² The Lord sent Babylonian,^[a](A) Aramean,^(B) Moabite and Ammonite raiders^(C) against him to destroy^(D) Judah, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by his servants the prophets.^{(E) 3} Surely these things happened to Judah according to the Lord’s command,^(F) in order to remove them from his presence^(G) because of the sins of Manasseh^(H) and all he had done,

¹² Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his attendants, his nobles and his officials all surrendered^(A) to him.

In the eighth year of the reign of the king of Babylon, he took Jehoiachin prisoner. ¹³ As the Lord had declared,^(B) Nebuchadnezzar removed the treasures^(C) from the temple of the Lord and from the royal palace, and cut up the gold articles^(D) that Solomon^(E) king of Israel had made for the temple of the Lord. ¹⁴ He carried all Jerusalem into exile:^(F) all the officers and fighting men,^(G) and all the skilled workers and artisans—a total of ten thousand. Only the poorest^(H) people of the land were left.

¹⁵ Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin^(I) captive to Babylon. He also took from Jerusalem to Babylon the king’s mother,^(J) his wives, his officials and the prominent people^(K) of the land. ¹⁶ The king of Babylon also deported to Babylon the entire force of seven thousand fighting men, strong and fit for war, and a thousand skilled workers and artisans.^(L)

²⁰ He carried into exile^(A) to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants^(B) to him and his successors until the kingdom of Persia came to power.

The List of the Exiles Who Returned^(A)

2 Now these are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles,^(B) whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon^(C) had taken captive to Babylon (they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to their own town,^(D)

Daniel’s Training in Babylon

1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim^(A) king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar^(B) king of Babylon^(C) came to Jerusalem and besieged it.^{(D) 2} And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried^(E) off to the temple of his god in Babylonia^[a] and put in the treasure house of his god.^(F)

³ Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility^(G)—