Jeremiah 52
52
The Fall of Jerusalem
1Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah. 2But Zedekiah did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, just as Jehoiakim had done. 3These things happened because of the Lord’s anger against the people of Jerusalem and Judah, until he finally banished them from his presence and sent them into exile.
Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 4So on January 15,#52:4a Hebrew on the tenth day of the tenth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. A number of events in Jeremiah 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#52:4b Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, a variant spelling of Nebuchadnezzar; also in 52:12, 28, 29, 30. of Babylon led his entire army against Jerusalem. They surrounded the city and built siege ramps against its walls. 5Jerusalem was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah’s reign.
6By July 18 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign,#52:6 Hebrew By the ninth day of the fourth month [in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign]. This day was July 18, 586 b.c.; also see note on 52:4a. the famine in the city had become very severe, and the last of the food was entirely gone. 7Then a section of the city wall was broken down, and all the soldiers fled. Since the city was surrounded by the Babylonians,#52:7a Or the Chaldeans; similarly in 52:8, 17. they waited for nightfall. Then they slipped through the gate between the two walls behind the king’s garden and headed toward the Jordan Valley.#52:7b Hebrew the Arabah.
8But the Babylonian troops chased King Zedekiah and overtook him on the plains of Jericho, for his men had all deserted him and scattered. 9They captured the king and took him to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath. There the king of Babylon pronounced judgment upon Zedekiah. 10The king of Babylon made Zedekiah watch as he slaughtered his sons. He also slaughtered all the officials of Judah at Riblah. 11Then he gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him in bronze chains, and the king of Babylon led him away to Babylon. Zedekiah remained there in prison until the day of his death.
The Temple Destroyed
12On August 17 of that year,#52:12 Hebrew On the tenth day of the fifth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This day was August 17, 586 b.c.; also see note on 52:4a. 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. 13He burned down the Temple of the Lord, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He destroyed all the important buildings#52:13 Or destroyed the houses of all the important people. in the city. 14Then he supervised the entire Babylonian#52:14 Or Chaldean. army as they tore down the walls of Jerusalem on every side. 15Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took as exiles some of the poorest of the people, 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 craftsmen. 16But Nebuzaradan allowed some of the poorest people to stay behind to care for the vineyards and fields.
17The 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. 18They also took all the ash buckets, shovels, lamp snuffers, basins, dishes, and all the other bronze articles used for making sacrifices at the Temple. 19The captain of the guard also took the small bowls, incense burners, basins, pots, lampstands, ladles, bowls used for liquid offerings, and all the other articles made of pure gold or silver.
20The weight of the bronze from the two pillars, the Sea with the twelve bronze oxen beneath it, and the water carts was too great to be measured. These things had been made for the Lord’s Temple in the days of King Solomon. 21Each of the pillars was 27 feet tall and 18 feet in circumference.#52:21a Hebrew 18 cubits [8.3 meters] tall and 12 cubits [5.5 meters] in circumference. They were hollow, with walls 3 inches thick.#52:21b Hebrew 4 fingers thick [8 centimeters]. 22The bronze capital on top of each pillar was 7-1/2 feet#52:22 Hebrew 5 cubits [2.3 meters]. high and was decorated with a network of bronze pomegranates all the way around. 23There were 96 pomegranates on the sides, and a total of 100 pomegranates on the network around the top.
24Nebuzaradan, 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. 25And from among the people still hiding in the city, he took an officer who had been in charge of the Judean army; seven of the king’s personal advisers; the army commander’s chief secretary, who was in charge of recruitment; and sixty other citizens. 26Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took them all to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27And 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.
28The number of captives taken to Babylon in the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign#52:28 This exile in the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign occurred in 597 b.c. was 3,023. 29Then in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year#52:29 This exile in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign occurred in 586 b.c. he took 832 more. 30In Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty-third year#52:30 This exile in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign occurred in 581 b.c. he sent Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, who took 745 more—a total of 4,600 captives in all.
