⁴Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylonia. He marched out against Jerusalem. All of his armies went with him. It was in the ninth year of the rule of Zedekiah. It was on the tenth day of the tenth month. The armies set up camp outside the city. They set up ladders and built ramps and towers all around it. ⁵It was surrounded until the 11th year of King Zedekiah’s rule.

⁶By the ninth day of the fourth month, there wasn’t any food left in the city. So the people didn’t have anything to eat. ⁷Then the Babylonians broke through the city wall.

Judah’s whole army ran away. They left the city at night. They went out through the gate between the two walls that were near the king’s garden. They escaped even though the Babylonians surrounded the city. Judah’s army ran toward the Arabah Valley.

⁸But the armies of Babylonia chased King Zedekiah. They caught up with him in the flatlands near Jericho. All of his soldiers were separated from him. They had scattered in every direction. ⁹The king was captured.

He was taken to the king of Babylonia at Riblah. Riblah was in the land of Hamath. That’s where Nebuchadnezzar decided how he would be punished. ¹⁰At Riblah the king of Babylonia killed the sons of Zedekiah. He forced him to watch it with his own eyes. Nebuchadnezzar also killed all of the officials of Judah. ¹¹Then he poked out Zedekiah’s eyes. He put him in bronze chains. And he took him to Babylon. There he put Zedekiah in prison until the day he died.

¹²Nebuzaradan served the king of Babylonia. In fact, he was commander of the royal guard. He came to Jerusalem. It was in the 19th year that Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylonia. It was on the tenth day of the fifth month.

¹³Nebuzaradan set the Lord’s temple on fire. He also set fire to the royal palace and all of the houses in Jerusalem. He burned down every important building. ¹⁴The armies of Babylonia broke down all of the walls around Jerusalem. That’s what the commander told them to do.

¹⁵Some of the poorest people still remained in the city along with the others. But the commander Nebuzaradan took them away as prisoners. He also took the rest of the skilled workers. That included the people who had joined the king of Babylonia. ¹⁶But Nebuzaradan left the rest of the poorest people of the land behind. He told them to work in the vineyards and fields.

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