Jeremiah 52

Zedekiah’s Reign and Rebellion

1 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah.

2 He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, just like everything Jehoiakim had done.

3 Because of the LORD’s anger, all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, until He finally drove them out of His presence. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

Jerusalem Besieged and Captured

4 In the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with his entire army against Jerusalem. They camped around it and built siege ramps against it.

5 The city stayed under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.

6 By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so severe there was no food left for the people.

7 Then a breach was made in the city wall. All the soldiers fled at night through the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden And escaped toward the Arabah.

Zedekiah Captured and Punished

8 But the Chaldean army chased the king and caught up with Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. All his troops were scattered from him.

9 They captured him and brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, Where judgment was passed on him.

10 The king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes And killed all the officials of Judah at Riblah.

11 Then he blinded Zedekiah, bound him with bronze shackles, And took him to Babylon, where he remained imprisoned until the day of his death.

The Temple and City Destroyed

12 On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard came to Jerusalem.

13 He burned the house of the LORD, the king’s palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem, Every significant building.

14 The entire Babylonian army with the captain of the guard tore down all the walls around Jerusalem.

15 Nebuzaradan carried into exile some of the poorest people, The rest of the people left in the city, Those who had defected to the king of Babylon, And the rest of the craftsmen.

16 But the captain of the guard left behind some of the poorest people of the land To work the vineyards and fields.

Sacred Objects Taken to Babylon

17 The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars of the LORD’s house, The bronze stands, and the bronze Sea, And carried all the bronze to Babylon.

18 They also took the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, bowls, pans, And all the bronze utensils used in the temple service.

19 The captain of the guard took away the basins, firepans, bowls, pots, lampstands, spoons, And cups, everything made of gold or silver.

20 As for the two pillars, the one Sea, the twelve bronze bulls under it, and the movable stands, The bronze of all these objects was beyond measure.

21 Each pillar was eighteen cubits tall, with a circumference of twelve cubits, Hollow, and four fingers thick.

22 A bronze capital was on top of one pillar, five cubits high, With a network and pomegranates all around it, all made of bronze. The second pillar was identical.

23 There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides, And a total of one hundred pomegranates around the network.

Leaders Executed

24 The captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, And the three doorkeepers.

25 From the city he took an officer in charge of the fighting men, Seven royal advisers, the secretary of the commander of the army who mustered the people, And sixty men from the common people who were found in the city.

26 Nebuzaradan took them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.

27 There the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death. So Judah was taken into exile, away from its land.

The Number of Exiles

28 These are the people Nebuchadnezzar carried away: In the seventh year, 3,023 Jews;

29 In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, 832 people from Jerusalem;

30 And in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away 745 Jews. In all, 4,600 people.

Jehoiachin Released from Prison

31 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, In the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year he became king, Released Jehoiachin from prison.

32 He spoke kindly to him And gave him a seat higher than the seats of the other kings who were with him in Babylon.

33 So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes And ate regularly at the king’s table for the rest of his life.

34 Day by day, for as long as he lived, The king of Babylon provided Jehoiachin a regular allowance.