² And the Lord sent against him ^(A)bands of Chaldeans, ^(B)bands of Arameans, ^(C)bands of Moabites, and bands of Ammonites. He sent them against Judah to destroy it, ^(D)in accordance with the word of the Lord which He had spoken through His servants the prophets. ^3 (E)It indeed came upon Judah at the ^[a]command of the Lord, to remove them from His sight ^(F)due to the sins of Manasseh, in accordance with everything that he had done,

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.

²⁰ He ^(A)took into exile those who had escaped from the sword to Babylon; and ^(B)they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia,

Number of Those Returning

2 ^(A)Now these are the ^[a]people of the province who came up out of the captivity of the exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had taken into exile to Babylon, and they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his city.

^6 (A)These are the ^[a]people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had taken into exile, and who returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his city,

The Choice Young Men

1 In the third year of the reign of ^(A)Jehoiakim king of Judah, ^(B)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. ² And the ^(C)Lord handed Jehoiakim king of Judah over to him, along with some of the ^(D)vessels of the house of God; and he brought them to the land of ^(E)Shinar, to the house of his ^[a]god, and he brought the vessels into the treasury of his ^[b](F)god.

³ Then the king told Ashpenaz, the chief of his ^[c]officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel, including some of the ^[d]royal ^(G)family and of the nobles,