17 Now the Chaldeans broke into pieces the bronze pillars for the Lord’s temple and the water carts and the bronze basin[a] that were in the Lord’s temple,(A) and they carried all the bronze to Babylon. 18 They also took the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, sprinkling basins, dishes, and all the bronze articles used in the temple service. 19 The captain of the guards took away the bowls, firepans, sprinkling basins, pots, lampstands, pans, and drink offering bowls(B)—whatever was gold or silver.

20 As for the two pillars, the one basin, with the twelve bronze oxen under it, and the water carts[b] that King Solomon had made for the Lord’s temple, the weight of the bronze of all these articles was beyond measure. 21 One pillar was 27 feet[c] tall, had a circumference of 18 feet,[d] was hollow—four fingers thick— 22 and had a bronze capital on top of it.(C) One capital, encircled by bronze grating and pomegranates, stood 7½ feet[e] high. The second pillar was the same, with pomegranates. 23 Each capital had ninety-six pomegranates all around it. All the pomegranates around the grating numbered one hundred.

24 The captain of the guards also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of the second rank, and the three doorkeepers. 25 From the city he took a court official[f] who had been appointed over the warriors; seven trusted royal aides[g] found in the city; the secretary of the commander of the army, who enlisted the people of the land for military duty; and sixty men from the common people[h] who were found within the city. 26 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guards, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27 The king of Babylon put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah went into exile from its land.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. 52:17 Lit sea
  2. 52:20 LXX, Syr; MT reads oxen under the water carts
  3. 52:21 Lit 18 cubits
  4. 52:21 Lit 12 cubits
  5. 52:22 Lit five cubits
  6. 52:25 Or a eunuch
  7. 52:25 Lit seven men who look on the king’s face
  8. 52:25 Lit the people of the land

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