12 Then on the 10th of the fifth month in the nineteenth year of the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nevu-Zaradan came to Yerushalem (Jerusalem). He was the commander of the king’s bodyguards and a servant of the Babylonian king. 13 He burnt down Yahweh’s house, the king’s palace, and all the homes in Yerushalem, as well as every important building in the city.[ref] 14 As for the walls all around Yerushalem, they were pulled down by the Babylonian army who were with the commander of the bodyguards. 15 Some of the poorer people and the rest of the people who remained in the city, as well as those who’d defected to the Babylonian king, and the rest of the craftsmen were taken into exile by Nevu-Zaradan, 16 However, Nevu-Zaradan, the commander of the bodyguards, left some of the poorest people to work the vineyards and the fields.

17 As for the bronze pillars that were part of Yahweh’s temple, and the large bronze basin called ‘The Sea’, and the stands that were in it, the Chaldeans broke them into pieces and carried all the bronze back to Babylon.[ref] 18 The pots, shovels, lamp trimmers, bowls, and all the bronze utensils that the priests had used when serving in the temple, were all taken away by the Chaldeans. 19 Also, the basins and incense burners, the bowls, pots, lampstands, pans, and basins that were made of gold or silver, were taken away by the commander of the king’s bodyguards. 20 The two pillars, the large bronze basin known as ‘The Sea’, and the twelve bronze bulls that were under the stands, things that Shelomoh (Solomon) had made for Yahweh’s temple, contained too much bronze to weigh. 21 (Each pillar was eight metres high with a circumference of nearly six metres. Each pillar was hollow with a 8cm thick wall 22 with a bronze capital on the top. Each capital was over two metres high, with bronze latticework and bronze pomegranates all around. 23 There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides of each capital, and another hundred pomegranates above the surrounding latticework.)