| Berean Study Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army. They encamped outside the city and built a siege wall all around it. | 1So on January 15, during the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon led his entire army against Jerusalem. They surrounded the city and built siege ramps against its walls. |
| 2And the city was kept under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year. | 2Jerusalem was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah’s reign. |
| 3By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so severe that the people of the land had no food. | 3By July 18 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign, the famine in the city had become very severe, and the last of the food was entirely gone. |
| 4Then the city was breached; and though the Chaldeans had surrounded the city, all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden. They headed toward the Arabah, | 4Then a section of the city wall was broken down. Since the city was surrounded by the Babylonians, the soldiers waited for nightfall and escaped through the gate between the two walls behind the king’s garden. Then they headed toward the Jordan Valley. |
| 5but the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was separated from him. | 5But the Babylonian troops chased the king and overtook him on the plains of Jericho, for his men had all deserted him and scattered. |
| 6The Chaldeans seized the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where they pronounced judgment on him. | 6They captured the king and took him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where they pronounced judgment upon Zedekiah. |
| 7And they slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon. | 7They made Zedekiah watch as they slaughtered his sons. Then they gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him in bronze chains, and led him away to Babylon. The Temple Destroyed |
| 8On the seventh day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign over Babylon, Nebuzaradan captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem. | 8On August 14 of that year, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard and an official of the Babylonian king, arrived in Jerusalem. |
| 9He burned down the house of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem—every significant building. | 9He burned down the Temple of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He destroyed all the important buildings in the city. |
| 10And the whole army of the Chaldeans under the captain of the guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem. | 10Then he supervised the entire Babylonian army as they tore down the walls of Jerusalem on every side. |
| 11Then Nebuzaradan captain of the guard carried into exile the people who remained in the city, along with the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon and the rest of the population. | 11Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took as exiles the rest of the people who remained in the city, the defectors who had declared their allegiance to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the population. |
| 12But the captain of the guard left behind some of the poorest of the land to tend the vineyards and fields. | 12But the captain of the guard allowed some of the poorest people to stay behind to care for the vineyards and fields. |
| 13Moreover, the Chaldeans broke up the bronze pillars and stands and the bronze Sea in the house of the LORD, and they carried the bronze to Babylon. | 13The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars in front of the LORD’s Temple, the bronze water carts, and the great bronze basin called the Sea, and they carried all the bronze away to Babylon. |
| 14They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, dishes, and all the articles of bronze used in the temple service. | 14They also took all the ash buckets, shovels, lamp snuffers, ladles, and all the other bronze articles used for making sacrifices at the Temple. |
| 15The captain of the guard also took away the censers and sprinkling bowls—anything made of pure gold or fine silver. | 15The captain of the guard also took the incense burners and basins, and all the other articles made of pure gold or silver. |
| 16As for the two pillars, the Sea, and the movable stands that Solomon had made for the house of the LORD, the weight of the bronze from all these articles was beyond measure. | 16The weight of the bronze from the two pillars, the Sea, and the water carts was too great to be measured. These things had been made for the LORD’s Temple in the days of Solomon. |
| 17Each pillar was eighteen cubits tall. The bronze capital atop one pillar was three cubits high, with a network of bronze pomegranates all around. The second pillar, with its network, was similar. | 17Each of the pillars was 27 feet tall. The bronze capital on top of each pillar was 7 1/2 feet high and was decorated with a network of bronze pomegranates all the way around. |
| 18The captain of the guard also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of second rank, and the three doorkeepers. | 18Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took with him as prisoners Seraiah the high priest, Zephaniah the priest of the second rank, and the three chief gatekeepers. |
| 19Of those still in the city, he took a court official who had been appointed over the men of war, as well as five royal advisors. He also took the scribe of the captain of the army, who had enlisted the people of the land, and sixty men who were found in the city. | 19And from among the people still hiding in the city, he took an officer who had been in charge of the Judean army; five of the king’s personal advisers; the army commander’s chief secretary, who was in charge of recruitment; and sixty other citizens. |
| 20Nebuzaradan captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. | 20Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took them all to the king of Babylon at Riblah. |
| 21There at Riblah in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death. So Judah was taken into exile, away from its own land. | 21And there at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon had them all put to death. So the people of Judah were sent into exile from their land. Gedaliah Governs in Judah |
| 22Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, over the people he had left behind in the land of Judah. | 22Then King Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan as governor over the people he had left in Judah. |
| 23When all the commanders of the armies and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah son of the Maacathite, as well as their men. | 23When all the army commanders and their men learned that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor, they went to see him at Mizpah. These included Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, Jezaniah son of the Maacathite, and all their men. |
| 24And Gedaliah took an oath before them and their men, assuring them, “Do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you.” | 24Gedaliah vowed to them that the Babylonian officials meant them no harm. “Don’t be afraid of them. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and all will go well for you,” he promised. |
| 25In the seventh month, however, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family, came with ten men and struck down and killed Gedaliah, along with the Judeans and Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. | 25But in midautumn of that year, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and grandson of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family, went to Mizpah with ten men and killed Gedaliah. He also killed all the Judeans and Babylonians who were with him at Mizpah. |
| 26Then all the people small and great, together with the commanders of the army, arose and fled to Egypt for fear of the Chaldeans. | 26Then all the people of Judah, from the least to the greatest, as well as the army commanders, fled in panic to Egypt, for they were afraid of what the Babylonians would do to them. Hope for Israel’s Royal Line |
| 27On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Judah’s King Jehoiachin, in the year Evil-merodach became king of Babylon, he released King Jehoiachin of Judah from prison. | 27In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, Evil-merodach ascended to the Babylonian throne. He was kind to Jehoiachin and released him from prison on April 2 of that year. |
| 28And he spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and set his throne above the thrones of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. | 28He spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and gave him a higher place than all the other exiled kings in Babylon. |
| 29So Jehoiachin changed out of his prison clothes, and he dined regularly at the king’s table for the rest of his life. | 29He supplied Jehoiachin with new clothes to replace his prison garb and allowed him to dine in the king’s presence for the rest of his life. |
| 30And the king provided Jehoiachin a daily portion for the rest of his life. | 30So the king gave him a regular food allowance as long as he lived. |
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