2Ki 25, 2Ch 36:11-21 | ESV | STEP | And in the ninth year of his reign , in the tenth month , on the tenth day of the month , Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem and laid siege to it. And they built siegeworks all around it.

1 ^aAnd in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, ^bNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem and laid siege to it. ^cAnd they built siegeworks all around it. 2 So the city was besieged till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 3 On the ninth day of the fourth month ^dthe famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. 4 Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, by ^ethe king’s garden, and ^fthe Chaldeans were around the city. And they went in the direction of the ^gArabah. 5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. 6 Then they captured the king ^hand brought him up to the king of Babylon at ⁱRiblah, and they passed sentence on him. 7 They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, ^jand put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains and took him to Babylon.

8 ^kIn the fifth month, on ^lthe seventh day of the month—that was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 9 ^mAnd he burned the house of the Lord ⁿand the king’s house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down. 10 And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, ^obroke down the walls around Jerusalem. 11 ^pAnd the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the multitude, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile. 12 But the captain of the guard left ^qsome of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.

13 ^rAnd the pillars ^sof bronze that were in the house of the Lord, and ^tthe stands and ^uthe bronze sea that were in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried the bronze to Babylon. 14 ^vAnd they took away the pots and the shovels and the snuffers and the dishes for incense and all the vessels of bronze used in the temple service, 15 the fire pans also and the bowls. What was of gold the captain of the guard took away as gold, and what was of silver, as silver. 16 As for the two pillars, the one sea, and the stands that Solomon had made for the house of the Lord, ^wthe bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight. 17 ^xThe height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, ^{▼▼A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters} and on it was a capital of bronze. The height of the capital was three cubits. A latticework and pomegranates, all of bronze, were all around the capital. And the second pillar had the same, with the latticework.

18 ^zAnd the captain of the guard took ^aaSeraiah the chief priest and ^abZephaniah the second priest and the three keepers of the threshold; 19 and from the city he took an officer who had been in command of the men of war, and ^acfive men of the king’s council who were found in the city; and the secretary of the commander of the army, who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the city. 20 And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at ^adRiblah. 21 And the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at ^aeRiblah in the land of Hamath. ^afSo Judah was taken into exile out of its land.

Gedaliah Made Governor of Judah

22 And over the people who remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, he appointed ^agGedaliah the son of ^ahAhikam, son of Shaphan, governor. 23 ^aiNow when all the captains and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah governor, they came with their men to Gedaliah at ^ajMizpah, namely, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite. 24 And Gedaliah swore to them and their men, saying, “Do not be afraid because of the Chaldean officials. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.” 25 ^akBut in the seventh month, ^alIshmael the son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with ten men and struck down Gedaliah and put him to death along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. 26 ^amThen all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces arose and went to Egypt, for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

Jehoiachin Released from Prison

27 ^anAnd in the thirty-seventh year of ^aothe exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, graciously ^apfreed ^{▼▼Hebrew reign, lifted up the head of} Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. 28 And he spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat above the seats of the kings who were with him in Babylon. 29 So Jehoiachin put off his prison garments. And every day of his life ^arhe dined regularly at the king’s table, 30 and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, according to his daily needs, as long as he lived.

2 Chronicles 36:11-21

11 ^asZedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. 12 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God. He did not humble himself before ^atJeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the Lord. 13 ^auHe also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. ^avHe stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord, the God of Israel. 14 All the officers of the priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations. And they polluted the house of the Lord that he had made holy in Jerusalem.

15 The Lord, the God of their fathers, ^awsent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. 16 ^axBut they kept mocking the messengers of God, ^aydespising his words and scoffing at his prophets, ^azuntil the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no remedy.

Jerusalem Captured and Burned

17 ^baTherefore he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or aged. He gave them all into his hand. 18 ^bbAnd all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon. 19 ^bcAnd they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem and burned all its palaces with fire and destroyed all its precious vessels. 20 He ^bdtook into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, ^beand they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, 21 to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had ^bfenjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate ^bgit kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.