 The captain of the royal guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest who was second in rank, and the three doorkeepers.[af] 25 From the city he took an official who was in charge of the soldiers, seven of the king’s advisers who were discovered in the city, an official army secretary who drafted citizens[ag] for military service, and sixty citizens who were discovered in the middle of the city. 26 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27 The king of Babylon ordered them to be executed[ah] at Riblah in the territory of Hamath.

So Judah was taken into exile away from its land. 28 Here is the official record of the number of people[ai] Nebuchadnezzar carried into exile: In the seventh year,[aj] 3,023 Jews; 29 in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year,[ak] 832 people from Jerusalem; 30 in Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty-third year,[al] Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, carried into exile 745 Judeans. In all, 4,600 people went into exile.

Jehoiachin in Exile

31 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, on the twenty-fifth[am] day of the twelfth month,[an] King Evil Merodach of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, pardoned[ao] King Jehoiachin of Judah and released him from prison. 32 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a more prestigious position than[ap] the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 33 Jehoiachin[aq] took off his prison clothes and ate daily in the king’s presence for the rest of his life. 34 He was given daily provisions by the king of Babylon for the rest of his life until the day he died.

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 52:1 sn This final chapter does not mention Jeremiah, but its description of the downfall of Jerusalem and exile of the people validates the prophet’s ministry.
  2. Jeremiah 52:1 tn Some textual witnesses support the Kethib (consonantal text) in reading “Hamital.”
  3. Jeremiah 52:2 tn Heb “what was evil in the eyes of the Lord.”
  4. Jeremiah 52:3 tn Heb “Surely (or “for”) because of the anger of the Lord this happened in Jerusalem and Judah until he drove them out from upon his face.” For the phrase “drive out of his sight,” see 7:15.
  5. Jeremiah 52:4 tn Or “against it.”
  6. Jeremiah 52:4 sn This would have been January 15, 588 b.c. The reckoning is based on the calendar that begins the year in the spring (Nisan = March/April).
  7. Jeremiah 52:6 sn According to modern reckoning that would have been July 18, 586 b.c. The siege thus lasted almost a full eighteen months.
  8. Jeremiah 52:6 tn Heb “the people of the land.”
  9. Jeremiah 52:7 sn The king’s garden is mentioned again in Neh 3:15 in conjunction with the pool of Siloam and the stairs that go down from the City of David. This would have been in the southern part of the city near the Tyropean Valley, which agrees with the reference to the “two walls,” which were probably the walls on the eastern and western hills.
  10. Jeremiah 52:7 sn The rift valley (עֲרָבָה, ʿaravah) extends from Galilee to the Gulf of Aqaba. In this context the portion that they head to is the Jordan Valley near Jericho, intending to escape across the river to Moab or Ammon. It appears from 40:14 and 41:15 that the Ammonites were known to harbor fugitives from the Babylonians.
  11. Jeremiah 52:8 tn See the note at Jer 39:5.
