12 (A)Now on the tenth day of the fifth month, which was the (B)nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, (C)Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, who [a]was in the service of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 13 And he (D)burned the house of the Lord, the (E)king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every large house he burned with fire. 14 So the entire army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard (F)tore down all the walls around Jerusalem. 15 Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard (G)took into exile some of the poorest of the people, the rest of the people who were left in the city, the (H)deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen. 16 But (I)Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and farmers.

17 Now the bronze (J)pillars which belonged to the house of the Lord and the (K)stands and the bronze [b](L)sea, which were in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans smashed to pieces and carried all their bronze to Babylon. 18 They also took the (M)pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the basins, the [c]pans, and all the bronze vessels which were used in temple service. 19 The captain of the guard also took the (N)bowls, the firepans, the basins, the pots, the lampstands, the [d]pans, and the drink offering bowls, whatever was fine gold, and whatever was fine silver. 20 The two pillars, the one [e]sea, and the twelve bronze bulls that were under [f]the sea, and the stands, which King Solomon had made for the house of the Lord—the bronze of all these vessels was (O)beyond weight. 21 As for the pillars, the (P)height of each pillar was [g]eighteen cubits, and [h]it was twelve cubits in (Q)circumference and four fingers in thickness, and hollow. 22 Also, a (R)capital of bronze was on top of it; and the height of each capital was [i]five cubits, with latticework and (S)pomegranates on the capital all around, all of bronze. And the second pillar was like these, including pomegranates. 23 There were ninety-six [j]exposed pomegranates; all (T)the pomegranates numbered a hundred on the latticework all around.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 52:12 Lit stood before the king
  2. Jeremiah 52:17 I.e., large basin
  3. Jeremiah 52:18 Or spoons for incense
  4. Jeremiah 52:19 Or spoons for incense
  5. Jeremiah 52:20 As in LXX and Syriac; MT omits the sea; i.e., large basin
  6. Jeremiah 52:20 As in LXX and Syriac; MT omits the sea; i.e., large basin
  7. Jeremiah 52:21 About 27 ft. high and 18 ft. in circumference or 8 m and 5.4 m
  8. Jeremiah 52:21 Lit a thread of 12 cubits would encircle it
  9. Jeremiah 52:22 About 7.5 ft. or 2.3 m
  10. Jeremiah 52:23 Lit windward

12 On the tenth day of the fifth month—which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, entered Jerusalem as the representative of[a] the king of Babylon. 13 He burned the Lord’s temple, the king’s palace, all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the nobles. 14 The whole Chaldean army with the commander of the guards tore down all the walls surrounding Jerusalem.(A) 15 Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, deported some of the poorest of the people, as well as the rest of the people who were left in the city, the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen. 16 But some of the poorest people of the land Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, left to be vinedressers and farmers.(B)

17 Now the Chaldeans broke into pieces the bronze pillars for the Lord’s temple and the water carts and the bronze reservoir that were in the Lord’s temple,(C) and carried all the bronze to Babylon. 18 They took the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, sprinkling basins, dishes, and all the bronze articles used in the temple service. 19 The commander of the guards took away the bowls, firepans, sprinkling basins, pots, lampstands, pans, and drink offering bowls(D)—whatever was gold or silver.

20 As for the two pillars, the one reservoir, and the 12 bronze bulls under the water carts that King Solomon had made for the Lord’s temple, the weight of the bronze of all these articles was beyond measure. 21 One pillar was 27 feet[b] tall, had a circumference of 18 feet,[c] was hollow—four fingers thick— 22 and had a bronze capital on top of it.(E) One capital, encircled by bronze latticework and pomegranates, stood 7½ feet[d] high. The second pillar was the same, with pomegranates. 23 Each capital had 96 pomegranates all around it. All the pomegranates around the latticework numbered 100.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 52:12 Lit Jerusalem; he stood before
  2. Jeremiah 52:21 Lit 18 cubits
  3. Jeremiah 52:21 Lit 12 cubits
  4. Jeremiah 52:22 Lit five cubits