Jeremiah 52:1-30 (New American Standard)

The Fall of Jerusalem

1 ¹Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem ; and his mother's name was ^a2Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of ³Libnah. 2 He did ⁴evil in the sight of the LORD like all that ⁵Jehoiakim had done. 3 For through the ⁶anger of the LORD this came about in Jerusalem and Judah until He cast them out from His presence. And Zedekiah ⁷rebelled against the king of Babylon. 4 ⁸Now it came about in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, camped against it and built a ⁹siege wall all around ^bit. 5 ¹⁰So the city was under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 6 On the ninth day of the ¹¹fourth month the ¹²famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. 7 Then the city was ¹³broken into, and all the ¹⁴men of war fled and went forth from the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls which was by the king's garden, though the Chaldeans were ^c15all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah. 8 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and ¹⁶overtook Zedekiah in the ^dplains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. 9 Then they captured the king and ¹⁷brought him up to the king of Babylon at ¹⁸Riblah in the land of ¹⁹Hamath, and he ^epassed sentence on him. 10 The king of Babylon ²⁰slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also slaughtered all the ^fprinces of Judah in Riblah. 11 Then he ²¹blinded the eyes of Zedekiah ; and the king of Babylon bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon and put him in prison until the day of his death. 12 ²²Now on the tenth day of the fifth month, which was the ²³nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, ²⁴Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, ^gwho was in the service of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 13 He ²⁵burned the house of the LORD, the ²⁶king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem ; even every large house he burned with fire. 14 So all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard ²⁷broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. 15 Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard ²⁸carried away into exile some of the poorest of the people, the rest of the people who were left in the city, the ^h29deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon and the rest of the artisans. 16 But ³⁰Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and ⁱplowmen. 17 Now the bronze ³¹pillars which belonged to the house of the LORD and the ³²stands and the bronze ³³sea, which were in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried all their bronze to Babylon. 18 They also took away the ³⁴pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the basins, the ^jpans and all the bronze vessels which were used in temple service. 19 The captain of the guard also took away the ³⁵bowls, the firepans, the basins, the pots, the lampstands, the ^kpans and the drink offering bowls, what was fine gold and what was fine silver. 20 The two pillars, the one sea, and the twelve bronze bulls that were under ^lthe sea, and the stands, which King Solomon had made for the house of the LORD -the bronze of all these vessels was ³⁶beyond weight. 21 As for the pillars, the ³⁷height of each pillar was eighteen ^mcubits, and ⁿit was twelve cubits in ³⁸circumference and four fingers in thickness, and hollow. 22 Now a ³⁹capital of bronze was on it; and the height of each capital was five cubits, with network and ⁴⁰pomegranates upon the capital all around, all of bronze. And the second pillar was like these, including pomegranates. 23 There were ninety-six ^oexposed pomegranates ; all ⁴¹the pomegranates numbered a hundred on the network all around. 24 Then the captain of the guard took ⁴²Seraiah the chief priest and ⁴³Zephaniah the second priest, with the three ^p44officers of the temple. 25 He also took from the city one official who was overseer of the men of war, and seven ^qof the ⁴⁵king's advisers who were found in the city, and the scribe of the commander of the army who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the midst of the city. 26 Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and ⁴⁶brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27 Then the king of Babylon ⁴⁷struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was ⁴⁸led away into exile from its land. 28 These are the people whom ⁴⁹Nebuchadnezzar carried away into exile : in the ^rseventh year 3,023 Jews ; 29 in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar 832 persons from Jerusalem ; 30 in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, ⁵⁰Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile 745 Jewish people ; there were 4,600 persons in all.