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
Currently Selected:
2 Kings 25: ICB
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
2 Kings 25
25
1 In the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built forts against it around it. 2So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 3On the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine was severe in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land. 4Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden (now the Kasdim were against the city around it); and the king went by the way of the Arabah. 5But the Chaldean army pursued the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him. 6Then they captured the king and carried him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they passed judgement on him. 7They killed Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes, then put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him in fetters, and carried him to Babylon.
8 Now in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 9He burnt the LORD’s house, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He burnt every great house with fire. 10All the army of the Kasdim, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem. 11Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive the rest of the people who were left in the city and those who had deserted to the king of Babylon—all the rest of the multitude. 12But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to work the vineyards and fields.
13 The Kasdim broke up the pillars of bronze that were in the LORD’s house and the bases and the bronze sea that were in the LORD’s house, and carried the bronze pieces to Babylon. 14They took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the spoons, and all the vessels of bronze with which they ministered. 15The captain of the guard took away the fire pans, the basins, that which was of gold, for gold, and that which was of silver, for silver. 16The two pillars, the one sea, and the bases, which Solomon had made for the LORD’s house, the bronze of all these vessels was not weighed. 17The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits,#25:17 A cubit is the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow on a man’s arm, or about 18 inches or 46 centimetres. and a capital of bronze was on it. The height of the capital was three cubits, with network and pomegranates on the capital around it, all of bronze; and the second pillar with its network was like these.
18 The captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold; 19and out of the city he took an officer who was set over the men of war; and five men of those who saw the king’s face, who were found in the city; and the scribe, the captain of the army, who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the city. 20Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah. 21The king of Babylon attacked them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away captive out of his land.
22 As for the people who were left in the land of Judah whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, even over them he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, governor. 23Now when all the captains of the forces, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Yochanan the son of Kareah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men. 24Gedaliah swore to them and to their men, and said to them, “Don’t be afraid because of the servants of the Kasdim. Dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you.”
25 But in the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal offspring came, and ten men with him, and struck Gedaliah so that he died, with the Jews and the Kasdim that were with him at Mizpah. 26All the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces arose and came to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Kasdim. 27In the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, Evilmerodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, released Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison, 28and he spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon, 29and changed his prison garments. Jehoiachin ate bread before him continually all the days of his life; 30and for his allowance, there was a continual allowance given him from the king, every day a portion, all the days of his life.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
PUBLIC DOMAIN. "World Messianic Bible" is a trademark.