  12. Jeremiah 52:9 sn Riblah was a strategic town on the Orontes River in Syria. It was at a crossing of the major roads between Egypt and Mesopotamia. Pharaoh Necho had earlier received Jehoahaz there and put him in chains (2 Kgs 23:33) prior to taking him captive to Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar had set up his base camp for conducting his campaigns against the Palestinian states there and was now sitting in judgment on prisoners brought to him.
  13. Jeremiah 52:11 tn Heb “fetters of bronze.” The more generic “chains” is used in the translation because “fetters” is a word unfamiliar to most modern readers.
  14. Jeremiah 52:12 tn The parallel account in 2 Kgs 25:8 has “seventh.”
  15. Jeremiah 52:12 sn The tenth day of the month would have been August 17, 586 b.c. in modern reckoning.
  16. Jeremiah 52:12 tn For the meaning of this phrase see BDB 371 s.v. טַבָּח 2 and compare the usage in Gen 39:1.
  17. Jeremiah 52:12 tn Heb “stood before.”
  18. Jeremiah 52:15 tn Heb “poor of the people.”
  19. Jeremiah 52:16 tn Heb “Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard.” However, the subject is clear from the preceding, and modern English style would normally avoid repeating the proper name and title.
  20. Jeremiah 52:16 tn Heb “poor of the land.”
  21. Jeremiah 52:17 sn For discussion of the items listed here, see the study notes at Jer 27:19.
  22. Jeremiah 52:18 sn These shovels were used to clean the altar.
  23. Jeremiah 52:18 sn These trimming shears were used to trim the wicks of the lamps.
  24. Jeremiah 52:18 tn Heb “with which they served (or “fulfilled their duty”).”
  25. Jeremiah 52:19 sn The censers held the embers used for the incense offerings.
  26. Jeremiah 52:19 sn These vessels were used for drink offerings.
  27. Jeremiah 52:20 tc The translation follows the LXX (Greek version), which reflects the description in 1 Kgs 7:25-26. The Hebrew text reads, “the twelve bronze bulls under the movable stands.” הַיָּם (hayyam, “The Sea”) has been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton; note that the following form, הַמְּכֹנוֹת (hammekhonot, “the movable stands”), also begins with the article.
  28. Jeremiah 52:21 tn Heb “18 cubits.” A “cubit” was a unit of measure, approximately equivalent to a foot and a half.
  29. Jeremiah 52:21 tn Heb “12 cubits.” A “cubit” was a unit of measure, approximately equivalent to a foot and a half.
  30. Jeremiah 52:21 tn Heb “four fingers.”
  31. Jeremiah 52:22 tn Heb “5 cubits.” A “cubit” was a unit of measure, approximately equivalent to a foot and a half.
  32. Jeremiah 52:24 sn See the note at Jer 35:4.
  33. Jeremiah 52:25 tn Heb “men, from the people of the land” (also later in this verse).
  34. Jeremiah 52:27 tn Heb “struck them down and killed them.”
  35. Jeremiah 52:28 tn Heb “these are the people.”
  36. Jeremiah 52:28 sn This would be 597 b.c.
  37. Jeremiah 52:29 sn This would be 586 b.c.
  38. Jeremiah 52:30 sn This would be 581 b.c.
  39. Jeremiah 52:31 sn The parallel account in 2 Kgs 25:28 has “twenty-seventh.”
  40. Jeremiah 52:31 sn The twenty-fifth day would be March 20, 561 b.c. in modern reckoning.
  41. Jeremiah 52:31 tn Heb “lifted up the head of.”
  42. Jeremiah 52:32 tn Heb “made his throne above the throne of.”
  43. Jeremiah 52:33 tn The subject is unstated in the Hebrew text, but Jehoiachin is clearly the subject of the following verb.
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Jeremiah 52
New Living Translation

