The Fall of Jerusalem Recounted
(Psalm 74:1–23; Psalm 79:1–13; 2 Kings 24:18–20; 2 Chronicles 36:11–14)

1Zedekiah was a son of twenty-one years in his reigning, and eleven years he reigned in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

And He did the evil in the eyes of YHWH, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. For because of the anger of YHWH it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until His casting them from His presence.

And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

4And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, that came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon—he and all his army—against Jerusalem. And they encamped against it and built against it a siege wall all around. 5And the city came to be under siege until the one and tenth year of King Zedekiah.

6In the fourth month, on the ninth of the month, the hunger had become strong in the city, and there was not food for the people of the land. 7And the city was broken through, and all the men of war fled and went out from the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls that was by the garden of the king—and the Chaldeans† were upon the city all around.

They went by way of the Arabah,† 8and the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and they overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him.

9And they took the king, and brought up him to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath; and he spoke against him the judgment.

10And the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and all the officials of Judah he killed in Riblah. 11And he put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and he bound him in bronze fetters, and the king of Babylon took him to Babylon, and put him in the house of oversight until the day of his death.

The Temple Destroyed
(2 Kings 25:8–17)

12In the fifth month, on the tenth of the month—it was the ninth year and tenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guards, who served before the King of Babylon, into Jerusalem. 13And He burned the house of YHWH, and the house of the king, and all the houses of Jerusalem—and all the houses of the great he burned with fire. 14And all the surrounding walls of Jerusalem they broke down—all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guards.

And of the poor of the people and the rest of the people remaining in the city, and and those falling away who had fallen to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guards carried into exile. 16And of the poor of the land, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guards left behind, as vinedressers and as farmers.

17And the pillars of bronze that were in the house of YHWH, and the carts, and the sea of bronze that was in the house of YHWH, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and they carried away all their bronze to Babylon. 18And the pots, and the shovels, and the trimmers, and the bowls, and the spoons, and all the vessels of bronze with which they ministered, they took away. 19And the basins, and the firepans, and the bowls, and the pots, and the lampstands, and the spoons, and the cups—that which was pure gold and that which was pure silver, the captain of the guards took away.

20The two pillars, the one sea, and the twelve bronze bulls that were under it, and the carts that king Solomon had made for the house of YHWH. There was no weighing of the bronze of all these articles. 21As to the pillars, eighteen cubits was the height of the one pillar, and a measuring line of twelve cubits could turn around it;† its thickness was four fingers;† it was hollow. 22A capital of bronze was upon it, and the height of the one capital was five cubits,† and with a network and pomegranates on the capital all around, all of bronze; and like these for the second pillar, with pomegranates. 23The pomegranates were ninety-six on the side; all the pomegranates were a hundred on the lattice-work all around.

Captives Carried to Babylon
(2 Kings 25:18–21)

24And the captain of the guards took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold. 25And from the city he took a certain officer who had charge over the men of war, and seven men from those seeing the face of the king, who were found in the city; and the scribe of an official of the army, the one conscripting the people of the land; and sixty men from the people of the land who were found in the midst of the city.

26Nebuzaradan the captain of the guards took these, and he brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27And the king of Babylon struck them, and he put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. And Judah was carried away captive from his own land.

This is the people whom Nebuchadnezzar exiled:

In the seventh year, three thousand and twenty-three Jews;

in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, eight hundred thirty-two persons from Jerusalem;

in the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guards exiled seven hundred forty-five Jews;

all the souls were four thousand and six hundred.

Jehoiachin Released from Prison
(2 Kings 25:27–30)

31And it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the two and tenth month, on the twenty-fifth of the month, in the year of his becoming king that Evil-Merodach king of Babylon lifted up the head of Jehoiachin† king of Judah, and he brought him out of the house of imprisonment. 32And he spoke to him kindly, and he set his seat above the seat of the kings who were with him in Babylon.

33And Jehoiachin changed the garments of his imprisonment, and he ate bread before his face continually all the days of his life. 34And his ration was a regular ration given to him by the king of Babylon, a portion for the day on each day until the day of his death, all the days of his life.

Footnotes:

7 That is, the Babylonians; similarly in verses 8, 9, 14, and 17
7 Or the Jordan Valley
21 Each pillar was approximately 27 feet high and 18 feet in circumference (8.2 meters high and 5.5 meters in circumference).
21 4 fingers is approximately 2.9 inches or 7.4 centimeters.
22 5 cubits is approximately 7.5 feet or 2.3 meters.
31 Or pardoned Jehoiachin