1 Zedekiah wasatwenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of bLibnah.
2 He also did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.
3 For because of the anger of the Lordthis happened in Jerusalem and Judah, till He finally cast them out from His presence. Then Zedekiah arebelled against the king of Babylon.
4 Now it came to pass in the aninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and encamped against it; and they built a siege wall against it all around.
5 So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
6 By the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the famine had become so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.
7 Then the city wall was broken through, and all the men of war fled and went out of the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden, even though the Chaldeans were near the city all around. And they went by way of the1 plain.
8 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and they overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. All his army was scattered from him.
9aSo they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he pronounced judgment on him.
10aThen the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. And he killed all the princes of Judah in Riblah.
11 He also aput out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in1 bronze fetters, took him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death.
The Temple and City Plundered and Burned
12aNow in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month (bwhich was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), cNebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.
13 He burned the house of the Lord and the king’s house; all the houses of Jerusalem, that is, all the houses of the great, he burned with fire.
14 And all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down all the walls of Jerusalem all around.
15aThen Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive some of the poor people, the rest of the people who remained in the city, the defectors who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen.
16 But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poor of the land as vinedressers and farmers.
17aThe bbronze pillars that were in the house of the Lord, and the carts and the bronze Sea that were in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and carried all their bronze to Babylon.
18 They also took away athe pots, the shovels, the trimmers, the1 bowls, the spoons, and all the bronze utensils with which the priests ministered.
19 The basins, the firepans, the bowls, the pots, the lampstands, the spoons, and the cups, whatever was solid gold and whatever was solid silver, the captain of the guard took away.
20 The two pillars, one Sea, the twelve bronze bulls which were under it, and the carts, which King Solomon had made for the house of the Lord—athe bronze of all these articles was beyond measure.
21 Now concerning the apillars: the height of one pillar was eighteen1 cubits, a measuring line of twelve cubits could measure its circumference, and its thickness was2 four fingers; itwas hollow.
22 A capital of bronze was on it; and the height of one capital was five cubits, with a network and pomegranates all around the capital, all of bronze. The second pillar, with pomegranates was the same.
23 There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; aall the pomegranates, all around on the network, were one hundred.
The People Taken Captive to Babylonia
24aThe captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, bZephaniah the second priest, and the three doorkeepers.
25 He also took out of the city an1 officer who had charge of the men of war, seven men of the king’s close associates who were found in the city, the principal scribe 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 And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took these and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.
27 Then the king of Babylon struck them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive from its own land.
28aThese are the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive: bin the seventh year, cthree thousand and twenty-three Jews;
29ain the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred and thirty-two persons;
30 in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred and forty-five persons. All the persons were four thousand six hundred.
Jehoiachin Released from Prison
31aNow it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, that1 Evil-Merodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, blifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison.
32 And he spoke kindly to him and gave him a more prominent seat than those of the kings who were with him in Babylon.
The fate of Zedekiah. (1-11) The destruction of Jerusalem. (12-23) The captivities. (24-30) The advancement of Jehoiachin. (31-34)
Verses 1-11 This fruit of sin we should pray against above any thing; Cast me not away from thy presence, psalms 51:11 . None are cast out of God's presence but those who by sin have first thrown themselves out. Zedekiah's flight was in vain, for there is no escaping the judgments of God; they come upon the sinner, and overtake him, let him flee where he will.
Verses 12-23 The Chaldean army made woful havoc. But nothing is so particularly related here, as the carrying away of the articles in the temple. The remembrance of their beauty and value shows us the more the evil of sin.
Verses 24-30 The leaders of the Jews caused them to err; but now they are, in particular, made monuments of Divine justice. Here is an account of two earlier captivities. This people often were wonders both of judgment and mercy.
Verses 31-34 II Kings Those under oppression will find it is not in vain for them to hope and quietly to wait for the salvation of the Lord. Our times are in God's hand, for the hearts of all we have to deal with are so. May we be enabled, more and more, to rest on the Rock of Ages, and to look forward with holy faith to that hour, when the Lord will bring again Zion, and overthrow all the enemies of the church.
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