2 Kings 25
25
1-7The revolt dates from the ninth year and tenth month of Zedekiah’s reign. Nebuchadnezzar set out for Jerusalem immediately with a full army. He set up camp and sealed off the city by building siege mounds around it. The city was under siege for nineteen months (until the eleventh year of Zedekiah). By the fourth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year, on the ninth day of the month, the famine was so bad that there wasn’t so much as a crumb of bread for anyone. Then there was a breakthrough. At night, under cover of darkness, the entire army escaped through an opening in the wall (it was the gate between the two walls above the King’s Garden). They slipped through the lines of the Babylonians who surrounded the city and headed for the Jordan on the Arabah Valley road. But the Babylonians were in pursuit of the king and they caught up with him in the Plains of Jericho. By then Zedekiah’s army had deserted and was scattered. The Babylonians took Zedekiah prisoner and marched him off to the king of Babylon at Riblah, then tried and sentenced him on the spot. Zedekiah’s sons were executed right before his eyes; the summary murder of his sons was the last thing he saw, for they then blinded him. Securely handcuffed, he was hauled off to Babylon.
8-12In the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, on the seventh day of the fifth month, Nebuzaradan, the king of Babylon’s chief deputy, arrived in Jerusalem. He burned The Temple of God to the ground, went on to the royal palace, and then finished off the city—burned the whole place down. He put the Babylonian troops he had with him to work knocking down the city walls. Finally, he rounded up everyone left in the city, including those who had earlier deserted to the king of Babylon, and took them off into exile. He left a few poor dirt farmers behind to tend the vineyards and what was left of the fields.
13-15The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars, the bronze washstands, and the huge bronze basin (the Sea) that were in The Temple of God and hauled the bronze off to Babylon. They also took the various bronze-crafted liturgical accessories used in the services of Temple worship, as well as the gold and silver censers and sprinkling bowls. The king’s deputy didn’t miss a thing—he took every scrap of precious metal he could find.
16-17The amount of bronze they got from the two pillars, the Sea, and all the washstands that Solomon had made for The Temple of God was enormous—they couldn’t weigh it all! Each pillar stood twenty-seven feet high, plus another four and a half feet for an ornate capital of bronze filigree and decorative fruit.
18-21The king’s deputy took a number of special prisoners: Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the associate priest, three wardens, the chief remaining army officer, five of the king’s counselors, the accountant, the chief recruiting officer for the army, and sixty men of standing from among the people. Nebuzaradan the king’s deputy marched them all off to the king of Babylon at Riblah. And there at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon killed the lot of them in cold blood.
Judah went into exile, orphaned from her land.
22-23Regarding the common people who were left behind in Judah, this: Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, as their governor. When veteran army officers among the people heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. Among them were Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite, and some of their followers.
24Gedaliah assured the officers and their men, giving them his word, “Don’t be afraid of the Babylonian officials. Go back to your farms and families and respect the king of Babylon. Trust me, everything is going to be all right.”
25Some time later—it was in the seventh month—Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama (he had royal blood in him), came back with ten men and killed Gedaliah, the traitor Jews, and the Babylonian officials who were stationed at Mizpah—a bloody massacre.
26But then, afraid of what the Babylonians would do, they all took off for Egypt, leaders and people, small and great.
27-30When Jehoiachin king of Judah had been in exile for thirty-seven years, Evil-Merodach became king in Babylon and let Jehoiachin out of prison. This release took place on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month. The king treated him most courteously and gave him preferential treatment beyond anything experienced by the other political prisoners held in Babylon. Jehoiachin took off his prison garb and for the rest of his life ate his meals in company with the king. The king provided everything he needed to live comfortably.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
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.