25 ¹ so on the tenth day of the tenth month of the ninth year of Zedekiah’s^[a] reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his entire army approached Jerusalem, attacked it, encamped against it, and built a siege wall that surrounded the city. ² The city remained under siege until the eleventh year of the reign of^[b] King Zedekiah. ³ By the ninth day of the fourth^[c] month, the resulting^[d] famine had become so severe in the city that no food remained for the people who lived in the land. ⁴ The city was breached, and the entire army left during the night through the gate that stood between the two walls beside the royal garden, even though the Chaldeans had surrounded the city. They escaped through the Arabah, ⁵ but the Chaldean army pursued the king and overtook him in the Jericho plains, where his entire army was scattered. ⁶ The Chaldeans captured the king and brought him to Riblah, where the king of Babylon determined his sentence. ⁷ They executed Zedekiah’s sons in his presence, blinded Zedekiah, bound him with bronze chains, and transported him to Babylon.

Jerusalem is Burned and the Temple Demolished

⁸ On the seventh^[e] day of the fifth month, which was during the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar’s reign as king of Babylon, captain of the guard Nebuzaradan, a servant of the king of Babylon, arrived in Jerusalem ⁹ and set fire to the Lord’s Temple, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He even incinerated the lavish^[f] homes. ¹⁰ The Chaldean army that accompanied the captain of the guard demolished the walls that surrounded Jerusalem. ¹¹ Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried the survivors of the people who remained in the city, those who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude into exile. ¹² However, the captain of the guard left some of the poor people of the land to work as vinedressers and farmers.

¹³ The Chaldeans also broke into pieces and carried back to Babylon the bronze pillars that stood in the Lord’s Temple, along with the stands and the bronze sea^[g] that used to be in the Lord’s Temple. ¹⁴ They also confiscated^[h] the pots, shovels, snuffers, spoons, and the rest of the bronze vessels that were used in ministry. ¹⁵ The captain of the guard also confiscated^[i] the fire pans, basins, and whatever had been crafted of pure gold and pure silver. ¹⁶ The bronze contained in the two pillars, the one sea, and the stands that Solomon had crafted for the Lord’s Temple could not be inventoried for weight. ¹⁷ The height of one of the pillars was eighteen cubits,^[j] and the capital on top of it was three cubits^[k] high.^[l] A latticework carved in the form of pomegranates encircled the capital, crafted completely out of brass. The second pillar was identical to the first.^[m]

Judah’s Leaders are Executed

¹⁸ The captain of the guard arrested Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, three temple officials,^{[n] 19} one overseer from the city who supervised the soldiers, five of the king’s advisors who had been discovered in the city, the scribe who served the army captain who mustered the army of the land, and 60 men of the land who were discovered in the city. ²⁰ Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took them to the king of Babylon at Riblah, ²¹ where the king of Babylon executed them in the land of Hamath. And so Judah was transported into exile from the land.

³ Because Jerusalem and Judah had angered the Lord, he cast them out of his presence. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon, ⁴ and in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Jerusalem with all his army. He encamped near it and set up siege works all around it. ⁵ The city was under siege until the eleventh year of the reign of^[a] King Zedekiah. ⁶ By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine became so severe that there was no food for the people of the land. ⁷ The wall of^[b] the city was broken through, and all the soldiers fled, leaving the city at night through the gate between the two walls next to the king’s garden, even though the Chaldeans were all around the city. They went in the direction of the Arabah.^[c]

⁸ The Chaldean army went after the king, overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his troops were scattered from him. ⁹ They captured the king and brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where the king of Babylon^[d] passed judgment on him. ¹⁰ The king of Babylon killed Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes, and he also killed all the Judean officials^[e] at Riblah. ¹¹ He blinded Zedekiah and bound him in bronze shackles. Then the king of Babylon took him to Babylon and put him in prison until he died.

The Destruction of the Temple

¹² In the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month—it was the nineteenth year of the reign of^[f] King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard who served^[g] the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem. ¹³ He burned the Lord’s Temple, the king’s house, and all the houses in Jerusalem. He also burned every public building^[h] with fire. ¹⁴ All the Chaldean troops who were with the captain of the guard tore down all the walls around Jerusalem. ¹⁵ Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile some of the poorest of the people, the rest of the people left in the city, the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen. ¹⁶ But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poorest people of the land to be vinedressers and farmers.^[i]

¹⁷ The Chaldeans broke in pieces the bronze pillars that were in the Lord’s Temple and the stands and the bronze sea that were in the Lord’s Temple, and they carried all the^[j] bronze to Babylon. ¹⁸ They took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the basins, the pans, and all the bronze utensils that were used in the temple service. ¹⁹ The captain of the guard took away the bowls, the fire pans, the basins, the pots, the lamp stands, the pans, and the bowls for libations, both those made of gold and those made of silver. ²⁰ There was too much bronze to weigh in the two pillars, the one sea, the twelve bronze oxen that were under the sea,^[k] and the stands which King Solomon had made for the Lord’s Temple. ²¹ Each of the pillars was twelve cubits^[l] high and its circumference twelve cubits.^[m] It was hollow and about a handbreadth^[n] thick. ²² On each pillar^[o] was a capital of bronze, and the height of each capital was five cubits.^[p] Latticework and pomegranates, all of bronze, were all around the capital. And the second pillar was like this, including the pomegranates. ²³ There were 96 pomegranates open to view.^[q] In all, there were 100 pomegranates all around the latticework.

Executions and Deportations to Babylon

²⁴ The captain of the guard arrested Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the next ranking priest,^[r] and the three guards of the gate.^{[s] 25} From the city he arrested one of the officers who had been in charge of the troops, seven men from the king’s personal advisors who were found in the city, the secretary of the commander of the army who mustered the people of the land, and 60 men of the people of the land who were found inside the city. ²⁶ Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard arrested them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. ²⁷ The king of Babylon struck them down and killed them at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah went into exile from the land.

²⁸ These are the people Nebuchadnezzar took into exile: in the seventh year, 3,023 Judeans; ²⁹ in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year, 832 people from Jerusalem; ³⁰ in Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty-third year, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took 745 people from Judah into exile. All the people taken into exile^[t] numbered 4,600.