Jer 52 | NASB2020 | STEP | Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king , and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem ; and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah .

Jeremiah 52

The Fall of Jerusalem

1 ^aZedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was ^{▼▼Another reading is Hamital
,} ^cHamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of ^dLibnah. 2 He did ^eevil in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with everything that ^fJehoiakim had done. 3 For because of the ^ganger of the Lord this came about in Jerusalem and Judah, until He drove them out from His presence. And Zedekiah ^hrevolted against the king of Babylon. 4 ⁱNow it came about in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, camped against it, and built a ^{▼▼I.e., a defensive wall
,} ^kbulwark all around ^{▼▼Lit against it}it. 5 ^mSo the city was under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 6 On the ninth day of the ⁿfourth month the ^ofamine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. 7 Then the city was ^pbreached, and all the ^qwarriors fled and left the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls which was by the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were ^{▼▼Lit against the city on every side
,} ^sall around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah. 8 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and ^tovertook Zedekiah in the ^{▼▼Heb Arabah}desert plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. 9 Then they captured the king and ^vbrought him up to the king of Babylon at ^wRiblah in the land of ^xHamath, and he ^{▼▼Lit spoke judgments with}passed sentence on him. 10 And the king of Babylon ^zslaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also slaughtered all the commanders of Judah in Riblah. 11 Then he ^aablinded the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him with bronze shackles and brought him to Babylon and put him in prison until the day of his death.

12 ^abNow on the tenth day of the fifth month, which was the ^acnineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, ^adNebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, who ^{▼▼Lit stood before the king}was in the service of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 13 And he ^afburned the house of the Lord, the ^agking’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every large house he burned with fire. 14 So the entire army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard ^ahtore down all the walls around Jerusalem. 15 Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard ^aitook into exile some of the poorest of the people, the rest of the people who were left in the city, the ^ajdeserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen. 16 But ^akNebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and farmers.

17 Now the bronze ^alpillars which belonged to the house of the Lord and the ^amstands and the bronze ^{▼▼I.e., large basin
,} ^aosea, which were in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans smashed to pieces and carried all their bronze to Babylon. 18 They also took the ^appots, the shovels, the snuffers, the basins, the ^{▼▼Or spoons for incense}pans, and all the bronze vessels which were used in temple service. 19 The captain of the guard also took the ^arbowls, the firepans, the basins, the pots, the lampstands, the ^{▼▼Or spoons for incense}pans, and the drink offering bowls, whatever was fine gold, and whatever was fine silver. 20 The two pillars, the one ^{▼▼As in LXX and Syriac; MT omits the sea; i.e., large basin}sea, and the twelve bronze bulls that were under ^{▼▼As in LXX and Syriac; MT omits the sea; i.e., large basin}the sea, and the stands, which King Solomon had made for the house of the Lord--the bronze of all these vessels was ^avbeyond weight. 21 As for the pillars, the ^awheight of each pillar was ^{▼▼About 27 ft. high and 18 ft. in circumference or 8 m and 5.4 m}eighteen cubits, and ^{▼▼Lit a thread of 12 cubits would encircle it}it was twelve cubits in ^azcircumference and four fingers in thickness, and hollow. 22 Also, a ^bacapital of bronze was on top of it; and the height of each capital was ^{▼▼About 7.5 ft. or 2.3 m}five cubits, with latticework and ^bcpomegranates on the capital all around, all of bronze. And the second pillar was like these, including pomegranates. 23 There were ninety-six ^{▼▼Lit windward}exposed pomegranates; all ^bethe pomegranates numbered a hundred on the latticework all around.

24 Then the captain of the guard took ^bfSeraiah the chief priest and ^bgZephaniah the second priest, with the three ^{▼▼Lit keepers of the door
,} ^biofficers of the temple. 25 He also took from the city one official who was overseer of the warriors, seven ^{▼▼Lit men of those seeing the king’s face}of the ^bkking’s advisers who were found in the city, the scribe of the commander of the army who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men from the people of the land who were found inside the city. 26 Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguards took them and ^blbrought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27 Then the king of Babylon ^bmstruck them and put them to death in Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was ^bnled into exile from its land.

28 These are the people whom ^boNebuchadnezzar took into exile: in the ^{▼▼Or possibly seventeenth}seventh year 3,023 Jews; 29 in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar 832 persons from Jerusalem; 30 in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, ^bqNebuzaradan the captain of the guard took into exile 745 Jewish people; there were 4,600 people in all.

31 ^brNow it came about in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth of the month, that ^{▼▼Or Awil-Marduk (“Man of Marduk”)}Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, ^{▼▼Lit lifted up the head of
,} ^bushowed favor to Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison. 32 ^bvThen he spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the thrones of the kings who were with him in Babylon. 33 So ^{▼▼Lit he}Jehoiachin ^bxchanged his prison clothes, and ^{▼▼Lit ate bread
,} ^bzhad his meals in ^{▼▼Lit his presence}the king’s presence regularly all the days of his life. 34 And as his allowance, a ^cbregular allowance was given to him by the king of Babylon, a portion for each day, all the days of his life until the day of his death.