8 On the seventh day of the fifth month of Babylonian King Nevukadnetstsar’s nineteenth year as king, his servant Nevuzaradan, who was his chief bodyguard, went to Yerushalem. 9 He set fire to Yahweh’s temple and the palace, and all of Yerushalem’s houses, so no important building remained. 10 Then the army under the command of Nevuzaradan tore down the walls surrounding Yerushalem. 11 He exiled all the rest of the people from the city, all the surrendered soldiers, and the rest of the population, 12 but he let some of the poorest people remain on the land to look after the vineyards and as farmers.

13 The Babylonians smashed the bronze pillars and the bases and the bronze ‘sea’ from the temple, and took all the bronze to Babylon. 14 They also took the pots and shovels, the snuffers and spoons, and all the bronze utensils used in the temple activities. 15 They took the fire-pans and the gold and silver bowls. 16 The bronze from the two pillars, the ‘sea’, and the bases that had been made for the temple by Shelomoh (Solomon) was too heavy to be weighed. 17 Each pillar was over eight metres high, plus a bronze capital on top that was over a metre high. They were decorated with latticework with bronze pomegranates all around.