2 Kings 25 - Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

Nebuchadnezzar’s Siege of Jerusalem

25 In the ninth year(A) of Zedekiah’s reign,(B) on the tenth day of the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem with his entire army.(C) They laid siege to the city and built a siege wall against it all around.(D) 2 The city was under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year.

3 By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that the people of the land had no food.(E) 4 Then the city was broken into,(F) and all the warriors fled(G) by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden,(H) even though the Chaldeans surrounded the city. As the king made his way along the route to the Arabah,(I) 5 the Chaldean army pursued him and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. Zedekiah’s entire army was scattered from him.(J) 6 The Chaldeans seized the king(K) and brought him up to the king of Babylon(L) at Riblah,(M) and they passed sentence on him. 7 They slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes. Finally, the king of Babylon blinded Zedekiah, bound him in bronze chains, and took him to Babylon.(N)

Jerusalem Destroyed

8 On(O) the seventh day of the fifth month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, a servant of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem.(P) 9 He burned the Lord’s temple,(Q) the king’s palace,(R) and all the houses of Jerusalem; he burned down(S) all the great houses. 10 The whole Chaldean army with the commander of the guards tore down the walls(T) surrounding Jerusalem. 11 Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, deported the rest of the people who were left in the city, the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the population.(U) 12 But the commander of the guards left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and farmers.(V)

13 Now(W) the Chaldeans broke into pieces the bronze pillars(X) of the Lord’s temple, the water carts, and the bronze reservoir,(Y) which were in the Lord’s temple, and carried the bronze to Babylon.(Z) 14 They also took the pots, the shovels, the wick trimmers, the dishes, and all the bronze articles used in temple service.(AA) 15 The commander of the guards took away the firepans and the sprinkling basins—whatever was gold or silver.(AB)

16 As for the two pillars, the one reservoir, and the water carts that Solomon had made for the Lord’s temple, the weight of the bronze of all these articles was beyond measure.(AC) 17 One pillar was 27 feet[a] tall and had a bronze capital on top of it. The capital, encircled by a grating and pomegranates of bronze, stood five feet[b] high. The second pillar was the same, with its own grating.(AD)

18 The commander of the guards(AE) also took away Seraiah(AF) the chief priest, Zephaniah(AG) the priest of the second rank, and the three doorkeepers. 19 He took a court official who had been appointed over the warriors from the city; five trusted royal aides[c](AH) found in the city; the secretary of the commander of the army, who enlisted the people of the land for military duty; and 60 men from the common people[d] who were found within the city. 20 Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.(AI) 21 The king of Babylon put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah went into exile from its land.(AJ)

Gedaliah Made Governor

22 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon appointed Gedaliah(AK) son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, over the rest of the people he left in the land of Judah.(AL) 23 When all the commanders of the armies—they and their men—heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah.(AM) The commanders included Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah son of the Maacathite—they and their men.(AN) 24 Gedaliah swore an oath to them and their men, assuring them, “Don’t be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well for you.”(AO)

25 In the seventh month, however, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with 10 men and struck down Gedaliah, and he died. Also, they killed the Judeans and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah.(AP) 26 Then all the people, from the youngest to the oldest, and the commanders of the army, left and went to Egypt, for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.(AQ)

Jehoiachin Pardoned

27 On(AR) the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Judah’s King Jehoiachin, in the year Evil-merodach became king of Babylon, he pardoned King Jehoiachin(AS) of Judah and released him from prison.(AT) 28 He spoke kindly(AU) to him and set his throne over the thrones of the kings who were with him in Babylon.(AV) 29 So Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes, and he dined regularly in the presence of the king of Babylon for the rest of his life.(AW) 30 As for his allowance, a regular allowance(AX) was given to him by the king, a portion for each day, for the rest of his life.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 25:17 Lit 18 cubits
  2. 2 Kings 25:17 Lit three cubits
  3. 2 Kings 25:19 Lit five men who look on the king’s face
  4. 2 Kings 25:19 Lit the people of the land

