Nebuchadnezzar’s Siege of Jerusalem

25 In the ninth year^(A) of Zedekiah’s reign,^(B) on the tenth day of the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem with his entire army.^(C) They laid siege to the city and built a siege wall against it all around.^{(D) 2} The city was under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year.

³ By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that the common people had no food.^{(E) 4} Then the city was broken into,^(F) and all the warriors fled^(G) at night by way of the city gate between the two walls near the king’s garden,^(H) even though the Chaldeans surrounded the city. As the king made his way along the route to the Arabah,^{(I) 5} the Chaldean army pursued him and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. Zedekiah’s entire army left him and scattered.^{(J) 6} The Chaldeans seized the king^(K) and brought him up to the king of Babylon^(L) at Riblah,^(M) and they passed sentence on him. ⁷ They slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes. Finally, the king of Babylon blinded Zedekiah, bound him in bronze chains, and took him to Babylon.^(N)

The Fall of Jerusalem to Babylon

39 In the ninth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, in the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem with his entire army and laid siege to it.^{(A) 2} In the fourth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year, on the ninth day of the month, the city was broken into.^{(B) 3} All the officials of the king of Babylon entered and sat at the Middle Gate: Nergal-sharezer, Samgar, Nebusarsechim^[a] the chief of staff, Nergal-sharezer the chief soothsayer, and all the rest of the officials of Babylon’s king.^(C)

⁴ When King Zedekiah of Judah and all the fighting men saw them, they fled. They left the city at night by way of the king’s garden^(D) through the city gate between the two walls. They left along the route to the Arabah.^{(E) 5} However, the Chaldean army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. They arrested him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon’s king, at Riblah in the land of Hamath. The king passed sentence on him there.^(F)

⁶ At Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes, and he also slaughtered all Judah’s nobles. ⁷ Then he blinded Zedekiah and put him in bronze chains to take him to Babylon.^{(G) 8} The Chaldeans next burned down the king’s palace and the people’s houses and tore down the walls of Jerusalem.^{(H) 9} Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guards,^(I) deported the rest of the people to Babylon—those who had remained in the city and those deserters who had defected to him along with the rest of the people who remained.

⁴ In the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem with his entire army. They laid siege to the city and built a siege wall against it all around. ⁵ The city was under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year.

⁶ By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that the common people had no food. ⁷ Then the city was broken into, and all the warriors fled. They left the city at night by way of the city gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans surrounded the city. They made their way along the route to the Arabah.^{(A) 8} The Chaldean army pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. Zedekiah’s entire army left him and scattered. ⁹ The Chaldeans seized the king and brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he passed sentence on him.

¹⁰ At Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes, and he also slaughtered the Judean commanders. ¹¹ Then he blinded Zedekiah and bound him with bronze chains. The king of Babylon brought Zedekiah to Babylon, where he kept him in custody^[a] until his dying day.^(B)

The News of Jerusalem’s Fall

²¹ In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and reported, “The city has been taken!”