Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible



But when our fathers moved the God of heaven to wrath, he gave them up into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, the Chaldaean. He sent destruction on this house and took the people away to Babylon.

From the days of our fathers till this day we have been great sinners. Because of our sins, the kings of the lands captured us. We were given to the sword and to prison and to loss of goods and to shame of face, as it is this day.

My people will go into exile because they do not understand what I am doing. Honored men will starve, and common people will be parched with thirst.

Jehovah of Hosts says: I am going to send them wars, famines, and plagues. These people are like rotten figs to me, figs that are so bad that they cannot be eaten. I will chase them with wars, famines, and plagues. I will make them a terror to all the kingdoms on the earth. They will become something cursed, ridiculed, and hissed at, and they will be a disgrace among all the nations where I scatter them. They did not listen to me,' says Jehovah. 'I sent them my servants the prophets again and again, but they refused to listen,' says Jehovah.

Judah has been taken away as a prisoner because of trouble and hard work. She dwells among the nations. There is no rest for her. Her attackers have overtaken her in the midst of her distress. The roads to Zion are sad. No one comes to the holy meeting. All her doorways are desolate. Her priests are sighing out of sorrow. Her virgins are troubled, and it is bitter for her. Her enemies are at ease and her foes have become her masters. Jehovah (YHWH) sends her sorrow because of the great number of her sins. Young children have gone away as prisoners before the attacker.

Then the nations will know that the people of Israel went into captivity because they did wrong and rebelled against me. I hid my face (withdrew my support) from them and handed them over to their enemies. They were killed in battle. I paid them back for their uncleanness and their sins. I hid my face from them.'


So he had the Babylonian king attack them and execute their best young men in their holy temple. He did not spare the best men or the unmarried women, the old people or the sick people. God handed all of them over to him. He brought to Babylon each of the utensils from God's temple, the treasures from Jehovah's Temple, and the treasures of the king and his officials. He burned down the Temple and the city, with all its palaces and its wealth, and broke down the city wall. read more.
The survivors were taken to Babylonia as prisoners. They served as slaves of the king and his sons, until Persia became a powerful nation. This fulfilled the word of Jehovah that was spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it kept Sabbath until seventy years were complete.

At that time the army of the king of Babylon was blockading Jerusalem. The prophet Jeremiah was locked up in the courtyard of the prison. This prison was in the palace of the king of Judah.

Jehoiakin was eighteen years old when he became king. He was king for three months in Jerusalem. His mother was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan from Jerusalem. Following the example of his father, Jehoiachin sinned against Jehovah. It was during his reign that the Babylonian army, commanded by King Nebuchadnezzar's officers, marched against Jerusalem and besieged it. read more.
During the siege Nebuchadnezzar came to Jerusalem in person. King Jehoiachin of Judah, along with his mother, his sons, his officers, and the palace officials, surrendered to the Babylonians. In the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign he took Jehoiachin prisoner. The Babylonians carried off to Babylon all the treasures in the Temple and the palace. As Jehovah foretold, Nebuchadnezzar broke up all the gold utensils King Solomon had made for use in the Temple. Nebuchadnezzar carried away as prisoners the people of Jerusalem, all the royal princes, and all the leading men, ten thousand in all. He also deported all the skilled workers, including the blacksmiths, leaving only the poorest of the people behind in Judah. He took Jehoiakin to Babylon as a captive. He also took the king's mother, wives, eunuchs, and the leading citizens of the land from Jerusalem as captives to Babylon. Included as prisoners were all the men of war, seven thousand of them, and a thousand expert workmen and metalworkers, all of them strong and able to take up arms.

