2 Kings 25
25
1Then Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. This happened during Zedekiah’s ninth year, tenth month and tenth day as king. He made a camp around the city. Then he built devices all around the city walls to attack it. 2The city was under attack until Zedekiah’s eleventh year as king. 3By the ninth day of the fourth month, the hunger was terrible in the city. There was no food for the people to eat. 4Then the city wall was broken through. And the whole army ran away at night. They went through the gate between the two walls by the king’s garden. The Babylonians were still surrounding the city. Zedekiah and his men ran toward the Jordan Valley. 5But the Babylonian army chased King Zedekiah. They caught up with him in the plains of Jericho. All of his army was scattered from him. 6So they captured Zedekiah and took him to the king of Babylon at Riblah. There he passed sentence on Zedekiah. 7They killed Zedekiah’s sons as he watched. Then they put out his eyes. They put bronze chains on him and took him to Babylon.
8Nebuzaradan was the commander of the king’s special guards. This officer of the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem. This was on the seventh day of the fifth month. This was in Nebuchadnezzar’s nineteenth year as king of Babylon. 9Nebuzaradan set fire to the Temple of the Lord and the palace. He also set fire to all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building was burned.
10The whole Babylonian army broke down the walls around Jerusalem. That army was led by the commander of the king’s special guards. 11Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, took captive the people left in Jerusalem. And he took captive those who had surrendered to the king of Babylon. The rest of the people were also taken away. 12But the commander left behind some of the poorest people of the land. They were to take care of the vineyards and fields.
13The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars, the bronze stands and the large bronze bowl, which was called the Sea. These were in the Temple of the Lord. Then they carried the bronze to Babylon. 14They also took the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, dishes and all the bronze objects. These were used to serve in the Temple. 15The commander of the king’s special guards took away the pans for carrying hot coals. He also took the bowls and everything made of pure gold or silver. 16There was so much bronze that it could not be weighed. There were two pillars and the large bronze bowl. There were also the movable stands which Solomon had made for the Temple of the Lord. 17Each pillar was about 27 feet high. The bronze capital on top of the pillar was about 4½ feet high. It was decorated with a net design and bronze pomegranates all around it. The other pillar also had a net design. It was like the first pillar.
Judah Is Taken Prisoner
18The commander of the guards took some prisoners. He took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest next in rank, and the three doorkeepers. 19The commander also took other people who were still in the city. He took the officer in charge of the fighting men. He also took five people who advised the king. And he took the royal assistant who selected people for the army. And he took 60 other men who were in the city. 20Nebuzaradan, the commander, took all these people. And he brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21There at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king had them killed. So the people of Judah were led away from their country as captives.
Gedaliah Becomes Governor
22Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon left some people in the land of Judah. He appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam as governor. (Ahikam was the son of Shaphan.)
23The army captains and their men heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor. So they all came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. They were Ishmael son of Nethaniah and Johanan son of Kareah. Also there were Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, Jaazaniah son of the Maacathite and their men. 24Then Gedaliah made promises to these army captains and their men. He said, “Don’t be afraid of the Babylonian officers. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon. Then everything will go well for you.”
25Ishmael was the son of Nethaniah. Nethaniah was the son of Elishama from the king’s family. In the seventh month Ishmael came with ten men and killed Gedaliah. They also killed the men of Judah and Babylon who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah. 26Then all the people, from the least important to the most important, ran away to Egypt. The army leaders also went. This was because they were afraid of the Babylonians.
Jehoiachin Is Set Free
27Jehoiachin king of Judah was held in Babylon for 37 years. In the thirty-seventh year Evil-Merodach became king of Babylon. He let Jehoiachin out of prison on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month. 28Evil-Merodach spoke kindly to Jehoiachin. He gave Jehoiachin a seat of honor. It was above the seats of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 29So Jehoiachin put away his prison clothes. For the rest of his life, he ate at the king’s table. 30Every day the king gave Jehoiachin an allowance. This lasted as long as he lived.
2 Kings 2
2 Kings 4
2 Kings 5
2 Kings 9
2 Kings 14
2 Kings 23
2 Kings 24
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
2 Kings 25
25
The Fall and Exile of Judah
Jer 39:1–10; 40:7–9; 41:1–18; 52:4–27; 2Ch36:17–20
1#Jer 34:1–6; 52:4–11In the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and set up camp near it. They built siege mounds against it all around. 2The city came under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 3On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was severe in the city, and there was no food for the people of the land. 4#Eze 33:21The city was breached, and all the fighting men fled by night by the way of thegate between the two walls, which is by the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. They went along the way of the Arabah. 5Then the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his army deserted him. 6#2Ki 23:33; Jer 34:21–22So they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they passed sentence upon him. 7#Jer 32:4–5; 39:6–7They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah. They bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon.
8#Jer 52:12–16In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month (that was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon), Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 9#Am 2:5; 2Ch 36:19He burned the house of the Lord, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every great house he burned with fire. 10#Ne 1:3All the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard tore down the walls of Jerusalem all around. 11The rest of the people who remained in the city, the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the crowd Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard took into exile. 12#2Ki 24:14; Jer 40:7But the captain of the bodyguard left some of the poor of the land to be vinedressers and farmers.
13#1Ki 7:15; 2Ch 36:18The bronze pillars that were in the house of the Lord, the stands, and the bronze sea that were in the house of the Lord the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and carried their bronze to Babylon. 14#Ex 27:3; 1Ki 7:47–50The pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the incense bowls, and all the bronze implements which were used in service they took away. 15The fire pans and sprinkling basins that were fine gold and fine silver the captain of the bodyguard took.
16#1Ki 7:47The two pillars, the one sea, and the stands, which Solomon had made for the house of the Lord—the bronze of all these implements was beyond weight. 17The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits,#About 27 feet, or 8.1 meters. and a bronze capital was on it. The height of the capital was three cubits.#About 41/2 feet, or 1.4 meters. Latticework and pomegranates, all of bronze, were on the capital all around. The second pillar with its latticework was like it.
18#1Ch 6:14; Ezr 7:1The captain of the bodyguard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold. 19#Est 1:14From the city he took a eunuch who was an officer over the fighting men, five men of the king’s council who were found in the city, the chief scribe of the army who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men from the people of the land who were found in the city. 20Nebuzaradan captain of the bodyguard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21#Dt 28:64; 2Ki 23:27Then the king of Babylon struck them down and killed them at Riblah in the land of Hamath.
Thus he exiled Judah from their land.
Gedaliah, Governor of Judah
22#Jer 39:14; 2Ki 22:12Over the people who remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, he appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan. 23#Jer 40:7–9When all the captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, that is, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah son of the Maakathite, they and their men. 24Gedaliah swore to them and to their men, and said to them, “Do not be afraid of being the servants of the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well for you.”
25But in the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal line, came with ten men and struck down Gedaliah. He died along with the Judeans and Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. 26#Jer 43:4–7Then all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the armies arose and went to Egypt, for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.
Jehoiachin Released from Prison
Jer 52:31–34
27#Jer 52:31–34; Ge 40:13In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, Awel-Marduk king of Babylon, in the year that he became king, released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. 28#Da 2:37; 5:18–19He spoke kindly to him, and gave him a throne above the thrones of the kings that were with him in Babylon. 29#2Sa 9:7He changed his prison garments, and he ate food continually before him all the days of his life. 30#Ne 11:23; 12:47His allowance was a regular allowance given him by the king every day, all the days of his life.
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