UST 2 KI Chapter 25

◄ 2 KI 25 ║ ═ ©

25 Because Zedekiah had rebelled, King Nebuchadnezzar led his whole army to attack Jerusalem. They arrived there after Zedekiah had been ruling for nine years, on the tenth day of the tenth month of that year. They surrounded the city and built earthen ramps against its walls to help them attack it. 2 The Babylonians kept attacking the city for the next two years, until Zedekiah had been ruling for eleven years. 3 Because the Babylonians had surrounded the city, the people could not bring in any food. By the ninth day of the fourth month of that year, they had no food left. 4 Then the Chaldean soldiers that is, the Babylonian soldiers broke through the city wall and entered the city. King Zedekiah and the Judean soldiers tried to escape at night when the Chaldeans would not see them. They used the gate near the king’s garden to go through the inner and outer walls of the city. Zedekiah and the soldiers tried to escape through the Jordan River valley. But the Chaldeans had surrounded the city, and some of their soldiers saw where they went. 5 So some Chaldean soldiers chased after King Zedekiah. They caught up to him in the plains around the city of Jericho. His soldiers ran away instead of fighting to defend him. 6 So the Babylonian soldiers were able to capture King Zedekiah. They brought him to Nebuchadnezzar, who was in the city of Riblah. Nebuchadnezzar declared that Zedekiah was guilty of rebelling against him. 7 Then he forced Zedekiah to watch as his soldiers killed all of his sons. Then the soldiers gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes. They put bronze chains on his hands and feet and brought him as a prisoner to the city of Babylon.

8 Nebuzaradan was one of King Nebuchadnezzar’s officials. He commanded the royal bodyguards. He arrived in Jerusalem on the seventh day of the fifth month of that year. That was after Nebuchadnezzar had been ruling for 19 years. 9 He ordered his soldiers to burn down Yahweh’s temple, the king’s palace, and all the important buildings in Jerusalem. 10 Then the Chaldean soldiers who had come to Jerusalem with Nebuzaradan tore down the walls all around Jerusalem. 11 After that, he and his soldiers took to Babylon the people who were still alive in Jerusalem. They also took other people who lived in the region of Judah. Some Judeans had previously surrendered to the Babylonian army, and they took them away too. 12 But Nebuzaradan allowed some of the very poor people to stay in Judah to take care of the vineyards and to plant crops in the fields.

13 The Chaldean soldiers broke into pieces the bronze pillars, the bronze carts, and the giant water basin that people called the sea, all of which were in the temple courtyard, and they took all the bronze to Babylon. 14 They also took the pots, shovels, wick snuffers, incense dishes, and other bronze items that the priests used for their work in the temple. 15 The soldiers also took away the pans for carrying hot coals, the small bowls, and all the other items that were pure gold or pure silver. 16 There was too much bronze for the Babylonians to weigh in the two pillars, the carts, and the giant water basin that people called the sea. King Solomon had commanded his workers to make those things for Yahweh’s temple. 17 Each of the pillars was eight and one quarter meters tall. The bronze top of each pillar was one and one third meters tall. Solomon’s master craftsman had decorated the tops with bronze strands that he had formed into the shape of nets. He had also made bronze decorations in the shape of pomegranates for the pillar tops.

18 Nebuzaradan took some prisoners. These included the high priest Seraiah, Zephaniah, who was another leading priest, and the three priests who had supervised the courtyard entrance. 19 The prisoners also included the royal official responsible for the army, five of the king’s advisors who had not fled, the commander who recorded the names of Judean men as they came to serve as soldiers, and 60 men who were serving as soldiers and were still in the city. 20 Nebuzaradan took them all as prisoners to the king of Babylon at the city of Riblah. 21 There at the city of Riblah, in the province of Hamath, the king of Babylon had his soldiers kill all of the prisoners. That is what happened when the Babylonians forcefully took the people of Judah away from their land.

22 King Nebuchadnezzar allowed some people to continue living in Judah. He appointed Gedaliah to be their governor. Gedaliah was the son of Ahikam and the grandson of Shaphan. 23 There were some Judean army commanders and their soldiers whom the Babylonians had not captured. When they found out that Nebuchadnezzar had appointed Gedaliah as the governor of Judah, the commanders and soldiers went to meet with him at the city of Mizpah. These commanders were Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth from the city of Netophah, and Jaazaniah, the son of a man from the region of Maacah. 24 Gedaliah solemnly promised them that they could remain in Judah without being afraid of the Chaldean soldiers. He told them that if they obeyed the king of Babylon, they could live peacefully in the land. 25 But in the seventh month of that year, Ishmael son of Nethaniah went to Mizpah with ten of his soldiers. Ishmael was a descendant of King David through his grandfather Elishama. Ishmael and his men assassinated Gedaliah. They also assassinated the Judeans who were serving in his government and the Chaldean officials who were there. 26 This made the Judeans who were still living in the land very afraid of what the Chaldeans would do to them. So a large number of them fled to Egypt. The army commanders also fled there.

27 After the Babylonians took King Jehoiachin of Judah to Babylon, 37 years went by. Then Nebuchadnezzar’s son Evil Merodach became the king of Babylon. On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of his first year as king, he released Jehoiachin from prison. 28 He reassured Jehoiachin that he would treat him well, and he gave him a position of greater honor than the other captive kings whom the Babylonians had conquered and brought to their royal court. 29 He gave Jehoiachin new clothes to replace the clothes that he had been wearing in prison, and he allowed Jehoiachin to eat meals with him every day for the rest of his life. 30 The king of Babylon also gave Jehoiachin money to buy the things he needed. He gave him a regular amount that was sufficient for his needs. The king continued to do for as long as Jehoiachin lived.

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UST 2 KI Chapter 25

UST 2 KI Chapter 25