^18 (A)Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was ^(B)Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ^19 (C)He also did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. ²⁰ For because of the anger of the Lord this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, that He finally cast them out from His presence. ^(D)Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

The Fall and Captivity of Judah^(E)

25 Now it came to pass ^(F)in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and encamped against it; and they built a siege wall against it all around. ² So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. ³ By the ninth day of the ^(G)fourth month the famine had become so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.

⁴ Then ^(H)the city wall was broken through, and all the men of war fled at night by way of the gate between two walls, which was by the king’s garden, even though the Chaldeans were still encamped all around against the city. And ^(I)the king^[a] went by way of the ^[b]plain. ⁵ But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and they overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his army was scattered from him. ⁶ So they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon ^(J)at Riblah, and they pronounced judgment on him. ⁷ Then they killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, ^(K)put^[c] out the eyes of Zedekiah, bound him with bronze fetters, and took him to Babylon.

⁸ And in the fifth month, ^(L)on the seventh day of the month (which was ^(M)the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), ^(N)Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. ^9 (O)He burned the house of the Lord ^(P)and the king’s house; all the houses of Jerusalem, that is, all the houses of the great, ^(Q)he burned with fire. ¹⁰ And all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard ^(R)broke down the walls of Jerusalem all around.

¹¹ Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive ^(S)the rest of the people who remained in the city and the defectors who had deserted to the king of Babylon, with the rest of the multitude. ¹² But the captain of the guard ^(T)left some of the poor of the land as vinedressers and farmers. ^13 (U)The bronze ^(V)pillars that were in the house of the Lord, and ^(W)the carts and ^(X)the bronze Sea that were in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and ^(Y)carried their bronze to Babylon. ¹⁴ They also took away ^(Z)the pots, the shovels, the trimmers, the spoons, and all the bronze utensils with which the priests ministered. ¹⁵ The firepans and the basins, the things of solid gold and solid silver, the captain of the guard took away. ¹⁶ The two pillars, one Sea, and the carts, which Solomon had made for the house of the Lord, ^(AA)the bronze of all these articles was beyond measure. ^17 (AB)The height of one pillar was ^[d]eighteen cubits, and the capital on it was of bronze. The height of the capital was three cubits, and the network and pomegranates all around the capital were all of bronze. The second pillar was the same, with a network.

^18 (AC)And the captain of the guard took ^(AD)Seraiah the chief priest, ^(AE)Zephaniah the second priest, and the three doorkeepers. ¹⁹ He also took out of the city an officer who had charge of the men of war, ^(AF)five men of ^[e]the king’s close associates who were found in the city, the chief recruiting officer 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 So Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, took these and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. ²¹ Then the king of Babylon struck them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. ^(AG)Thus Judah was carried away captive from its own land.

Gedaliah Made Governor of Judah^(AH)

²² Then he made Gedaliah the son of ^(AI)Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, governor over ^(AJ)the people who remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left. ²³ Now when all the ^(AK)captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Johanan the son of Careah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and ^[f]Jaazaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men. ²⁴ And Gedaliah took an oath before them and their men, and said to them, “Do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.”

²⁵ But ^(AL)it happened in the seventh month that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with ten men and struck and killed Gedaliah, the Jews, as well as the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. ²⁶ And all the people, small and great, and the captains of the armies, arose ^(AM)and went to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

Zedekiah Reigns in Judah^(A)

^11 (B)Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. ¹² He did evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and ^(C)did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the Lord. ¹³ And he also ^(D)rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear an oath by God; but he ^(E)stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord God of Israel. ¹⁴ Moreover all the leaders of the priests and the people transgressed more and more, according to all the abominations of the nations, and defiled the house of the Lord which He had consecrated in Jerusalem.

The Fall of Jerusalem^(F)

^15 (G)And the Lord God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. ¹⁶ But ^(H)they mocked the messengers of God, ^(I)despised His words, and ^(J)scoffed at His prophets, until the ^(K)wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy.

^17 (L)Therefore He brought against them the king of the Chaldeans, who ^(M)killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, on the aged or the weak; He gave them all into his hand. ^18 (N)And all the articles from the house of God, great and small, the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and of his leaders, all these he took to Babylon. ^19 (O)Then they burned the house of God, broke down the wall of Jerusalem, burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all its precious possessions. ²⁰ And ^(P)those who escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon, ^(Q)where they became servants to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia,

The Fall of Jerusalem^(A)

39 In the ^(B)ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem, and besieged it. ² In the ^(C)eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the ^[a]city was penetrated.

^3 (D)Then all the princes of the king of Babylon came in and sat in the Middle Gate: Nergal-Sharezer, Samgar-Nebo, Sarsechim, ^[b]Rabsaris, Nergal-Sarezer, ^[c]Rabmag, with the rest of the princes of the king of Babylon.

^4 (E)So it was, when Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, that they fled and went out of the city by night, by way of the king’s garden, by the gate between the two walls. And he went out by way of the ^[d]plain. ⁵ But the Chaldean army pursued them and ^(F)overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. And when they had captured him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, to ^(G)Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced judgment on him. ⁶ Then the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his ^(H)eyes in Riblah; the king of Babylon also killed all the ^(I)nobles of Judah. ⁷ Moreover ^(J)he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and bound him with bronze ^[e]fetters to carry him off to Babylon. ^8 (K)And the Chaldeans burned the king’s house and the houses of the people with ^(L)fire, and broke down the ^(M)walls of Jerusalem. ^9 (N)Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive to Babylon the remnant of the people who remained in the city and those who ^(O)defected to him, with the rest of the people who remained. ¹⁰ But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left in the land of Judah the ^(P)poor people, who had nothing, and gave them vineyards and fields ^[f]at the same time.