THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH

 

Jeremiah Chapter 52

1 ¶ Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

2 And he did what was evil in the eyes of the LORD, just as Jehoiakim had done.

3 And because of the anger of the LORD it reached the point in Jerusalem and Judah, that he finally banished them from his presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

4 And during the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon came against Jerusalem, he and his entire army, and laid siege to it, and built siegeworks around it.

5 So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.

6 And during the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.

7 Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled, and left the city by night through the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden; (now the Chaldeans were besieging the city on every side:) and they went along the road toward the Jordan valley.

8 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and caught up with Zedekiah on the plains of Jericho; and all his troops scattered.

9 Then they took the king prisoner, and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath; where he passed sentence upon him.

10 And the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he also killed all the princes of Judah at Riblah.

11 Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes; and the king of Babylon bound him in chains, and took him to Babylon, and put him in prison where he remained until the day of his death.

12 ¶ Now during the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, on the tenth day, of the fifth month, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, who served the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem,

13 And burned the house of the LORD with fire, and also burned the king’s palace; and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every important building:

14 And the entire army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls all around Jerusalem.

15 Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard led away captive some of the poorest of the people, and those who were left in the city, those who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude.

16 But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poor of the land to care for the vineyards and farms.

17 The Chaldeans also broke up the brass pillars that were in the house of the LORD, and the stands, and the brass sea that was in the house of the LORD, and carried all the brass to Babylon.

18 They also took the caldrons, the shovels, the snuffers, the bowls, the spoons, and all the brass utensils used in service.

19 The captain of the guard also took the basins, the firepans, the bowls, the caldrons, the candlesticks, the spoons, and the cups; he took the gold for the gold, and the silver for the silver.

20 The brass of all those vessels that king Solomon had made in the house of the LORD: the two pillars, the brass sea, and the twelve brass bulls that were under the stands, could not be weighed.

21 And concerning the pillars, one pillar was eighteen cubits high; and twelve cubits in circumference; and it was four fingers thick: and was hollow.

22 And it had a brass crown on it; and the height of one crown was five cubits, with latticework and pomegranates of brass all around it. The second pillar was the same with similar pomegranates.

23 There were ninety-six pomegranates on the outside; a total of one hundred pomegranates on the latticework all around.

24 ¶ And the captain of the guard took captive Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and the three doorkeepers:

25 He took also captive from the city an officer, who had been in charge of the men of war; and seven men of the king’s personal companions, who were found in the city; the scribe for the commander of the army, who mustered the people of the land; and sixty citizens of the land, who were discovered in the city.

26 So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.

27 And the king of Babylon struck them, and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So the people of Judah were carried away captive out of their own land.

28 These are the people that Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year, three thousand and twenty-three Jews:

29 In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar he carried eight hundred and thirty-two people away from Jerusalem captive:

30 In the twenty-third year of Nebuchadrezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried seven hundred and forty-five of the Jews away captive: the total of those carried away was four thousand and six hundred.

31 ¶ And 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, Evilmerodach the king of Babylon in the first year of his reign pardoned Jehoiachin the king of Judah, and brought him out of prison,

32 And spoke kindly to him, and gave him a seat above the seats of the kings that were with him in Babylon,

33 So Jehoiachin changed his prison garments: and ate regularly at the king’s table all the days of his life.

34 As for his allowance, there was a regular allowance given to him by the king of Babylon, a portion for each day until the day of his death, for the rest of his life.