The Fall of Jerusalem Recounted (Psalm 74:1–23; Psalm 79:1–13; 2 Kings 24:18–20; 2 Chronicles 36:11–14)
1 CPDV Zedekiah was a son of twenty-one years when he first began to reign. And he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah. BSB BSB: Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah.
2 CPDV And he did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord, in accord with all that Jehoiakim had done. BSB BSB: And Zedekiah did evil in the sight of the LORD, just as Jehoiakim had done.
3 CPDV And so the fury of the Lord was toward Jerusalem, and toward Judah, even until he cast them away from his face. And Zedekiah drew away from the king of Babylon. BSB BSB: For because of the anger of the LORD, all this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until He finally banished them from His presence. And Zedekiah also rebelled against the king of Babylon.
4 CPDV And it happened that, in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, he and his entire army, came against Jerusalem. And they besieged it, and they built fortifications against it, on every side. BSB BSB: So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army. They encamped outside the city and built a siege wall all around it.
5 CPDV And the city was besieged, until the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. BSB BSB: And the city was kept under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year.
6 CPDV Then, in the fourth month, on the ninth of the month, a famine gripped the city. And there was no nourishment for the people of the land. BSB BSB: By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so severe that the people of the land had no food.
7 CPDV And the city was broken, and all the men of war fled, and they departed from the city at night by way of the gate which is between the two walls, and which leads to the king’s garden, while the Chaldeans were besieging the city all around, and they went away by the road that leads to the wilderness. BSB BSB: Then the city was breached; and though the Chaldeans had surrounded the city, all the men of war fled the city by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden. They headed toward the Arabah,
8 CPDV But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king. And they overtook Zedekiah in the desert which is near Jericho. And all of his companions fled away from him. BSB BSB: but the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and his whole army deserted him.
9 CPDV And when they had captured the king, they led him away to the king of Babylon at Riblah, which is in the land of Hamath. And he spoke a judgment against him. BSB BSB: The Chaldeans seized the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced judgment on Zedekiah.
10 CPDV And the king of Babylon cut the throats of the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also killed all the leaders of Judah at Riblah. BSB BSB: There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also killed all the officials of Judah.
11 CPDV And he plucked out the eyes of Zedekiah, and he bound him with shackles, and the king of Babylon led him away to Babylon, and he placed him in the prison house, even until the day of his death. BSB BSB: Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon, where he kept him in custody until his dying day.
The Temple Destroyed (2 Kings 25:8–17)
12 CPDV Then, in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, which is the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the leader of the military, arrived. And he was standing before the king of Babylon at Jerusalem. BSB BSB: On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign over Babylon, Nebuzaradan captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem.
13 CPDV And he set fire to the house of the Lord, and to the house of the king, and to all the houses of Jerusalem. And every great house he burned with fire. BSB BSB: He burned down the house of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem—every significant building.
14 CPDV And the entire army of the Chaldeans, who were with the chief of the military, destroyed the entire wall all around Jerusalem. BSB BSB: And the whole army of the Chaldeans under the captain of the guard broke down all the walls around Jerusalem.
15 CPDV Then Nebuzaradan, the leader of the military, took away some of the poor people, and some of the rest of the common people, who had remained in the city, and some of the fugitives, who had fled over to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude. BSB BSB: Then Nebuzaradan captain of the guard carried into exile some of the poorest people and those who remained in the city, along with the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon and the rest of the craftsmen.
16 CPDV Yet truly, some of the poor of the land, Nebuzaradan, the leader of the military, left behind as vinedressers and farmers. BSB BSB: But Nebuzaradan captain of the guard left behind some of the poorest of the land to tend the vineyards and fields.
17 CPDV The Chaldeans also broke apart the bronze pillars that were in the house of the Lord, and the bases, and the sea of brass that was in the house of the Lord. And they took all the brass of these things to Babylon. BSB BSB: Moreover, the Chaldeans broke up the bronze pillars and stands and the bronze Sea in the house of the LORD, and they carried all the bronze to Babylon.
18 CPDV And they took the cooking pots, and the hooks, and the psalteries, and the bowls, and the little mortars, and all the bronze vessels that had been used in the ministry. BSB BSB: They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes, and all the articles of bronze used in the temple service.
