1Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began his reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah, of Libnah. 2And he did that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. 3For this reason, the anger of the LORD rose against Jerusalem and Judah, till He had banished them from His presence. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

4And so on the tenth day of the tenth month of the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, came against Jerusalem with all his army; and besieged it, building forts all around Jerusalem. 5So the city was under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 6And by the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine was severe in the city; there was no food for the people in the city. 7At which time the city wall was broken through, and all its defenders fled from the city by night via the gate between the two walls, which was near the king's garden, even though the Chaldeans had the city surrounded, and they fled through the Arabah. 8But the army of the Chaldeans pursued and overtook King Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his army deserted him. 9Then they captured the king, and took him to Riblah, in the land of Hamath, before King Nebuchadrezzar, where he pronounced judgment upon him. 10And the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; as well as all the officials of Judah, there in Riblah. 11Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and Nebuchadrezzar had him bound in chains, and took him to Babylon, and put him in prison until the day of his death.

12Now on the tenth day of the fifth month of the nineteenth year of (the reign of) Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard under Nebuchadrezzar, came into Jerusalem, 13And he burned the house (Temple) of the LORD, and the king's palace; and all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the important buildings. 14And the army of the Chaldeans, that were with Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard, broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. 15Then Nebuzar-adan carried away captive certain of the poorest people, and the people who remained in the city, and those who had surrendered to the king of Babylon, all that remained. 16Except Nebuzar-adan left certain of the poor of the land to tend the vineyards and fields (2Kings 25:11-12). 17The Chaldeans also broke the pillars of bronze, its bases, and the bronze sea that were in the Temple of the LORD, and carried all the bronze from them to Babylon. 18They also took away all the pots, shovels, snuffers, bowls, spoons, and all the bronze utensils which the priests had used when they ministered. 19And he also took these items which were made of gold: basins, firepans, bowls, pots, the lampstands, the spoons, and the cups; and anything made of silver. 20The weight of all the bronze from two bronze pillars, one sea, twelve bulls that supported the bases, which King Solomon had made in the Temple of the LORD; was beyond measure. 21And concerning those pillars, the height of each of them was eighteen cubits (27 feet); with a circumference of twelve cubits (18 feet), and they were four fingers in thickness, being hollow. 22And the height of two bronze capitals atop of them was five cubits (7½ feet), decorated all around with a network and pomegranates, all of bronze. 23There were ninety-six pomegranates on a side; and all the pomegranates upon the network were a hundred all around.

24And the captain of the guard took Seraiah, the chief priest, Zephaniah, the second ranking priest, and the three door-keepers. 25He also took out of the city a court official who oversaw the men of war; seven men who were the king's advisors; the principal scribe (secretary) of the army, who mustered the soldiers of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land; who were found in the city. 26So Nebuzar-adan brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah, 27Where King Nebuchadrezzar had them put to death, in the land of Hamath. Thus, Judah departed his own land and went into captivity.

28This is the number of people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year: three thousand twenty-three Jews. 29Then in his eighteenth year, he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty-two persons; 30And in the twentieth-third year of Nebuchadrezzar, Nebuzar-adan, carried seven hundred forty-five of the Jews away as captives. All the persons were four thousand, six hundred.

31And on the twenty-fifth day in the twelfth month, of the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, Evil-merodach ascended the throne of Babylon; and in the first year of his reign, he freed Jehoiachin, king of Judah, and brought him out of prison, 32He spoke kindly to him, and set his seat (elevated him) above the seats of the other kings that were with him in Babylon, 33And he replaced his prison garments; and he ate regularly at the king’s table all the rest of his life. 34And the king of Babylon gave Jehoiachin a daily food allowance, until the day he died.