¹⁴ He deported all Jerusalem and all the commanders and all the best soldiers^(A)—ten thousand captives^(B) including all the craftsmen and metalsmiths.^(C) Except for the poorest people of the land,^(D) no one remained.

¹⁵ Nebuchadnezzar deported Jehoiachin to Babylon. He took the king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officials, and the leading men of the land into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.^{(E) 16} The king of Babylon brought captive into Babylon all seven thousand of the best soldiers and one thousand craftsmen and metalsmiths—all strong and fit for war.

³ The king ordered Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the Israelites from the royal family^(A) and from the nobility— ⁴ young men without any physical defect, good-looking, suitable for instruction in all wisdom,^(B) knowledgeable, perceptive, and capable of serving in the king’s palace.^(C) He was to teach them the Chaldean language^(D) and literature.