19 CPDV And the chief of the military took the water pots, and the censers, and the pitchers, and the basins, and the lampstands, and the mortars, and the little cups, whatever was gold, for the gold, and whatever was silver, for the silver, BSB BSB: The captain of the guard also took away the basins, censers, sprinkling bowls, pots, lampstands, pans, and drink offering bowls—anything made of pure gold or fine silver.
20 CPDV as well as the two pillars, and the one brass sea, and the twelve oxen of brass that were under the bases, which king Solomon had made in the house of the Lord. There was no weight of brass left behind out of all these vessels. BSB BSB: As for the two pillars, the Sea, the twelve bronze bulls under it, and the movable stands that King Solomon had made for the house of the LORD, the weight of the bronze from all these articles was beyond measure.
21 CPDV Now concerning the pillars, one pillar was eighteen cubits high, and a cord of twelve cubits encircled it. Moreover, its thickness was four fingers, and the interior was hollow. BSB BSB: Each pillar was eighteen cubits tall and twelve cubits in circumference; each was hollow, four fingers thick.
22 CPDV And heads of brass were upon both. And the height of one head was five cubits. And little nets with pomegranates were upon the heads all around, all of brass. The second pillar was similar, and the pomegranates. BSB BSB: The bronze capital atop one pillar was five cubits high, with a network of bronze pomegranates all around. The second pillar, with its pomegranates, was similar.
23 CPDV And there were ninety-six pomegranates hanging down; and there were one hundred pomegranates in all, surrounded by the little nets. BSB BSB: Each capital had ninety-six pomegranates on the sides, and a total of a hundred pomegranates were above the surrounding network.
Captives Carried to Babylon (2 Kings 25:18–21)
24 CPDV And the chief of the military took Seraiah, the first priest, and Zephaniah, the second priest, and the three keepers of the vestibule. BSB BSB: The captain of the guard also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of second rank, and the three doorkeepers.
25 CPDV He also took from the city one eunuch who was in charge of the men of war, and seven men among those who served before the face of the king, who were found in the city, and a scribe, a leader of the military, who tested the new recruits, and sixty men from the people of the land, who were found in the midst of the city. BSB BSB: Of those still in the city, he took a court official who had been appointed over the men of war, as well as seven trusted royal advisers. He also took the scribe of the captain of the army, who had enlisted the people of the land, and sixty men who were found in the city.
26 CPDV Then Nebuzaradan, the chief of the military, took them, and he led them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. BSB BSB: Nebuzaradan captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.
27 CPDV And the king of Babylon struck them and put them to death at Riblah, in the land of Hamath. And Judah was carried away from his land. BSB BSB: There at Riblah in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death. So Judah was taken into exile, away from its own land.
28 CPDV This is the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away: in the seventh year, three thousand and twenty-three Jews; BSB BSB: These are the people Nebuchadnezzar carried away: in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews;
29 CPDV in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, eight hundred thirty-two souls from Jerusalem; BSB BSB: in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year, 832 people from Jerusalem;
30 CPDV in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan, the chief of the military, carried away of the Jews seven hundred forty-five souls. Therefore, all the souls were four thousand six hundred. BSB BSB: in Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty-third year, Nebuzaradan captain of the guard carried away 745 Jews. So in all, 4,600 people were taken away.
Jehoiachin Released from Prison (2 Kings 25:27–30)
31 CPDV And it happened that, in the thirty-seventh year of the transmigration of Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth of the month, Evilmerodach, the king of Babylon, in the very first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, and he brought him out of the prison house. BSB BSB: On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the first year of the reign of Evil-merodach king of Babylon, he pardoned Jehoiachin king of Judah and released him from prison. 32 CPDV And he spoke with him for good, and he set his throne above the thrones of the kings who were after him in Babylon. BSB BSB: And he spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and set his throne above the thrones of the other kings who were with him in Babylon.
33 CPDV And he changed his prison garments, and he ate bread in his sight always, all the days of his life. BSB BSB: So Jehoiachin changed out of his prison clothes, and he dined regularly at the king’s table for the rest of his life.
34 CPDV And for his meals, a continual provision was allotted to him by the king of Babylon, a measure for every single day, until the day of his death, all the days of his life. BSB BSB: And the king of Babylon provided Jehoiachin a daily portion for the rest of his life, until the day of his death.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.