2 KingsChapter 25
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1So Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. This was in the ninth year that Zedekiah was king, on the tenth day of the tenth month. They set up camp outside the city. They built a siege wall all around it.a 2The army kept the city surrounded until King Zedekiah's eleventh year. 3By the ninth day of the fourth month, the hunger in the city was very bad. The people had no food left. 4Then the enemy broke through the city wall. The Chaldeans were all around the city. But all the soldiers ran away at night. They went out through the gate between the two walls near the king's garden. They headed toward the Arabah. 5But the Chaldean army chased the king. They caught up with him on the plains near Jericho. All of his soldiers left him and ran away. 6The Chaldeans grabbed the king. They brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah. There they decided how to punish him. 7They killed Zedekiah's sons while he watched. Then they put out his eyes. They tied him up with bronze chains and took him to Babylon. 8Nebuzaradan came to Jerusalem on the seventh day of the fifth month. It was the nineteenth year that Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon. Nebuzaradan was the captain of the guard. He served the king of Babylon. 9He burned down the house of the LORD and the royal palace. He burned all the houses of Jerusalem. He burned every important building. 10The whole Chaldean army was under the captain of the guard. They tore down the walls all around Jerusalem. 11Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took away the people who were still left in the city. He took them as captives. He also took the people who had gone over to the side of the king of Babylon. And he took the rest of the people. 12But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest people of the land. They were left to take care of the vineyards and fields. 13The Chaldeans broke up the bronze pillars in the house of the LORD. They broke up the stands and the huge bronze bowl called the Sea. Then they carried the bronze away to Babylon. 14They also took the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, and dishes. They took all the bronze things used for serving in the temple. 15The captain of the guard also took the incense burners and the sprinkling bowls. He took everything made of pure gold or fine silver. 16Solomon had made the two pillars, the Sea, and the stands that could be moved for the house of the LORD. There was so much bronze in all these things that no one could weigh it. 17Each pillar was 27 feet tall. The bronze top on each pillar was 4½ feet high. It had a net of bronze pomegranates all around it. The second pillar and its net were the same.b 18The captain of the guard also took Seraiah the chief priest as a prisoner. He took Zephaniah, the priest next in rank, and the three doorkeepers. 19He took some people who were still in the city. He took an official who had been in charge of the soldiers. He took five of the king's advisers. He took the scribe of the army commander, who signed up the people of the land for the army. And he took 60 men who were found in the city. 20Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took them all. He brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21There at Riblah in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon had them struck down and killed. So the people of Judah were taken away as captives from their own land. 22Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon put Gedaliah in charge of the people he had left in the land of Judah. Gedaliah was the son of Ahikam and the grandson of Shaphan. 23All the army commanders and their men heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor. So they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. They were Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah son of the Maacathite. Their men came with them. 24Gedaliah made a promise to them and their men. He said, "Don't be afraid of the Chaldean officials. Stay in the land and serve the king of Babylon. Then things will go well for you." 25But in the seventh month, Ishmael came with ten men. He was the son of Nethaniah and the grandson of Elishama, and he was from the royal family. They attacked and killed Gedaliah. They also killed the men of Judah and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. 26Then all the people, from the least important to the most important, ran away to Egypt. The army commanders went with them. They were afraid of the Chaldeans. 27Jehoiachin king of Judah had been a captive for 37 years. In that year Evil-merodach became king of Babylon. On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month, he let King Jehoiachin of Judah out of prison. 28He spoke kindly to Jehoiachin. He gave him a seat of honor above the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 29So Jehoiachin took off his prison clothes. For the rest of his life, he ate his meals at the king's table. 30Every day the king gave Jehoiachin what he needed. He did this for the rest of Jehoiachin's life.