2 Kings 24–25

¹In his days hath Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon come up, and Jehoiakim is to him a servant three years; and he turneth and rebelleth against him, ²and Jehovah sendeth against him the troops of the Chaldeans, and the troops of Aram, and the troops of Moab, and the troops of the sons of Ammon, and He sendeth them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of Jehovah, that He spake by the hand of His servants the prophets; ³only, by the command of Jehovah it hath been against Judah to turn them aside from His presence, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did, ⁴and also the innocent blood that he hath shed, and he filleth Jerusalem with innocent blood, and Jehovah was not willing to forgive. ⁵And the rest of the matters of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, are they not written on the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah? ⁶And Jehoiakim lieth with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigneth in his stead. ⁷And the king of Egypt hath not added any more to go out from his own land, for the king of Babylon hath taken, from the brook of Egypt unto the river Phrat, all that had been to the king of Egypt.

⁸A son of eighteen years is Jehoiachin in his reigning, and three months he hath reigned in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother is Nehushta, daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem, ⁹and he doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that his fathers did. ¹⁰At that time come up have servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Jerusalem, and the city goeth into siege, ¹¹and Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon cometh against the city, and his servants are laying siege to it, ¹²and Jehoiachin king of Judah goeth out unto the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his chiefs, and his eunuchs, and the king of Babylon taketh him in the eighth year of his reign, ¹³and bringeth out thence all the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and the treasures of the house of the king, and cutteth in pieces all the vessels of gold that Solomon king of Israel made in the temple of Jehovah, as Jehovah had spoken. ¹⁴And he hath removed all Jerusalem, and all the chiefs, and all the mighty ones of valour—ten thousand is the removal—and every artificer and smith, none hath been left save the poor of the people of the land. ¹⁵And he removeth Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the mother of the king, and the wives of the king, and his eunuchs, and the mighty ones of the land—he hath caused a removal to go from Jerusalem to Babylon, ¹⁶and all the men of valour seven thousand, and the artificers and the smiths a thousand, the whole are mighty men, warriors; and the king of Babylon bringeth them in a captivity to Babylon. ¹⁷And the king of Babylon causeth Mattaniah his father’s brother to reign in his stead, and turneth his name to Zedekiah. ¹⁸A 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, ¹⁹and he doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah according to all that Jehoiakim did, ²⁰for, by the anger of Jehovah it hath been against Jerusalem and against Judah, till he cast them out from His presence, that Zedekiah rebelleth against the king of Babylon.

Chapter 25

¹And it cometh to pass, in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth of the month, come hath Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, he and all his force, against Jerusalem, and encampeth against it, and buildeth against it a fortification round about. ²And the city entereth into siege till the eleventh year of king Zedekiah, ³on the ninth of the month—when the famine is severe in the city, and there hath not been bread for the people of the land, ⁴then the city is broken up, and all the men of war go by night the way of the gate, between the two walls that are by the garden of the king, and the Chaldeans are against the city round about, and the king goeth the way of the plain. ⁵And the force of the Chaldeans pursue after the king, and overtake him in the plains of Jericho, and all his force have been scattered from him; ⁶and they seize the king, and bring him up unto the king of Babylon, to Riblah, and they speak with him—judgment. ⁷And the sons of Zedekiah they have slaughtered before his eyes, and the eyes of Zedekiah he hath blinded, and bindeth him with brazen fetters, and they bring him to Babylon.

⁸And in the fifth month, on the seventh of the month (it is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), hath Nebuzaradan chief of the executioners, servant of the king of Babylon, come to Jerusalem, ⁹and he burneth the house of Jehovah, and the house of the king, and all the houses of Jerusalem, yea, every great house he hath burned with fire; ¹⁰and the walls of Jerusalem round about have all the forces of the Chaldeans, who are with the chief of the executioners, broken down. ¹¹And the rest of the people, those left in the city, and those falling who have fallen to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude, hath Nebuzaradan chief of the executioners removed; ¹²and of the poor of the land hath the chief of the executioners left for vine-dressers and for husbandmen. ¹³And the pillars of brass that are in the house of Jehovah, and the bases, and the sea of brass, that is in the house of Jehovah, have the Chaldeans broken in pieces, and bear away their brass to Babylon. ¹⁴And the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass with which they minister they have taken, ¹⁵and the fire-pans, and the bowls that are wholly of silver, hath the chief of the executioners taken. ¹⁶The two pillars, the one sea, and the bases that Solomon made for the house of Jehovah, there was no weighing of the brass of all these vessels; ¹⁷eighteen cubits is the height of the one pillar, and the chapiter on it is of brass, and the height of the chapiter is three cubits, and the net and the pomegranates are on the chapiter round about—the whole is of brass; and like these hath the second pillar, with the net. ¹⁸And the chief of the executioners taketh Seraiah the head priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold, ¹⁹and out of the city he hath taken a certain eunuch who is appointed over the men of war, and five 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 city, ²⁰and Nebuzaradan chief of the executioners taketh them, and causeth them to go unto the king of Babylon, to Libnah, ²¹and 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 land.

²²And the people that is left in the land of Judah whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon hath left—he appointeth over them Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan. ²³And all the heads of the forces hear—they and the men—that the king of Babylon hath appointed Gedaliah, and they come in unto Gedaliah, to Mizpah, even Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and Johanan son of Kareah, and Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah son of the Maachathite—they and their men; ²⁴and Gedaliah sweareth to them, and to their men, and saith to them, ‘Be not afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans, dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it is good for you.’ ²⁵And it cometh to pass, in the seventh month, come hath Ishmael son of Nathaniah, son of Elishama of the seed of the kingdom, and ten men with him, and they smite Gedaliah, and he dieth, and the Jews and the Chaldeans who have been with him in Mizpah. ²⁶And all the people rise, from small even unto great, and the heads of the forces, and come in to Egypt, for they have been afraid of the presence of the Chaldeans. ²⁷And 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 seventh of the month hath Evil-Merodach king of Babylon lifted up, in the year of his reigning, the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, out of the house of restraint, ²⁸and speaketh with him good things and putteth his throne above the throne of the kings who are with him in Babylon, ²⁹and hath changed the garments of his restraint, and he hath eaten bread continually before him all days of his life, ³⁰and his allowance—a continual allowance—hath been given to him from the king, the matter of a day in its day, all days of his life.

Chapter 1