8And on the seventh day of the fifth month, which is the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard, an official of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem; 9And he burned the temple of the LORD, the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every important building he burned. 10And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were under the captain of the guard, broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. 11Then Nebuzar-adan, the captain of the guard, carried off the people who were left in the city, and the deserters who surrendered to the king of Babylon, with the rest of the multitude. 12But Nebuzar-adan left the poor of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen (farmers). 13And the pillars of bronze, its bases, and the bronze sea that were in the temple of the LORD, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and carried the bronze from them to Babylon. 14And they also carried off the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the spoons, and all the utensils of bronze with which they ministered, 15And the firepans, the basins, and the things as were of gold, or silver, the captain of the guard took away. 16The weight of the bronze of the two pillars, one sea, and the bases which Solomon had made for the temple of the LORD; and the utensils was beyond measure. 17The height of one bronze pillar was eighteen cubits, and the height of capital at its top was three cubits; and decorated with braided work and pomegranates all around the capital, all of bronze; and the second pillar was the same.

18And the captain of the guard took Seraiah, the chief priest, Zephaniah, the second priest, and the three doorkeepers captive; 19And of those still in the city, he took an officer who was in command of the fighting men, and the five men who were the king's advisors, and the man who conscripted and mustered the people of the land for the army, and sixty conscripts of the people of the land, all of whom were found in the city. 20And Nebuzar-adan took these, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah: 21And Nebuchadnezzar had them all killed them at Riblah, in the land of Hamath. And so Judah was carried away out of their land.

22And as for the people whom Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had left in the land of Judah, over them Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, to be governor of those left behind in Judah. 23And when all the commanders of the armies, and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, Johanan, son of Kareah, Seraiah, son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah, son of a Maacathite, came with their men to Gedaliah ao Mizpah. 24And Gedaliah swore an oath to them, and their men, and said, “Do not be afraid to be the servants of the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall go well with you”. 25But in the seventh month, Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the seed royal, came with ten men, and killed Gedaliah, and the Jews and Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. 26And then all the people, both small and great, and the commanders of the armies, fled to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

27And on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, Evil-merodach, king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign released Jehoiachin, king of Judah, from prison; 28And he spoke kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon, 29And changed his clothes from prison garb, and he ate his food regularly before the king all the rest of life. 30And day by day he received a regular allowance from the king, all the days of his life.