The Fall of Jerusalem

52 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah. 2 But Zedekiah did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, just as Jehoiakim had done. 3 These things happened because of the Lord’s anger against the people of Jerusalem and Judah, until he finally banished them from his presence and sent them into exile.

Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 4 So on January 15,[a] during the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar[b] of Babylon led his entire army against Jerusalem. They surrounded the city and built siege ramps against its walls. 5 Jerusalem was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah’s reign.

6 By July 18 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign,[c] the famine in the city had become very severe, and the last of the food was entirely gone. 7 Then a section of the city wall was broken down, and all the soldiers fled. Since the city was surrounded by the Babylonians,[d] they waited for nightfall. Then they slipped through the gate between the two walls behind the king’s garden and headed toward the Jordan Valley.[e]

8 But the Babylonian troops chased King Zedekiah and overtook him on the plains of Jericho, for his men had all deserted him and scattered. 9 They captured the king and took him to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath. There the king of Babylon pronounced judgment upon Zedekiah. 10 The king of Babylon made Zedekiah watch as he slaughtered his sons. He also slaughtered all the officials of Judah at Riblah. 11 Then he gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him in bronze chains, and the king of Babylon led him away to Babylon. Zedekiah remained there in prison until the day of his death.

The Temple Destroyed

12 On August 17 of that year,[f] which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard and an official of the Babylonian king, arrived in Jerusalem. 13 He burned down the Temple of the Lord, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He destroyed all the important buildings[g] in the city. 14 Then he supervised the entire Babylonian[h] army as they tore down the walls of Jerusalem on every side. 15 Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took as exiles some of the poorest of the people, the rest of the people who remained in the city, the defectors who had declared their allegiance to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen. 16 But Nebuzaradan allowed some of the poorest people to stay behind to care for the vineyards and fields.

17 The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars in front of the Lord’s Temple, the bronze water carts, and the great bronze basin called the Sea, and they carried all the bronze away to Babylon. 18 They also took all the ash buckets, shovels, lamp snuffers, basins, dishes, and all the other bronze articles used for making sacrifices at the Temple. 19 The captain of the guard also took the small bowls, incense burners, basins, pots, lampstands, ladles, bowls used for liquid offerings, and all the other articles made of pure gold or silver.

20 The weight of the bronze from the two pillars, the Sea with the twelve bronze oxen beneath it, and the water carts was too great to be measured. These things had been made for the Lord’s Temple in the days of King Solomon. 21 Each of the pillars was 27 feet tall and 18 feet in circumference.[i] They were hollow, with walls 3 inches thick.[j] 22 The bronze capital on top of each pillar was 7 1⁄2 feet[k] high and was decorated with a network of bronze pomegranates all the way around. 23 There were 96 pomegranates on the sides, and a total of 100 pomegranates on the network around the top.

24 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took with him as prisoners Seraiah the high priest, Zephaniah the priest of the second rank, and the three chief gatekeepers. 25 And from among the people still hiding in the city, he took an officer who had been in charge of the Judean army; seven of the king’s personal advisers; the army commander’s chief secretary, who was in charge of recruitment; and sixty other citizens. 26 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took them all to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27 And there at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon had them all put to death. So the people of Judah were sent into exile from their land.

28 The number of captives taken to Babylon in the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign[l] was 3,023. 29 Then in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year[m] he took 832 more. 30 In Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty-third year[n] he sent Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, who took 745 more—a total of 4,600 captives in all.

Hope for Israel’s Royal Line

31 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, Evil-merodach ascended to the Babylonian throne. He was kind to[o] Jehoiachin and released him from prison on March 31 of that year.[p] 32 He spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and gave him a higher place than all the other exiled kings in Babylon. 33 He supplied Jehoiachin with new clothes to replace his prison garb and allowed him to dine in the king’s presence for the rest of his life. 34 So the Babylonian king gave him a regular food allowance as long as he lived. This continued until the day of his death.

Footnotes

  1. 52:4a Hebrew on the tenth day of the tenth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. A number of events in Jeremiah can be cross-checked with dates in surviving Babylonian records and related accurately to our modern calendar. This day was January 15, 588 B.c.
  2. 52:4b Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, a variant spelling of Nebuchadnezzar; also in 52:12, 28, 29, 30.
  3. 52:6 Hebrew By the ninth day of the fourth month [in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign]. This day was July 18, 586 B.c.; also see note on 52:4a.
  4. 52:7a Or the Chaldeans; similarly in 52:8, 17.
  5. 52:7b Hebrew the Arabah.
  6. 52:12 Hebrew On the tenth day of the fifth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This day was August 17, 586 B.c.; also see note on 52:4a.
  7. 52:13 Or destroyed the houses of all the important people.
  8. 52:14 Or Chaldean.
  9. 52:21a Hebrew 18 cubits [8.3 meters] tall and 12 cubits [5.5 meters] in circumference.
  10. 52:21b Hebrew 4 fingers thick [8 centimeters].
  11. 52:22 Hebrew 5 cubits [2.3 meters].
  12. 52:28 This exile in the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign occurred in 597 B.c.
  13. 52:29 This exile in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign occurred in 586 B.c.
  14. 52:30 This exile in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign occurred in 581 B.c.
  15. 52:31a Hebrew He raised the head of.
  16. 52:31b Hebrew on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This day was March 31, 561 B.c.; also see note on 52:4a.
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