Jeremiah 52:4–16

⁴So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth^j day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem^k with his whole army. They encamped outside the city and built siege works^l all around it.^{m 5}The city was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.

⁶By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat.^{n 7}Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled.^o They left the city at night through the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, though the Babylonians^a were surrounding the city. They fled toward the Arabah,^{b 8}but the Babylonian^c army pursued King Zedekiah and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him and scattered, ⁹and he was captured.^p

He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah^q in the land of Hamath,^r where he pronounced sentence on him. ¹⁰There at Riblah the king of Babylon killed the sons^s of Zedekiah before his eyes; he also killed all the officials of Judah. ¹¹Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon, where he put him in prison till the day of his death.^t

¹²On the tenth day of the fifth^u month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan^v commander of the imperial guard, who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. ¹³He set fire^w to the temple^x of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses^y of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down. ¹⁴The whole Babylonian army, under the commander of the imperial guard, broke down all the walls^z around Jerusalem. ¹⁵Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exile^a some of the poorest people and those who remained in the city, along with the rest of the craftsmen^d and those who had deserted^b to the king of Babylon. ¹⁶But Nebuzaradan left behind^c the rest of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields.