Deportation to Babylon

¹⁰ At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon went up to Jerusalem, and the city came under siege. ¹¹ And Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came to the city, while his servants were besieging it. ¹² Then ^(A)Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his officials. And ^(B)the king of Babylon took him prisoner in the eighth year of his reign. ^13 (C)He also brought out from there all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house, and he ^(D)smashed all the articles of gold ^(E)that Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, just as the Lord had said. ¹⁴ Then ^(F)he led into exile all the people of Jerusalem and all the commanders and all the valiant warriors, ^(G)ten thousand exiles, and ^(H)all the craftsmen and the smiths. None were left ^(I)except the poorest people of the land.

¹⁵ So ^(J)he led Jehoiachin into exile to Babylon; also the king’s mother, the king’s wives, and his officials and the leading men of the land, he led into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. ¹⁶ And all the valiant men, ^(K)seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths, a thousand, all strong and fit for war, these too the king of Babylon brought into exile to Babylon.

Captivity in Babylon Begun

^10 (A)At the turn of the year King Nebuchadnezzar sent men and had him brought to Babylon with the valuable articles of the house of the Lord; and he made his relative ^(B)Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.

²⁰ which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he ^(A)led into exile Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem—

Message to the Exiles

29 Now these are the words of the ^(A)letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the exile, the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. ² (This was after King ^(B)Jeconiah and the ^(C)queen mother, the high officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metalworkers had departed from Jerusalem.)