| Berean Study Bible | NET Bible |
| 1Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. | 1Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother's name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah. |
| 2And Zedekiah did evil in the sight of the LORD, just as Jehoiakim had done. | 2He did what displeased the LORD just as Jehoiakim had done. |
| 3For because of the anger of the LORD, all this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until He finally banished them from His presence. And Zedekiah also rebelled against the king of Babylon. | 3What follows is a record of what happened to Jerusalem and Judah because of the LORD's anger when he drove them out of his sight. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. |
| 4So 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 entire army. They encamped outside the city and built a siege wall all around it. | 4King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Jerusalem with his whole army and set up camp outside it. They built siege ramps all around it. He arrived on the tenth day of the tenth month in the ninth year that Zedekiah ruled over Judah. |
| 5And the city was kept under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year. | 5The city remained under siege until Zedekiah's eleventh year. |
| 6By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so severe that the people of the land had no food. | 6By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city was so severe the residents had no food. |
| 7Then the city was breached; and though the Chaldeans had surrounded the city, all the men of war fled the city by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden. They headed toward the Arabah, | 7They broke through the city walls, and all the soldiers tried to escape. They left the city during the night. They went through the gate between the two walls that is near the king's garden. (The Babylonians had the city surrounded.) Then they headed for the Jordan Valley. |
| 8but the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was separated from him. | 8But the Babylonian army chased after the king. They caught up with Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and his entire army deserted him. |
| 9The Chaldeans seized the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced judgment on Zedekiah. | 9They captured him and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the territory of Hamath and he passed sentence on him there. |
| 10There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also killed all the officials of Judah. | 10The king of Babylon had Zedekiah's sons put to death while Zedekiah was forced to watch. He also had all the nobles of Judah put to death there at Riblah. |
| 11Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon, where he kept him in custody until his dying day. | 11He had Zedekiah's eyes put out and had him bound in chains. Then the king of Babylon had him led off to Babylon and he was imprisoned there until the day he died. |
| 12On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign over Babylon, Nebuzaradan captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem. | 12On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard who served the king of Babylon, arrived in Jerusalem. |
| 13He burned down the house of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem—every significant building. | 13He burned down the LORD's temple, the royal palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem, including every large house. |
| 14And the whole army of the Chaldeans under the captain of the guard broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. | 14The whole Babylonian army that came with the captain of the royal guard tore down the walls that surrounded Jerusalem. |
| 15Then Nebuzaradan captain of the guard carried into exile some of the poorest people and those who remained in the city, along with the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon and the rest of the craftsmen. | 15Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, took into exile some of the poor, the rest of the people who remained in the city, those who had deserted to him, and the rest of the craftsmen. |
| 16But Nebuzaradan captain of the guard left behind some of the poorest of the land to tend the vineyards and fields. | 16But he left behind some of the poor and gave them fields and vineyards. |
| 17Moreover, the Chaldeans broke up the bronze pillars and stands and the bronze Sea in the house of the LORD, and they carried all the bronze to Babylon. | 17The Babylonians broke the two bronze pillars in the temple of the LORD, as well as the movable stands and the large bronze basin called the "The Sea." They took all the bronze to Babylon. |
| 18They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes, and all the articles of bronze used in the temple service. | 18They also took the pots, shovels, trimming shears, basins, pans, and all the bronze utensils used by the priests. |
| 19The captain of the guard also took away the basins, censers, sprinkling bowls, pots, lampstands, pans, and drink offering bowls—anything made of pure gold or fine silver. | 19The captain of the royal guard took the gold and silver bowls, censers, basins, pots, lampstands, pans, and vessels. |
| 20As for the two pillars, the Sea, the twelve bronze bulls under it, and the movable stands that King Solomon had made for the house of the LORD, the weight of the bronze from all these articles was beyond measure. | 20The bronze of the items that King Solomon made for the LORD's temple (including the two pillars, the large bronze basin called "The Sea," the twelve bronze bulls under "The Sea," and the movable stands) was too heavy to be weighed. |
| 21Each pillar was eighteen cubits tall and twelve cubits in circumference; each was hollow, four fingers thick. | 21Each of the pillars was about 27 feet high, about 18 feet in circumference, three inches thick, and hollow. |
| 22The bronze capital atop one pillar was five cubits high, with a network of bronze pomegranates all around. The second pillar, with its pomegranates, was similar. | 22The bronze top of one pillar was about seven and one-half feet high and had bronze latticework and pomegranate-shaped ornaments all around it. The second pillar with its pomegranate-shaped ornaments was like it. |
| 23Each capital had ninety-six pomegranates on the sides, and a total of a hundred pomegranates were above the surrounding network. | 23There were ninety-six pomegranate-shaped ornaments on the sides; in all there were one hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments over the latticework that went around it. |
| 24The captain of the guard also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of second rank, and the three doorkeepers. | 24The captain of the royal guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest who was second in rank, and the three doorkeepers. |
| 25Of those still in the city, he took a court official who had been appointed over the men of war, as well as seven trusted royal advisers. He also took the scribe of the captain of the army, who had enlisted the people of the land, and sixty men who were found in the city. | 25From the city he took an official who was in charge of the soldiers, seven of the king's advisers who were discovered in the city, an official army secretary who drafted citizens for military service, and sixty citizens who were discovered in the middle of the city. |
| 26Nebuzaradan captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. | 26Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. |
| 27There at Riblah in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death. So Judah was taken into exile, away from its own land. | 27The king of Babylon ordered them to be executed at Riblah in the territory of Hamath. So Judah was taken into exile away from its land. |
| 28These are the people Nebuchadnezzar carried away: in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews; | 28Here is the official record of the number of people Nebuchadnezzar carried into exile: In the seventh year, 3,023 Jews; |
| 29in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year, 832 people from Jerusalem; | 29in Nebuchadnezzar's eighteenth year, 832 people from Jerusalem; |
| 30in Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty-third year, Nebuzaradan captain of the guard carried away 745 Jews. So in all, 4,600 people were taken away. | 30in Nebuchadnezzar's twenty-third year, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, carried into exile 745 Judeans. In all 4,600 people went into exile. |
| 31On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the first year of the reign of Evil-merodach king of Babylon, he pardoned Jehoiachin king of Judah and released him from prison. | 31In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month, Evil-Merodach, in the first year of his reign, pardoned King Jehoiachin of Judah and released him from prison. |
| 32And he spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and set his throne above the thrones of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. | 32He spoke kindly to him and gave him a more prestigious position than the other kings who were with him in Babylon. |
| 33So Jehoiachin changed out of his prison clothes, and he dined regularly at the king’s table for the rest of his life. | 33Jehoiachin took off his prison clothes and ate daily in the king's presence for the rest of his life. |
| 34And the king of Babylon provided Jehoiachin a daily portion for the rest of his life, until the day of his death. | 34He was given daily provisions by the king of Babylon for the rest of his life until the day he died. |
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