Cross references

  1. 25:1 : Jr 32:1
  2. 25:1-7 : Jr 39:1-7; 52:4-11
  3. 25:1 : Jr 21:2; 34:1-2; Ezk 24:2
  4. 25:1 : Ezk 21:22
  5. 25:3 : 2Kg 6:24-25; Lm 4:9-10
  6. 25:4 : Jr 39:2
  7. 25:4 : Ezk 33:21
  8. 25:4 : Neh 3:15
  9. 25:4 : Dt 2:8
  10. 25:5 : Lv 26:36; Ezk 12:14; 17:21
  11. 25:6 : Jr 34:21-22
  12. 25:6 : Jr 32:4
  13. 25:6 : Nm 34:11; 2Kg 23:33; Jr 52:9
  14. 25:7 : Jr 39:6-7; Ezk 12:13
  15. 25:8-12 : Jr 39:8-10; 52:12-16
  16. 25:8 : 2Kg 24:12; Jr 39:9; 52:12
  17. 25:9 : 1Kg 9:8; 2Ch 36:19
  18. 25:9 : Jr 39:8; Am 2:5
  19. 25:9 : Jr 17:27
  20. 25:10 : 2Kg 24:13; Neh 1:3; Jr 50:15
  21. 25:11 : 2Ch 36:20; Jr 5:19; 39:1-9
  22. 25:12 : 2Kg 24:14; Jr 39:10; 40:7
  23. 25:13-21 : Jr 52:17-27
  24. 25:13 : 2Kg 20:17; 2Ch 36:18; Jr 52:17
  25. 25:13 : 1Kg 7:23; 2Ch 4:2-4
  26. 25:13 : Jr 27:19-22
  27. 25:14 : Ex 27:3; 1Kg 7:47-50; 2Ch 4:16
  28. 25:15 : 2Kg 24:13; Jr 15:13; 20:5
  29. 25:16 : 1Kg 7:47
  30. 25:17 : 1Kg 7:15-22
  31. 25:18 : Jr 39:9-13; 52:12-16, 24
  32. 25:18 : 1Ch 6:14; Ezr 7:1
  33. 25:18 : Jr 21:1; 29:25, 29
  34. 25:19 : Jr 52:25
  35. 25:20 : 2Kg 23:33
  36. 25:21 : Dt 28:63-64; 2Kg 23:27
  37. 25:22 : Jr 39:14; 40:7-9
  38. 25:22 : Is 1:9; Jr 40:5
  39. 25:23 : Jos 18:26
  40. 25:23 : Jr 40:7-8
  41. 25:24 : Jr 40:9
  42. 25:25 : Jr 41:1-2
  43. 25:26 : Is 30:2; Jr 43:4-7
  44. 25:27-30 : Jr 52:31-34
  45. 25:27 : 2Kg 24:12
  46. 25:27 : Gn 40:13, 20
  47. 25:28 : 1Kg 8:50
  48. 25:28 : Ezr 5:5; 7:6, 28
  49. 25:29 : 2Sm 9:7
  50. 25:30 : Gn 43:34; Neh 12:47

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25 Forsooth it was done in the ninth year of his realm, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came, he, and all his host, into Jerusalem; and they compassed it, and builded strongholds in the compass thereof. (And it was done in the ninth year of his rei...
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25 In the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built forts against it around it. 2 So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of king Zedekiah....
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2 Kings 25 - Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

25 1 And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnez′zar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem, and laid siege to it; and they built siegeworks against it round about. 2 So the city was besieged till the eleventh year of King Ze...
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2 Kings 25 - Revised Standard Version (RSV)

25 1 And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnez′zar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem, and laid siege to it; and they built siegeworks against it round about. 2 So the city was besieged till the eleventh year of King Ze...
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2 Kings 25 - New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised (NRSVA)

25 1 And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem, and laid siege to it; they built siege-works against it all round. 2 So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekia...
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2 Kings 25 - New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

25 1 And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem and laid siege to it; they built siegeworks against it all around.(A)2 So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah...
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2 Kings 25 - New Living Translation (NLT)

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Jerusalem Is Taken25 On the tenth day of the tenth month in the ninth year of his rule, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem. His army set up their tents around the city, and built a wall all around it. 2 The city had the army of Babylon around it until the elevent...
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2 Kings 25 - New International Version - UK (NIVUK)

25 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 whole army. He camped outside the city and built siege works all around it. 2 The city was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 3...
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