Jeremiah 52

¹Zedekiʹah was twenty-one years old when he became king; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamuʹtal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ²And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that Jehoiʹakim had done. ³Surely because of the anger of the Lord things came to such a pass in Jerusalem and Judah that he cast them out from his presence.

And Zedekiʹah rebelled against the king of Babylon. ⁴And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadrezʹzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem, and they laid siege to it and built siegeworks against it round about. ⁵So the city was besieged till the eleventh year of King Zedekiʹah. ⁶On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city, that there was no food for the people of the land. ⁷Then a breach was made in the city; and all the men of war fled and went out from the city by night by the way of a gate between the two walls, by the king’s garden, while the Chaldeʹans were round about the city. And they went in the direction of the Arabah. ⁸But the army of the Chaldeʹans pursued the king, and overtook Zedekiʹah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him. ⁹Then they captured the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he passed sentence upon him. ¹⁰The king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiʹah before his eyes, and also slew all the princes of Judah at Riblah. ¹¹He put out the eyes of Zedekiʹah, and bound him in fetters, and the king of Babylon took him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death.

¹²In the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month—which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadrezʹzar, king of Babylon—Nebuʹzaradʹan the captain of the bodyguard who served the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem. ¹³And he burned the house of the Lord, and the king’s house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down. ¹⁴And all the army of the Chaldeʹans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down all the walls round about Jerusalem. ¹⁵And Nebuʹzaradʹan the captain of the guard carried away captive some of the poorest of the people and the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the artisans. ¹⁶But Nebuʹzaradʹan the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.

¹⁷And the pillars of bronze that were in the house of the Lord, and the stands and the bronze sea that were in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeʹans broke in pieces, and carried all the bronze to Babylon. ¹⁸And they took away the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the basins, and the dishes for incense, and all the vessels of bronze used in the temple service; ¹⁹also the small bowls, and the firepans, and the basins, and the pots, and the lampstands, and the dishes for incense, and the bowls for libation. What was of gold the captain of the guard took away as gold, and what was of silver, as silver. ²⁰As for the two pillars, the one sea, the twelve bronze bulls which were under the sea, and the stands, which Solomon the king had made for the house of the Lord, the bronze of all these things was beyond weight. ²¹As for the pillars, the height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, its circumference was twelve cubits, and its thickness was four fingers, and it was hollow. ²²Upon it was a capital of bronze; the height of the one capital was five cubits; a network and pomegranates, all of bronze, were upon the capital round about. And the second pillar had the like, with pomegranates. ²³There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; all the pomegranates were a hundred upon the network round about.

²⁴And the captain of the guard took Seraiʹah the chief priest, and Zephaniʹah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold; ²⁵and from the city he took an officer who had been in command of the men of war, and seven men of the king’s council, who were found in the city; and the secretary of the commander of the army who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the midst of the city. ²⁶And Nebuʹzaradʹan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. ²⁷And the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried captive out of its land.

²⁸This is the number of the people whom Nebuchadrezʹzar carried away captive: in the seventh year, three thousand and twenty-three Jews; ²⁹in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezʹzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred and thirty-two persons; ³⁰in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadrezʹzar, Nebuʹzaradʹan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred and forty-five persons; all the persons were four thousand and six hundred.

³¹And in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiʹachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, Evil-meroʹdach king of Babylon, in the year that he became king, lifted up the head of Jehoiʹachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison; ³²and he spoke kindly to him, and gave him a seat above the seats of the kings who were with him in Babylon. ³³So Jehoiʹachin put off his prison garments. And every day of his life he dined regularly at the king’s table; ³⁴as for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king according to his daily need, until the day of his death as long as he lived.