The Fall of Jerusalem Recounted (Psalm 74:1–23; Psalm 79:1–13; 2 Kings 24:18–20; 2 Chronicles 36:11–14)
1 DRA Sedecias was one and twenty years old when he began to reign: and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and the name of his mother was Amital, the daughter of Jeremias of Lobna. 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 DRA And he did that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that Joakim had done. BSB BSB: And Zedekiah did evil in the sight of the LORD, just as Jehoiakim had done.
3 DRA For the wrath of the Lord was against Jerusalem, and against Juda, till he cast them out from his presence: and Sedecias revolted 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 DRA And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, the tenth day of the month, that Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and they besieged it, and built forts against it round about. 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 DRA And the city was besieged until the eleventh year of king Sedecias. BSB BSB: And the city was kept under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year.
6 DRA And in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, a famine overpowered the city: and there was no food 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 DRA And the city was broken up, and the men of war fled, and went out of the city in the night by the way of the gate that is between the two walls, and leadeth to the king’s garden, (the Chaldeans besieging the city round about,) sad they went by the way that leadeth 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 DRA But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king: and they overtook Sedecias in the desert which is near Jericho: and all his companions were scattered 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 DRA And when they had taken the king, they carried him to the king of Babylon to Reblatha, which is in the land of Emath: and he gave judgment upon 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 DRA And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Sedecias before his eyes: and he slew all the princes of Juda in Reblatha. 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 DRA And he put out the eyes of Sedecias, and bound him with fetters, and the king of Babylon brought him into Babylon, and he put him in prison till 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 DRA And in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, the same is the nineteenth year of Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, came Nabuzardan the general of the army, who stood before the king of Babylon in 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 DRA And he burnt the house of the Lord, and the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great house he burnt 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 DRA And all the army of the Chaldeans that were with the general broke down all the wall of Jerusalem round about. BSB BSB: And the whole army of the Chaldeans under the captain of the guard broke down all the walls around Jerusalem.
15 DRA But Nabuzardan the general carried away captives some of the poor people, and of the rest of the common sort who remained in the city, and of the fugitives that were 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 DRA But of the poor of the land, Nabuzardan the general left some for vinedressers, and for husbandmen. BSB BSB: But Nebuzaradan captain of the guard left behind some of the poorest of the land to tend the vineyards and fields.
17 DRA The Chaldeans also broke in pieces the brazen 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 carried all the brass of them 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 DRA And they took the caldrons, and the fleshhooks, and the psalteries, and the bowls, and the little mortars, and all the brazen vessels that had been used in the ministry: and 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 DRA The general took away the pitchers, and the censers, and the pots, and the basins, and the candlesticks, and the mortars, and the cups: as many as were of gold, in gold: and as many as were of silver, in 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 DRA And the two pillars, and one sea, and 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 the brass 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 DRA And concerning the pillars, one pillar was eighteen cubits high: and a cord of twelve cubits compassed it about: but the thickness thereof was four fingers, and it was hollow within. BSB BSB: Each pillar was eighteen cubits tall and twelve cubits in circumference; each was hollow, four fingers thick.
22 DRA And chapiters of brass were upon both: and the height of one chapiter was five cubits: and network, and pomegranates were upon the chapiters round about, all of brass. The same of the second pillar, 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 DRA And there were ninety-six pomegranates hanging down: and the pomegranates being a hundred in all, were compassed with network. 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 DRA And the general took Saraias the chief priest, and Sophonias the second priest, and the three keepers of the entry. 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 DRA He also took out of the city one eunuch that was chief over the men of war: and seven men of them that were near the king’s person, that were found in the city: and a scribe, an officer of the army who exercised the young soldiers: and threescore men of the people of the land, that 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 DRA And Nabuzardan the general took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon, to Reblatha. BSB BSB: Nebuzaradan captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.
27 DRA And the king of Babylon struck them, and put them to death in Reblatha, in the land of Emath: and Juda was carried away captive out of 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 DRA This is the people whom Nabuchodonosor carried away captive: 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 DRA In the eighteenth year of Nabuchodonosor, eight hundred and thirty-two souls from Jerusalem. BSB BSB: in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year, 832 people from Jerusalem;
30 DRA In the three and twentieth year of Nabuchodonosor, Nabuzardan the general carried away of the Jews seven hundred and forty-five souls. So 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)
32 DRA And he spoke kindly to him, and he set his throne above the thrones of the kings that were with 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 DRA And he changed his prison garments, and he ate bread before him 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 DRA And for his diet a continual provision was allowed him by the king of Babylon, every day a portion, 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.