The Fall of Jerusalem

39 (A)In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and besieged it. In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city. Then all (B)the officials of the king of Babylon came (C)and sat in the middle gate: Nergal-sar-ezer of Samgar, Nebu-sar-sekim (D)the Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag, with all the rest of the officers of the king of Babylon. When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled, going out of the city at night by way of the king's garden through the gate between the two walls; and they went toward (E)the Arabah. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in (F)the plains of Jericho. And when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, at (G)Riblah, in the land of Hamath; (H)and he passed sentence on him. The king of Babylon (I)slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah at (J)Riblah before his eyes, and the king of Babylon (K)slaughtered all the nobles of Judah. (L)He put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains to take him to Babylon. (M)The Chaldeans burned the king's house and the house of the people, (N)and broke down the walls of Jerusalem.

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Fall of Jerusalem

39 In the ninth year and the tenth month of Judah’s King Zedekiah, Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar and his entire army came against Jerusalem and surrounded it. In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, on the ninth day of the fourth month, they broke through the city walls. Then all the commanding officers of the king of Babylon—Nergal-sharezer, Samgar-nebo,[a] Sarsechim the chief officer, Nergal-sharezer the field commander—entered it and took their places at the middle gate with the rest of the officials of the king of Babylon.

When Judah’s King Zedekiah and his troops saw them, they tried to escape at night through the royal gardens and the gate between the two walls, toward the desert plain. But the Babylonian[b] army chased them down and caught Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. They arrested him and brought him before Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah in the land of Hamath. There the king put him on trial. The king of Babylon slaughtered Zedekiah’s children at Riblah before his very own eyes, and the king of Babylon slaughtered all the officials of Judah. Then he gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him in chains, and dragged him off to Babylon.

The Babylonians burned down the royal palace and the houses of the people, and they destroyed the Jerusalem walls.

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Notas al pie

  1. Jeremiah 39:3 Or Nergal-sharezer the Simmagir
  2. Jeremiah 39:5 Heb Chaldean and hereafter through Jeremiah