Now in the ninth year of his rule, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked Jerusalem with all his army. He took his position and laid siege to it. They built earthworks all round the town. They surrounded the town and laid siege till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. On the ninth day of the fourth month, the store of food in the town was almost gone. There was no food for the people of the land. read more.
An opening was made in the wall of the town. All the men of war went in flight by night through the doorway between the two walls by the king's garden. The Chaldaeans were stationed around the town: and the king went by the way toward the plain of Arabah. But the Chaldaean army went after the king. They overtook him in the lowlands of Jericho. All his army went in flight from him in every direction. They made the king a prisoner and took him to the king of Babylon at Riblah to be judged. They put the sons of Zedekiah to death before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, chained him with iron bands and took him to Babylon. It was the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. Nebuzaradan, the captain of the armed men, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He had the Temple of Jehovah, the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house, burned with fire. The army of the Chaldaeans under the command of the captain of the army broke down the walls around Jerusalem. The rest of the people still in the town, and all those who had given themselves up to the king of Babylon, and all the rest of the workmen were taken away as prisoners by Nebuzaradan, the captain of the army. He let the poorest of the land go on living there, to take care of the vines and the fields. The copper pillars in the Temple of Jehovah, and the wheeled bases, and the great copper water-vessel in the Temple of Jehovah were broken up by the Chaldaeans. They took the copper to Babylon. The pots and the spades and the scissors for the lights and the spoons, and all the copper vessels used in Jehovah's Temple were taken away. The captain of the guard took all of the incense burners and bowls that were made of gold or silver. The bronze from the two pillars, the pool, and the stands that Solomon made for Jehovah's Temple could not be weighed. One pillar was twenty-seven feet high and had a copper crown on it that was four and one half feet high. The filigree and the pomegranates around the crown were all made of copper. The second pillar and its filigree were the same.

Jehovah also spoke when Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, was king of Judah. It was during the eleven years that Zedekiah, another son of Josiah, was king of Judah. Jehovah continued to speak to Jeremiah until the people of Jerusalem were taken away into captivity in the fifth month of the year.

On the tenth day of the tenth month of the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked Jerusalem with his entire army. They set up camp and built dirt ramps around the city walls. The blockade of the city lasted until Zedekiah's eleventh year as king. On the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city became so severe that the common people had no food. read more.
The enemy broke through the city walls, and all Judah's soldiers fled. They left the city at night through the gate between the two walls beside the king's garden. While the Babylonians were attacking the city from all sides, they took the road to the plain of Jericho.

On the tenth day of the fifth month of Nebuchadnezzar's nineteenth year as king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, who was the captain of the guard and an officer of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He burned down Jehovah's Temple, the royal palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem. Every important building was burned down. The entire Babylonian army that was with the captain of the guard tore down the walls around Jerusalem. read more.
Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, captured the few people left in the city, those who surrendered to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the population. Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, left some of the poorest people in the land to work in the vineyards and on the farms. The Babylonians broke apart the copper pillars of Jehovah's Temple, the stands, and the copper pool in Jehovah's Temple. They shipped all the copper to Babylon. they took the pots, shovels, snuffers, bowls, dishes, and all the copper utensils used in the Temple service. The captain of the guard also took pans, incense burners, bowls, pots, lamp stands, dishes, and the bowls used for wine offerings. The captain of the guard took all of the trays and bowls that were made of gold or silver. The copper from the two pillars, the pool, and the twelve copper bulls under the stands that King Solomon had made for Jehovah's Temple could not be weighed. One pillar was twenty-seven feet high and eighteen feet in circumference. It was three inches thick and hollow. The crown that was on it was seven and one half feet high with filigree and pomegranates around it. They were all made of copper. The second pillar was the same. It also had pomegranates. There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides. The total number of pomegranates on the surrounding filigree was one hundred. The captain of the guard took the chief priest Seraiah, the second priest Zephaniah, and the three doorkeepers.

Her enemies are at ease and her foes have become her masters. Jehovah (YHWH) sends her sorrow because of the great number of her sins. Young children have gone away as prisoners before the attacker. Glory has gone from the daughter of Zion! Her rulers are like stags with no place to eat. They flee without strength from their attacker. Jerusalem remembers in her days of sorrow and of her wanderings, all the desired things that were hers in the past. When her people were captive to the power of her adversary she had no helper. Her attackers desired her and made fun of her in her destruction. read more.
Great is the sin of Jerusalem! For this cause she has become an unclean thing. Those who gave her honor are looking down on her. They see her shame. Now truly, sighing out grief, she turns back.

Uzziah strengthened the fortifications of Jerusalem. He built towers at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and where the wall turned. He also built fortified towers in the open country and dug many cisterns, because he had large herds of livestock in the western foothills and plains. Because he loved farming, he encouraged the people to plant vineyards in the hill country and to farm the fertile land.