New Living Translation

Darby Bible Translation

So on January 15,a during the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon led his entire army against Jerusalem. They surrounded the city and built siege ramps against its walls.

1

Nebuchadnezzar Besieges Jerusalem

And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, [that] Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built turrets against it round about.

2

Jerusalem was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah’s reign.

2

And the city was besieged until the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.

3

By July 18 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign,b the famine in the city had become very severe, and the last of the food was entirely gone.

3

On the ninth of the [fourth] month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.

4

Then a section of the city wall was broken down. Since the city was surrounded by the Babylonians,c the soldiers waited for nightfall and escapedd through the gate between the two walls behind the king’s garden. Then they headed toward the Jordan Valley.e

4

And the city was broken into; and all the men of war [fled] by night, by the way of the gate between the two walls, which [leads] to the king's garden (now the Chaldeans were by the city round about); and they went the way toward the plain.

5

But the Babylonianf troops chased the king and overtook him on the plains of Jericho, for his men had all deserted him and scattered.

5

And the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.

6

They captured the king and took him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where they pronounced judgment upon Zedekiah.

6

And they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon unto Riblah; and they pronounced judgment upon him,

7

They made Zedekiah watch as they slaughtered his sons. Then they gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him in bronze chains, and led him away to Babylon.

7

and slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with chains of brass, and carried him to Babylon.

8

The Temple Destroyed

On August 14 of that year,g which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard and an official of the Babylonian king, arrived in Jerusalem.

8

The Temple Destroyed

And in the fifth month, on the seventh of the month, which was in the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzar-adan, captain of the body-guard, servant of the king of Babylon, came unto Jerusalem;

9

He burned down the Temple of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He destroyed all the important buildingsh in the city.

9

and he burned the house of Jehovah, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; and every great [man's] house he burned with fire.

10

Then he supervised the entire Babylonian army as they tore down the walls of Jerusalem on every side.

10

And all the army of the Chaldeans that were with the captain of the body-guard broke down the walls of Jerusalem round about.

11

Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took as exiles the rest of the people who remained in the city, the defectors who had declared their allegiance to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the population.

11

And Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard carried away captive the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the deserters that had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude.

12

But the captain of the guard allowed some of the poorest people to stay behind to care for the vineyards and fields.

12

But the captain of the body-guard left of the poor of the land for vinedressers and husbandmen.

13

The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars in front of the LORD’s Temple, the bronze water carts, and the great bronze basin called the Sea, and they carried all the bronze away to Babylon.

13

And the brazen pillars that were in the house of Jehovah, and the bases, and the brazen sea that was in the house of Jehovah, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and carried the brass thereof to Babylon.

14

They also took all the ash buckets, shovels, lamp snuffers, ladles, and all the other bronze articles used for making sacrifices at the Temple.

14

The cauldrons also and the shovels and the knives and the cups, and all the vessels of copper wherewith they ministered, they took away.

15

The captain of the guard also took the incense burners and basins, and all the other articles made of pure gold or silver.

15

And the censers and the bowls, that which was of gold in gold, and that which was of silver in silver, the captain of the body-guard took away.

16

The weight of the bronze from the two pillars, the Sea, and the water carts was too great to be measured. These things had been made for the LORD’s Temple in the days of Solomon.

16

The two pillars, the one sea, and the bases which Solomon had made for the house of Jehovah: for the brass of all these vessels there was no weight.

17

Each of the pillars was 27 feeti tall. The bronze capital on top of each pillar was 7 1/2 feetj high and was decorated with a network of bronze pomegranates all the way around.

17

The height of one pillar was eighteen cubits, and the capital upon it was brass, and the height of the capital three cubits; and the network and the pomegranates, upon the capital round about, all of brass: and similarly for the second pillar with the network.

18

Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took with him as prisoners Seraiah the high priest, Zephaniah the priest of the second rank, and the three chief gatekeepers.

18

And the captain of the body-guard took Seraiah the high priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three doorkeepers.

19

And from among the people still hiding in the city, he took an officer who had been in charge of the Judean army; five of the king’s personal advisers; the army commander’s chief secretary, who was in charge of recruitment; and sixty other citizens.

19

And out of the city he took a chamberlain that was set over the men of war, and five men of them that were in the king's presence, who were found in the city, and the scribe of the captain of the host, who enrolled the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land that were found in the city.

20

Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took them all to the king of Babylon at Riblah.

20

And Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah;

21

And there at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon had them all put to death. So the people of Judah were sent into exile from their land.

21

and the king of Babylon smote them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive out of his land.

22

Gedaliah Governs in Judah

Then King Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan as governor over the people he had left in Judah.

22

Gedaliah Made Governor of Judah

And [as for] the people that remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left behind, over them he appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan.

23

When all the army commanders and their men learned that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor, they went to see him at Mizpah. These included Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, Jezaniahk son of the Maacathite, and all their men.

23

And all the captains of the forces, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, and they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, namely, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.

24

Gedaliah vowed to them that the Babylonian officials meant them no harm. “Don’t be afraid of them. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and all will go well for you,” he promised.

24

And Gedaliah swore unto them and to their men, and said to them, Fear not to be servants of the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.

25

But in midautumn of that year,l Ishmael son of Nethaniah and grandson of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family, went to Mizpah with ten men and killed Gedaliah. He also killed all the Judeans and Babylonians who were with him at Mizpah.

25

And it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal seed, came, and ten men with him, and smote Gedaliah, that he died, and the Jews and the Chaldeans that were with him at Mizpah.

26

Then all the people of Judah, from the least to the greatest, as well as the army commanders, fled in panic to Egypt, for they were afraid of what the Babylonians would do to them.

26

And all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces, arose and came to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

27

Hope for Israel’s Royal Line

In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, Evil-merodach ascended to the Babylonian throne. He was kind tom Jehoiachin and released himn from prison on April 2 of that year.o

27

Jehoiachin Released from Prison

And it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh of the month, [that] Evil-Merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison;

28

He spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and gave him a higher place than all the other exiled kings in Babylon.

28

and he spoke kindly to him, and set his seat above the seat of the kings that were with him in Babylon.

29

He supplied Jehoiachin with new clothes to replace his prison garb and allowed him to dine in the king’s presence for the rest of his life.

29

And he changed his prison garments; and he ate bread before him continually all the days of his life;

30

So the king gave him a regular food allowance as long as he lived.

30

and his allowance was a continual allowance given him by the king, every day a portion, all the days of his life.

Parallel

New Living Translation

Darby Bible Translation

2 Kings 25

2 Kings 25