Jeremiah 39:1-14 - The Fall Of Jerusalem

¹ In the ninth year of Zedekiah, the king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and laid siege to it. ² In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on [the] ninth [day] of the month, the city was taken by assault. ³ And all the officials of the king of Babylon came and sat in the Middle Gate: Nergal-sharezer, Samgar-nebo, Sarsechim [the] chief officer, Nergal-sharezer [the] high official, with all the rest of the officials of the king of Babylon.

⁴ {And then} {when} Zedekiah the king of Judah saw them, and all {the soldiers} [with him], they fled and went out [at] night from the city [by] the way of the garden of the king through [the] gate between the walls. And they went out toward the Jordan Valley. ⁵ But the army of [the] Chaldeans pursued after them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. And they took him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon [at] Riblah in the land of Hamath. And he pronounced {sentence} on him.

⁶ And the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah at Riblah before his eyes. The king of Babylon also slaughtered all the nobles of Judah. ⁷ Then he blinded the eyes of Zedekiah and tied him up with bronze fetters to bring him [to] Babylon. ⁸ And the Chaldeans burned the palace of the king and the houses of the people with fire and broke down the walls of Jerusalem. ⁹ Then the rest of the people who were left in the city, and those deserting who had deserted to him, and the rest of the people who remained, Nebuzaradan, [the] captain of [the] guard, deported [to] Babylon. ¹⁰ And some of the poor people, {who had nothing}, Nebuzaradan, [the] captain of [the] guard, left in the land of Judah. And he gave them vineyards and fields on that day.

¹¹ And Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon commanded concerning Jeremiah {through} Nebuzaradan, [the] captain of [the] guard, {saying}, ¹² "Take him and set your eyes on him. And you must not do something bad to him, {but only} that which he speaks to you, so do with him." ¹³ So Nebuzaradan, [the] captain of [the] guard, sent [word], {along with} Nebushazban [the] chief officer, and Nergal-sharezer [the] high official, and all the chief officers of the king of Babylon. ¹⁴ And they sent and took Jeremiah from the courtyard of the guard and gave him to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to take him to the house, so he stayed in the midst of the people.

¹ Zedekiah [was] {twenty-one years old} at his beginning to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother [was] Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ² And he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh like all that Jehoiakim had done. ³ For because of the {anger} of Yahweh this happened in Jerusalem and Judah until his casting them from his {presence}. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

⁴ {And then} in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth [day] of the month, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came against Jerusalem, he and all his army. And they laid siege to it, and built siege works against it all around. ⁵ So the city came {under siege} until [the] eleventh year of King Zedekiah.

⁶ In the fourth month, on [the] ninth [day] of the month, the famine in the city became severe and there was no food for the people of the land. ⁷ Then the city was breached, and all {the soldiers} fled and went out from the city [by] night [by the] way of [the] gate between the two walls that [are] at the garden of the king, though [the] Chaldeans [were] all around the city. And they went [in] the direction of the Jordan Valley. ⁸ But the army of [the] Chaldeans pursued after the king and they overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. ⁹ Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon [at] Riblah in the land of Hamath, and {he passed sentence on him}.

¹⁰ And the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also slaughtered all the officials of Judah at Riblah. ¹¹ Then he made blind the eyes of Zedekiah, and they tied him up with bronze fetters, and the king of Babylon brought him [to] Babylon. And he put him in {prison} until the day of his death.

¹² Now in the fifth month, on the tenth [day] of the month, which [was the] nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan [the] captain of [the] guard, who stood {before} the king of Babylon, entered into Jerusalem. ¹³ And he burned the {temple} of Yahweh, and the palace of the king, and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house he burned with fire. ¹⁴ And all the army of [the] Chaldeans who [were] with [the] captain of [the] guard broke down all the walls of Jerusalem all around. ¹⁵ And Nebuzaradan [the] captain of [the] guard deported [some] of the poor of the people, and the rest of the people who were left in the city, and the deserters who deserted to the king of Babylon, along with the rest of the craftsmen. ¹⁶ But Nebuzaradan [the] captain of [the] guard left [some] of the poor of the land [to serve] as vinedressers and farmers.

¹⁷ And [the] Chaldeans broke the pillars of bronze that [were] in the {temple} of Yahweh, and the kettle stands and the sea of bronze that [were] in the {temple} of Yahweh, and they carried all their bronze [to] Babylon. ¹⁸ And they took with them the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the sprinkling bowls, and the pans, and all the vessels of bronze which [were used in temple] service. ¹⁹ And [the] captain of [the] guard [took] the bowls, and the firepans, and the sprinkling bowls, and the pots, and the lampstands, and the pans, and the libation bowls, {those made of solid gold} and {those made of solid silver}.

²⁰ The two pillars, the one sea, and the twelve bronze oxen that [were] under the kettle stands which King Solomon had made for the {temple} of Yahweh--there was not a weight for the bronze of all these vessels! ²¹ Now the pillars, [the] height of one pillar [was] eighteen cubits, and a thread of twelve cubits surrounded it, and its thickness [was] four fingers, hollowed out. ²² And a capital upon it [was] bronze and the height of the one capital [was] five cubits, and latticework and pomegranates [were] on the capital on all sides, all [of] bronze. And like these [was] the second pillar with pomegranates. ²³ And there were ninety-six pomegranates {on the sides}; all the pomegranates on the latticework on all sides [were] a hundred.

²⁴ Then [the] captain of [the] guard took Seraiah {the chief priest}, and Zephaniah {the second priest}, and three keepers of the threshold. ²⁵ And from the city he took one high official who was chief officer over {the soldiers}, and seven men of {the king's advisors} who were found in the city, and the secretary of the commander of the army who levied for military service the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the midst of the city. ²⁶ Then Nebuzaradan [the] captain of [the] guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon [at] Riblah. ²⁷ And the king of Babylon struck them down and killed them at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah left from its land.

²⁸ This [is the number of] the people whom Nebuchadnezzar deported: in [the] seventh year, three thousand twenty-three Judeans; ²⁹ in [the] eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, eight hundred and thirty-two persons from Jerusalem; ³⁰ in [the] twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan, [the] captain of [the] guard, deported seven hundred and forty-five Judean persons; [there were] four thousand six hundred persons in all.