| International Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1Zedekiah was 21 years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for 11 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. | 1Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother's name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah. |
| 2Zedekiah had done evil in the LORD's sight, just as Jehoiakim had done. | 2He did what displeased the LORD just as Jehoiakim had done. |
| 3Because Jerusalem and Judah had angered the Lord, he cast them out of his presence. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon, | 3What follows is a record of what happened to Jerusalem and Judah because of the LORD's anger when he drove them out of his sight. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. |
| 4and 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. | 4King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Jerusalem with his whole army and set up camp outside it. They built siege ramps all around it. He arrived on the tenth day of the tenth month in the ninth year that Zedekiah ruled over Judah. |
| 5The city was under siege until the eleventh year of the reign of King Zedekiah. | 5The city remained under siege until Zedekiah's eleventh year. |
| 6By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine became so severe that there was no food for the people of the land. | 6By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city was so severe the residents had no food. |
| 7The wall of 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. | 7They broke through the city walls, and all the soldiers tried to escape. They left the city during the night. They went through the gate between the two walls that is near the king's garden. (The Babylonians had the city surrounded.) Then they headed for the Jordan Valley. |
| 8The Chaldean army went after the king, overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his troops were scattered from him. | 8But the Babylonian army chased after the king. They caught up with Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and his entire army deserted him. |
| 9They captured the king and brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where the king of Babylon passed judgment on him. | 9They captured him and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the territory of Hamath and he passed sentence on him there. |
| 10The king of Babylon killed Zedekiah's sons before his eyes, and he also killed all the Judean officials at Riblah. | 10The king of Babylon had Zedekiah's sons put to death while Zedekiah was forced to watch. He also had all the nobles of Judah put to death there at Riblah. |
| 11He 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. | 11He had Zedekiah's eyes put out and had him bound in chains. Then the king of Babylon had him led off to Babylon and he was imprisoned there until the day he died. |
| 12In the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month—it was the nineteenth year of the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard who served the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem. | 12On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard who served the king of Babylon, arrived in Jerusalem. |
| 13He burned the LORD's Temple, the king's house, and all the houses in Jerusalem. He also burned every public building with fire. | 13He burned down the LORD's temple, the royal palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem, including every large house. |
| 14All the Chaldean troops who were with the captain of the guard tore down all the walls around Jerusalem. | 14The whole Babylonian army that came with the captain of the royal guard tore down the walls that surrounded Jerusalem. |
| 15Nebuzaradan 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. | 15Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, took into exile some of the poor, the rest of the people who remained in the city, those who had deserted to him, and the rest of the craftsmen. |
| 16But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poorest people of the land to be vinedressers and farmers. | 16But he left behind some of the poor and gave them fields and vineyards. |
| 17The 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 bronze to Babylon. | 17The Babylonians broke the two bronze pillars in the temple of the LORD, as well as the movable stands and the large bronze basin called the "The Sea." They took all the bronze to Babylon. |
| 18They took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the basins, the pans, and all the bronze utensils that were used in the temple service. | 18They also took the pots, shovels, trimming shears, basins, pans, and all the bronze utensils used by the priests. |
| 19The 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. | 19The captain of the royal guard took the gold and silver bowls, censers, basins, pots, lampstands, pans, and vessels. |
| 20There was too much bronze to weigh in the two pillars, the one sea, the twelve bronze oxen that were under the sea, and the stands which King Solomon had made for the LORD's Temple. | 20The bronze of the items that King Solomon made for the LORD's temple (including the two pillars, the large bronze basin called "The Sea," the twelve bronze bulls under "The Sea," and the movable stands) was too heavy to be weighed. |
| 21Each of the pillars was twelve cubits high and its circumference twelve cubits. It was hollow and about a handbreadth thick. | 21Each of the pillars was about 27 feet high, about 18 feet in circumference, three inches thick, and hollow. |
| 22On each pillar was a capital of bronze, and the height of each capital was five cubits. Latticework and pomegranates, all of bronze, were all around the capital. And the second pillar was like this, including the pomegranates. | 22The bronze top of one pillar was about seven and one-half feet high and had bronze latticework and pomegranate-shaped ornaments all around it. The second pillar with its pomegranate-shaped ornaments was like it. |
| 23There were 96 pomegranates open to view. In all, there were 100 pomegranates all around the latticework. | 23There were ninety-six pomegranate-shaped ornaments on the sides; in all there were one hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments over the latticework that went around it. |
| 24The captain of the guard arrested Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the next ranking priest, and the three guards of the gate. | 24The captain of the royal guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest who was second in rank, and the three doorkeepers. |
| 25From 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. | 25From the city he took an official who was in charge of the soldiers, seven of the king's advisers who were discovered in the city, an official army secretary who drafted citizens for military service, and sixty citizens who were discovered in the middle of the city. |
| 26Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard arrested them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. | 26Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. |
| 27The king of Babylon struck them down and killed them at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah went into exile from the land. | 27The king of Babylon ordered them to be executed at Riblah in the territory of Hamath. So Judah was taken into exile away from its land. |
| 28These are the people Nebuchadnezzar took into exile: in the seventh year, 3,023 Judeans; | 28Here is the official record of the number of people Nebuchadnezzar carried into exile: In the seventh year, 3,023 Jews; |
| 29in Nebuchadnezzar's eighteenth year, 832 people from Jerusalem; | 29in Nebuchadnezzar's eighteenth year, 832 people from Jerusalem; |
| 30in Nebuchadnezzar's twenty-third year, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took 745 people from Judah into exile. All the people taken into exile numbered 4,600. | 30in Nebuchadnezzar's twenty-third year, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, carried into exile 745 Judeans. In all 4,600 people went into exile. |
| 31In the first year of his reign, King Evil-merodach of Babylon, showed favor to King Jehoiachin of Judah by releasing him from prison on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah. | 31In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month, Evil-Merodach, in the first year of his reign, pardoned King Jehoiachin of Judah and released him from prison. |
| 32He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat above the seats of the other kings who were in Babylon with him. | 32He spoke kindly to him and gave him a more prestigious position than the other kings who were with him in Babylon. |
| 33Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes and regularly dined with the king as long as he lived. | 33Jehoiachin took off his prison clothes and ate daily in the king's presence for the rest of his life. |
| 34As for his living expenses, a regular allowance was given him daily by the king of Babylon as long as he lived, until the day of his death. | 34He was given daily provisions by the king of Babylon for the rest of his life until the day he died. |
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