The Fall of Jerusalem Recounted

(Psalm 74:1-23; Psalm 79:1-13)

1A son of twenty and one years is Zedekiah in his reigning, and eleven years he hath reigned in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother is Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 2and he doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that Jehoiakim hath done, 3for, because of the anger of Jehovah, it hath been in Jerusalem and Judah till He hath cast them from before His face, and Zedekiah doth rebel against the king of Babylon. 4And it cometh to pass, in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth of the month, come hath Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon -- he and all his force -- against Jerusalem, and they encamp against it, and build against it a fortification round about; 5and the city cometh into siege till the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. 6In the fourth month, in the ninth of the month, when the famine is severe in the city, and there hath been no bread for the people of the land, 7then is the city broken up, and all the men of war flee, and go forth from the city by night, the way of the gate between the two walls, that is by the king's garden -- and the Chaldeans are by the city round about -- and they go the way of the plain. 8And the forces of the Chaldeans pursue after the king, and overtake Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his forces have been scattered from him, 9and they capture the king, and bring him up unto the king of Babylon to Riblah, in the land of Hamath, and he speaketh with him -- judgments. 10And the king of Babylon slaughtereth the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and also all the princes of Judah hath he slaughtered in Riblah; 11and the eyes of Zedekiah he hath blinded, and he bindeth him in brazen fetters, and the king of Babylon bringeth him to Babylon, and putteth him in the house of inspection unto the day of his death.

The Temple and the City Burned

12And in the fifth month, in the tenth of the month -- it is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon -- come hath Nebuzar-Adan, chief of the executioners; he hath stood before the king of Babylon in Jerusalem, 13and he burneth the house of Jehovah, and the house of the king, and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house he hath burned with fire, 14and all the walls of Jerusalem round about broken down have all the forces of the Chaldeans that are with the chief of the executioners. 15And of the poor of the people, and the remnant of the people who are left in the city, and those who are falling away, who have fallen unto the king of Babylon, and the remnant of the multitude, hath Nebuzar-Adan chief of the executioners, removed; 16and of the poor of the land hath Nebuzar-Adan, chief of the executioners, left for vine-dressers and for husbandmen.

17And the pillars of brass that are to the house of Jehovah, and the bases, and the brasen sea that is in the house of Jehovah, have the Chaldeans broken, and they bear away all the brass of them to Babylon; 18and the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the bowls, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass with which they minister, they have taken away; 19and the basins, and the fire-pans, and the bowls, and the pots, and the candlesticks, and the spoons, and the cups, the gold of that which is gold, and the silver of that which is silver, hath the chief of the executioners taken. 20The two pillars, the one sea, and the twelve brazen oxen that are beneath the bases, that king Solomon made for the house of Jehovah, there was no weighing of the brass of all these vessels. 21As to the pillars, eighteen cubits is the height of the one pillar, and a cord of twelve cubits doth compass it, and its thickness is four fingers hollow. 22And the chapiter upon it is of brass, and the height of the one chapiter is five cubits, and net-work and pomegranates are on the chapiter round about, the whole is of brass; and like these have the second pillar, and pomegranates. 23And the pomegranates are ninety and six on a side, all the pomegranates are a hundred on the net-work round about.

Captives Carried to Babylon

24And the chief of the executioners taketh Seraiah the head priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold, 25and out of the city he hath taken a certain eunuch, who hath been inspector over the men of war, and seven men of those seeing the king's face, who have been found in the city, and the head scribe of the host, who mustereth the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land, who are found in the midst of the city; 26and Nebuzar-Adan, chief of the executioners, taketh them, and bringeth them unto the king of Babylon to Riblah, 27and the king of Babylon smiteth them, and putteth them to death in Riblah, in the land of Hamath, and he removeth Judah from off its own ground.

28This is the people whom Nebuchadrezzar hath removed: in the seventh year, of Jews, three thousand and twenty and three; 29in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar -- from Jerusalem, souls, eight hundred thirty and two; 30in the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar, hath Nebuzar-Adan chief of the guard removed of Jewish souls, seven hundred forty and five; all the souls are four thousand and six hundred.

Evil-Merodach Releases Jehoiachin

31And it cometh to pass, in the thirty and seventh year of the removal of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the twenty and fifth of the month, hath Evil-Merodach king of Babylon lifted up, in the year of his reign, the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and bringeth him out from the house of restraint, 32and speaketh with him good things, and setteth his throne above the throne of the kings who are with him in Babylon, 33and he hath changed his prison garments, and he hath eaten bread before him continually, all the days of his life. 34And his allowance -- a continual allowance -- hath been given to him by the king of Babylon, the matter of a day in its day, till the day of his death -- all days of his life.