Hope for Israel’s Royal Line
31In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, Evil-merodach ascended to the Babylonian throne. He was kind to#52:31a Hebrew He raised the head of. Jehoiachin and released him from prison on March 31 of that year.#52:31b Hebrew on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This day was March 31, 561 b.c.; also see note on 52:4a. 32He spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and gave him a higher place than all the other exiled kings in Babylon. 33He 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. 34So the Babylonian king gave him a regular food allowance as long as he lived. This continued until the day of his death.
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Jeremiah 52
52
The Fall of Jerusalem
1Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king and reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. 2Zedekiah did what was evil in the Lord’s sight just as Jehoiakim had done. # 2Kg 23:34–24:6; 2Ch 36:4-8 3Because of the Lord’s anger, it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that He finally banished them from His presence. Nevertheless, Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. # 2Kg 24:18-20; 2Ch 36:11-13
4In the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem with his entire army. They laid siege to the city and built a siege wall all around it. 5The city was under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year.
6By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that the people of the land had no food. 7Then the city was broken into, and all the warriors fled. They left the city by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans surrounded the city. They made their way along the route to the Arabah. # Dt 2:8 8The Chaldean army pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. Zedekiah’s entire army was scattered from him. 9The Chaldeans seized the king and brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he passed sentence on him.
10At Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes and also slaughtered the Judean commanders. 11Then he blinded Zedekiah and bound him with bronze chains. The king of Babylon brought Zedekiah to Babylon, where he kept him in custody # Lit in a house of guards until his dying day. # 2Kg 25:1-7; Jr 39:1-7
12On 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 # Lit Jerusalem; he stood before the king of Babylon. 13He burned the Lord’s temple, the king’s palace, all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the nobles. 14The whole Chaldean army with the commander of the guards tore down all the walls surrounding Jerusalem. # 2Ch 36:19 15Nebuzaradan, 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. 16But some of the poorest people of the land Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, left to be vinedressers and farmers. # 2Kg 25:8-12; Jr 39:8-10
17Now 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, # 1Kg 7:23,27 and carried all the bronze to Babylon. 18They took the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, sprinkling basins, dishes, and all the bronze articles used in the temple service. 19The commander of the guards took away the bowls, firepans, sprinkling basins, pots, lampstands, pans, and drink offering bowls # Ex 25:29; 37:16; Nm 4:7 — whatever was gold or silver.
20As 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. 21One pillar was 27 feet # Lit 18 cubits tall, had a circumference of 18 feet, # Lit 12 cubits was hollow — four fingers thick — 22and had a bronze capital on top of it. # 1Kg 7:16-20,41-42; 2Ch 4:12-13 One capital, encircled by bronze latticework and pomegranates, stood 7 1/2 feet # Lit five cubits high. The second pillar was the same, with pomegranates. 23Each capital had 96 pomegranates all around it. All the pomegranates around the latticework numbered 100.
24The commander of the guards also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of the second rank, and the three doorkeepers. 25From the city he took a court official who had been appointed over the warriors; seven trusted royal aides # Lit seven men who look on the king’s face found in the city; the secretary of the commander of the army, who enlisted the people of the land for military duty; and 60 men from the common people who were found within the city. 26Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27The king of Babylon put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah went into exile from its land. # 2Kg 25:13-21
28These are the people Nebuchadnezzar deported: # 2Kg 24:12-16 in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews; 29in his eighteenth year, # Some Hb mss, Syr add he deported 832 people from Jerusalem; 30in Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty-third year, Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, deported 745 Jews. All together 4,600 people were deported.
Jehoiachin Pardoned
31On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Judah’s King Jehoiachin, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, pardoned King Jehoiachin of Judah and released him from prison. 32He spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the thrones of the kings who were with him in Babylon. 33So Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes, and he dined regularly in the presence of the king of Babylon for the rest of his life. 34As for his allowance, a regular allowance was given to him by the king of Babylon, a portion for each day until the day of his death, for the rest of his life. # 2Kg 25:27-30
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