Jeremiah 52

₁Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. ₂He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as Jehoiakim had done. ₃It was because of the Lord’s anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, and in the end he thrust them from his presence.

Now Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

₄So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. They encamped outside the city and built siege works all around it. ₅The city was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.

₆By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat. ₇Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled. They left the city at night through the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, though the Babylonians were surrounding the city. They fled towards the Arabah, ₈but the Babylonian army pursued King Zedekiah and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him and scattered, ₉and he was captured.

He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced sentence on him. ₁₀There at Riblah the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; he also killed all the officials of Judah. ₁₁Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon, where he put him in prison till the day of his death.

₁₂On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard, who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. ₁₃He set fire to the temple of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down. ₁₄The whole Babylonian army, under the commander of the imperial guard, broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. ₁₅Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exile some of the poorest people and those who remained in the city, along with the rest of the craftsmen and those who had deserted to the king of Babylon. ₁₆But Nebuzaradan left behind the rest of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields.

₁₇The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars, the movable stands and the bronze Sea that were at the temple of the Lord and they carried all the bronze to Babylon. ₁₈They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes and all the bronze articles used in the temple service. ₁₉The commander of the imperial guard took away the basins, censers, sprinkling bowls, pots, lampstands, dishes and bowls used for drink offerings – all that were made of pure gold or silver.

₂₀The bronze from the two pillars, the Sea and the twelve bronze bulls under it, and the movable stands, which King Solomon had made for the temple of the Lord, was more than could be weighed. ₂₁Each pillar was eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference; each was four fingers thick, and hollow. ₂₂The bronze capital on the top of one pillar was five cubits high and was decorated with a network and pomegranates of bronze all around. The other pillar, with its pomegranates, was similar. ₂₃There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; the total number of pomegranates above the surrounding network was a hundred.

₂₄The commander of the guard took as prisoners Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest next in rank and the three doorkeepers. ₂₅Of those still in the city, he took the officer in charge of the fighting men, and seven royal advisors. He also took the secretary who was chief officer in charge of conscripting the people of the land, sixty of whom were found in the city. ₂₆Nebuzaradan the commander took them all and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. ₂₇There at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king had them executed.

So Judah went into captivity, away from her land.

₃₁In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the year Awel-Marduk became king of Babylon, on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month, he released Jehoiachin king of Judah and freed him from prison. ₃₂He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honour higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. ₃₃So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king’s table. ₃₄Day by day the king of Babylon gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance as long as he lived, till the day of his death.