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20 Indeed, Jerusalem and Judah so angered the Lord that he expelled them from his presence.

The Fall and Captivity of Judah

Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.(A) 25 And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem and laid siege to it; they built siegeworks against it all around.(B) So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. On the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine became so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.(C) Then a breach was made in the city wall;[a] the king with all the soldiers fled[b] by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, by the King’s Garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. They went in the direction of the Arabah.(D) But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho; all his army was scattered, deserting him. Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, who passed sentence on him.(E) They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, then put out the eyes of Zedekiah; they bound him in fetters and took him to Babylon.(F)

Footnotes

  1. 25.4 Heb lacks wall
  2. 25.4 Lucianic: Heb lacks the king and fled

20 because through the Lord’s anger these things happened[a] to Jerusalem and Judah until he threw them from his presence.

Nebuchadnezzar Captures Jerusalem

20 Zedekiah then rebelled against the king of Babylon, 25 so on the tenth day of the tenth month of the ninth year of Zedekiah’s[b] reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his entire army approached Jerusalem, attacked it, encamped against it, and built a siege wall that surrounded the city. The city remained under siege until the eleventh year of the reign of[c] King Zedekiah. By the ninth day of the fourth[d] month, the resulting[e] famine had become so severe in the city that no food remained for the people who lived in the land. The city was breached, and the entire army left during the night through the gate that stood between the two walls beside the royal garden, even though the Chaldeans had surrounded the city. They escaped through the Arabah, but the Chaldean army pursued the king and overtook him in the Jericho plains, where his entire army was scattered. The Chaldeans captured the king and brought him to Riblah, where the king of Babylon determined his sentence. They executed Zedekiah’s sons in his presence, blinded Zedekiah, bound him with bronze chains, and transported him to Babylon.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 24:20 The Heb. lacks these things
  2. 2 Kings 25:1 Lit. his; but cf. 25:3, which suggests it refers to Zedekiah
  3. 2 Kings 25:2 The Heb. lacks the reign of
  4. 2 Kings 25:3 The Heb. lacks fourth; but cf. Jer. 52:6
  5. 2 Kings 25:3 The Heb. lacks resulting