2 Kings 25
25
1So on January 15,#25:1 Hebrew on the tenth day of the tenth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. A number of events in 2 Kings 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. during the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon led his entire army against Jerusalem. They surrounded the city and built siege ramps against its walls. 2Jerusalem was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah’s reign.
3By July 18 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign,#25:3 Hebrew By the ninth day of the [fourth] month [in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign] (compare Jer 39:2; 52:6 and the notes there). This day was July 18, 586 b.c.; also see note on 25:1. the famine in the city had become very severe, and the last of the food was entirely gone. 4Then a section of the city wall was broken down. Since the city was surrounded by the Babylonians,#25:4a Or the Chaldeans; also in 25:13, 25, 26. the soldiers waited for nightfall and escaped#25:4b As in Greek version (see also Jer 39:4; 52:7); Hebrew lacks escaped. through the gate between the two walls behind the king’s garden. Then they headed toward the Jordan Valley.#25:4c Hebrew the Arabah.
5But the Babylonian#25:5 Or Chaldean; also in 25:10, 24. troops chased the king and overtook him on the plains of Jericho, for his men had all deserted him and scattered. 6They captured the king and took him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where they pronounced judgment upon Zedekiah. 7They made Zedekiah watch as they slaughtered his sons. Then they gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him in bronze chains, and led him away to Babylon.
The Temple Destroyed
8On August 14 of that year,#25:8 Hebrew On the seventh day of the fifth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This day was August 14, 586 b.c.; also see note on 25:1. 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. 9He burned down the Temple of the Lord, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He destroyed all the important buildings#25:9 Or destroyed the houses of all the important people. in the city. 10Then he supervised the entire Babylonian army as they tore down the walls of Jerusalem on every side. 11Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took as exiles 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 population. 12But the captain of the guard allowed some of the poorest people to stay behind to care for the vineyards and fields.
13The 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. 14They also took all the ash buckets, shovels, lamp snuffers, ladles, and all the other bronze articles used for making sacrifices at the Temple. 15The captain of the guard also took the incense burners and basins, and all the other articles made of pure gold or silver.
16The weight of the bronze from the two pillars, the Sea, and the water carts was too great to be measured. These things had been made for the Lord’s Temple in the days of Solomon. 17Each of the pillars was 27 feet#25:17a Hebrew 18 cubits [8.3 meters]. tall. The bronze capital on top of each pillar was 7-1/2 feet#25:17b As in parallel texts at 1 Kgs 7:16, 2 Chr 3:15, and Jer 52:22, all of which read 5 cubits [2.3 meters]; Hebrew reads 3 cubits, which is 4.5 feet or 1.4 meters. high and was decorated with a network of bronze pomegranates all the way around.
18Nebuzaradan, 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. 19And from among the people still hiding in the city, he took an officer who had been in charge of the Judean army; five of the king’s personal advisers; the army commander’s chief secretary, who was in charge of recruitment; and sixty other citizens. 20Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took them all to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21And 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.
Gedaliah Governs in Judah
22Then King Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan as governor over the people he had left in Judah. 23When all the army commanders and their men learned that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor, they went to see him at Mizpah. These included Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, Jezaniah#25:23 As in parallel text at Jer 40:8; Hebrew reads Jaazaniah, a variant spelling of Jezaniah. son of the Maacathite, and all their men.
24Gedaliah vowed to them that the Babylonian officials meant them no harm. “Don’t be afraid of them. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and all will go well for you,” he promised.
25But in midautumn of that year,#25:25 Hebrew in the seventh month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This month occurred within the months of October and November 586 b.c.; also see note on 25:1. Ishmael son of Nethaniah and grandson of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family, went to Mizpah with ten men and killed Gedaliah. He also killed all the Judeans and Babylonians who were with him at Mizpah.
26Then all the people of Judah, from the least to the greatest, as well as the army commanders, fled in panic to Egypt, for they were afraid of what the Babylonians would do to them.
