⁴⁵ It must be torn down—its stones, timbers and all the plaster—and taken out of the town to an unclean place.

² But exclude the outer court;^(A) do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles.^(B) They will trample on the holy city^(C) for 42 months.^(D)

⁷ What then? What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did not obtain.^(A) The elect among them did, but the others were hardened,^{(B) 8} as it is written:

⁹ And David says:

Ingrafted Branches

¹¹ Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all!^(G) Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles^(H) to make Israel envious.^(I)

² “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another;^(A) every one will be thrown down.”

⁷ The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers^(A) and burned their city.

⁴ Again, take a few of these and throw them into the fire^(A) and burn them up. A fire will spread from there to all Israel.

¹³ He set fire^(A) to the temple^(B) of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses^(C) of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down.

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^(A) Gedaliah and also the men of Judah and the Babylonians who were with him at Mizpah.^{(B) 26} At this, all the people from the least to the greatest, together with the army officers, fled to Egypt^(C) for fear of the Babylonians.

⁴ Then the city wall was broken through,^(A) and the whole army fled at night through the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, though the Babylonians^[a] were surrounding^(B) the city. They fled toward the Arabah,^{[b] 5} but the Babylonian^[c] army pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him and scattered,^{(C) 6} and he was captured.^(D)

He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah,^(E) where sentence was pronounced on him. ⁷ They killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon.^(F)

⁸ 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. ⁹ He set fire^(G) to the temple of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down.^{(H) 10} The whole Babylonian army under the commander of the imperial guard broke down the walls^(I) around Jerusalem. ¹¹ Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exile^(J) the people who remained in the city, along with the rest of the populace and those who had deserted to the king of Babylon.^{(K) 12} But the commander left behind some of the poorest people^(L) of the land to work the vineyards and fields.