“1 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth
month, in the tenth [day] of the month, [that] Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched
against it; and they built forts against it round about. 2 And the city
was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. 3 And on the ninth
[day] of the [fourth] month the famine prevailed in the city, and there
was no bread for the people of the land. 4 And the city was broken up,
and all the men of war [fled] by night by the way of the gate between
two walls, which [is] by the king’s garden: (now the Chaldees [were]
against the city round about:) and [the king] went the way toward the
plain. 5 And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and
overtook him in the plains of Jericho: and all his army were scattered
from him. 6 So they took the king, and brought him up to the king of
Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment upon him. 7 And they slew the
sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and
bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon.”
“8 And in the fifth month, on the seventh [day] of the month, which
[is] the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came
Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon,
unto Jerusalem: 9 And he burnt the house of the LORD, and the king’s
house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great [man’s] house
burnt he with fire. 10 And all the army of the Chaldees, that [were
with] the captain of the guard, brake down the walls of Jerusalem round
about. 11 Now the rest of the people [that were] left in the city, and
the fugitives that fell away to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of
the multitude, did Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carry away. 12
But the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land [to be]
vinedressers and husbandmen. 13 And the pillars of brass that [were] in
the house of the LORD, and the bases, and the brasen sea that [was] in
the house of the LORD, did the Chaldees break in pieces, and carried the
brass of them to Babylon. 14 And the pots, and the shovels, and the
snuffers, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they
ministered, took they away. 15 And the firepans, and the bowls, [and]
such things as [were] of gold, [in] gold, and of silver, [in] silver,
the captain of the guard took away. 16 The two pillars, one sea, and the
bases which Solomon had made for the house of the LORD; the brass of all
these vessels was without weight. 17 The height of the one pillar [was]
eighteen cubits, and the chapiter upon it [was] brass: and the height of
the chapiter three cubits; and the wreathen work, and pomegranates upon
the chapiter round about, all of brass: and like unto these had the
second pillar with wreathen work. 18 And the captain of the guard took
Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three
keepers of the door: 19 And out of the city he took an officer that was
set over the men of war, and five men of them that were in the king’s
presence, which were found in the city, and the principal scribe of the
host, which mustered the people of the land, and threescore men of the
people of the land [that were] found in the city: 20 And Nebuzaradan
captain of the guard took these, and brought them to the king of Babylon
to Riblah: 21 And the king of Babylon smote them, and slew them at
Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away out of their
land.”
“22 And [as for] the people that remained in the land of Judah, whom
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, even over them he made Gedaliah
the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, ruler. 23 And when all the
captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of
Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, there came to Gedaliah to Mizpah,
even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Careah, and
Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of
a Maachathite, they and their men. 24 And Gedaliah sware to them, and to
their men, and said unto them, Fear not to be the servants of the
Chaldees: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon; and it shall
be well with you. 25 But it came to pass in the seventh month, that
Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the seed royal,
came, and ten men with him, and smote Gedaliah, that he died, and the
Jews and the Chaldees that were with him at Mizpah. 26 And all the
people, both small and great, and the captains of the armies, arose, and
came to Egypt: for they were afraid of the Chaldees. 27 And it came to
pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king
of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth [day] of the
month, [that] Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the year that he began to
reign did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison; 28
And he spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the
kings that [were] with him in Babylon; 29 And changed his prison
garments: and he did eat bread continually before him all the days of
his life. 30 And his allowance [was] a continual allowance given him of
the king, a daily rate for every day, all the days of his life.” (2
Kings 25:1-30 AV)
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