Hope for Israel’s Royal Line
27In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, Evil-merodach ascended to the Babylonian throne. He was kind to#25:27a Hebrew He raised the head of. Jehoiachin and released him#25:27b As in some Hebrew manuscripts and Greek and Syriac versions (see also Jer 52:31); Masoretic Text lacks released him. from prison on April 2 of that year.#25:27c Hebrew on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This day was April 2, 561 b.c.; also see note on 25:1. 28He spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and gave him a higher place than all the other exiled kings in Babylon. 29He 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. 30So the king gave him a regular food allowance as long as he lived.
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2 Kings 25: NLT
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2 Kings 25
25
The Fall of Jerusalem
(Jeremiah 39.1-7; 52.4-11)
1 #
Jer 21.1-10; 34.1-5; Ezek 24.2. And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnez´zar king of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about. 2And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedeki´ah. 3And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land. 4#Ezek 33.21. And the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between two walls, which is by the king's garden: (now the Chaldees were against the city round about:) and the king went the way toward the plain. 5And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho: and all his army were scattered from him. 6So they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment upon him. 7#Ezek 12.13. And they slew the sons of Zedeki´ah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedeki´ah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon.
The Captivity of Judah
(2 Chronicles 36.17-21; Jeremiah 39.8-10; 52.12-30)
8And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnez´zar king of Babylon, came Neb´uzar–a´dan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem: 9#1 Kgs 9.8. and he burnt the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man's house burnt he with fire. 10And all the army of the Chaldees, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about. 11Now the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the fugitives that fell away to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the multitude, did Neb´uzar–a´dan the captain of the guard carry away. 12But the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen.
13 #
1 Kgs 7.15-22; 2 Chr 3.15-17;
1 Kgs 7.23-26; 2 Chr 4.2-5. And the pillars of brass that were in the house of the Lord, and the bases, and the brazen sea that was in the house of the Lord, did the Chaldees break in pieces, and carried the brass of them to Babylon. 14#1 Kgs 7.45; 2 Chr 4.16. And the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away. 15And the firepans, and the bowls, and such things as were of gold, in gold, and of silver, in silver, the captain of the guard took away. 16The two pillars, one sea, and the bases which Solomon had made for the house of the Lord; the brass of all these vessels was without weight. 17The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and the chapiter upon it was brass: and the height of the chapiter three cubits; and the wreathed work, and pomegranates upon the chapiter round about, all of brass: and like unto these had the second pillar with wreathed work.
18And the captain of the guard took Serai´ah the chief priest, and Zephani´ah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door: 19and out of the city he took an officer that was set over the men of war, and five men of them that were in the king's presence, which were found in the city, and the principal scribe of the host, which mustered the people of the land, and threescore men of the people of the land that were found in the city: 20and Neb´uzar–a´dan captain of the guard took these, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah: 21and the king of Babylon smote them, and slew them at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away out of their land.
The Remnant Flee to Egypt
22 #
Jer 40.7-9. And as for the people that remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnez´zar king of Babylon had left, even over them he made Gedali´ah the son of Ahi´kam, the son of Shaphan, ruler. 23And when all the captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedali´ah governor, there came to Gedali´ah to Mizpah, even Ish´ma-el the son of Nethani´ah, and Jo´hanan the son of Care´ah, and Serai´ah the son of Tan´humeth the Netoph´athite, and Ja-azani´ah the son of a Ma-ach´athite, they and their men. 24And Gedali´ah sware to them, and to their men, and said unto them, Fear not to be the servants of the Chaldees: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon; and it shall be well with you. 25#Jer 41.1-3. But it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ish´ma-el the son of Nethani´ah, the son of Elish´ama, of the seed royal, came, and ten men with him, and smote Gedali´ah, that he died, and the Jews and the Chaldees that were with him at Mizpah. 26#Jer 43.5-7. And all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the armies, arose, and came to Egypt: for they were afraid of the Chaldees.
Jehoiachin Released and Honored in Babylon
(Jeremiah 52.31-34)
27And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoi´achin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Evil–mer´odach king of Babylon in the year that he began to reign did lift up the head of Jehoi´achin king of Judah out of prison; 28and he spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon; 29and changed his prison garments: and he did eat bread continually before him all the days of his life. 30And his allowance was a continual allowance given him of the king, a daily rate for every day, all the days of his life.
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King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.