⁸On the seventh day of the fifth month of the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia, Nebuzaradan, adviser to the king and commander of his army, entered Jerusalem. ⁹^*He burnt down the Temple, the palace, and the houses of all the important people in Jerusalem, ¹⁰and his soldiers tore down the city walls. ¹¹Then Nebuzaradan took away to Babylonia the people who were left in the city, the remaining skilled workmen,^h and those who had deserted to the Babylonians. ¹²But he left in Judah some of the poorest people, who owned no property, and put them to work in the vineyards and fields.

¹³^*The Babylonians broke in pieces the bronze columns and the carts that were in the Temple, together with the large bronze tank, and they took all the bronze to Babylon. ¹⁴^*They also took away the shovels and the ash containers used in cleaning the altar, the tools used in tending the lamps, the bowls used for catching the blood from the sacrifices, the bowls used for burning incense, and all the other bronze articles used in the temple service. ¹⁵They took away everything that was made of gold or silver, including the small bowls and the pans used for carrying live coals. ¹⁶The bronze objects that King Solomon had made for the Temple—the two columns, the carts, and the large tank—were too heavy to weigh. ¹⁷The two columns were identical: each one was 8 metres high, with a bronze capital on top, 1.3 metres high. All round each capital was a bronze grating decorated with pomegranates made of bronze.

The People of Judah Are Taken to Babylonia

¹⁸In addition, Nebuzaradan, the commanding officer, took away as prisoners Seraiah the High Priest, Zephaniah the priest next in rank, and the three other important temple officials. ¹⁹From the city he took the officer who had been in command of the troops, five of the king’s personal advisers who were still in the city, the commander’s assistant, who was in charge of military records, and 60 other important men. ²⁰Nebuzaradan took them to the king of Babylonia, who was in the city of Riblah

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Footnotes

hProbable text (see Jer 52:15) skilled workmen; Hebrew crowd.

Cross references

*25.9: 1 K 9:8
*25.13 a: 1 K 7:15–26; 2 Ch 3:15–17 25.13 b: 1 K 7:23–26; 2 Ch 4:2–5
*25.14: 1 K 7:45; 2 Ch 4:16