Chapter 25 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth
month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came,
he and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it.
And they built forts against it round about.
And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.
And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city,
and there was no bread for the people of the land.
And the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the
gate between two walls which is by the king's garden.
Now the Chaldees were against the city round about.
And the king went the way toward the plain.
And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains
of Jericho.
And all his army was scattered from him.
So they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon, to Riblah,
and they gave judgment upon him.
And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of
Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon.
And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year
of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuchadnezzar Aden, captain of the
guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem.
And he burnt the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and all the houses
of Jerusalem, and every great man's house burnt he with fire.
And all the army of the Chaldees that were with the captain of the guard break down
the walls of Jerusalem round about.
Now the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the fugitives that fell
away to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the multitude, did
Nebuchadnezzar Aden, the captain of the guard, carry away.
But the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be vinedressers and
husbandmen.
And the pillars of brass that were in the house of the Lord, and the bases,
and the brass and sea that was in the house of the Lord, did the Chaldees break
in pieces, and carried the brass of them to Babylon.
And the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the spoons,
and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away.
And the firepans, and the bowls, and such things as were of gold,
in gold, and of silver, in silver, the captain of the guard took away.
The two pillars, one sea, and the bases which Solomon had made for the house of
the Lord, the brass of all these vessels was without weight.
The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and the chapter upon it was brass,
and the height of the chapter three cubits, and the wreathen work,
and pomegranates upon the chapter round about, all of brass.
And like unto these had the second pillar, with wreathen work.
And the captain of the guard took Saraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second
priest, and the three keepers of the door, and out of the city he took an officer
that was set over the men of war, and five men of them that were in the
king's presence, which were found in the city, and the principal scribe of the
host, which mustered the people of the land, and threescore men of the people of
the land that were found in the city.
And Nebuchadnezzar the captain of the guard took these, and brought them to the
king of Babylon, to Riblah.
And the king of Babylon smote them, and slew them at Riblah in the land of
Hamath.
So Judah was carried away out of their land.
And as for the people that remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon had left, even over them he made Gedaliah the son of Ahicham, the son of
Shaphan, ruler.
And when all the captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of
Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, they came to Gedaliah to Mizba,
even Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan, the son of Kereah,
and Saraiah, the son of Tanhumath, an Atophathite, and Jeazaniah,
the son of Amalekithite, they and their men.
And Gedaliah swore to them, and to their men, and said unto them, Fear not to be
the servants of the Chaldees.
Dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.
But it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah,
the son of Elishema, of the seed royal, came, and ten men with him, and smote
Gedaliah, that he died, and the Jews and the Chaldees that were with him at Mizba.
And all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the armies,
arose and came to Egypt, for they were afraid of the Chaldees.
And it came to pass in the seventh and thirtieth year of the captivity of
Jehoiachin, king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seventh and twentieth day of
the month, that evil Merodach, king of Babylon, in the year that he began
to reign, did lift up the head of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, out of prison.
And he spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that
were with him in Babylon, and changed his prison garments.
And he did eat bread continually before him all the days of his life.
And his allowance was a continual allowance, given him of the king,
a daily rate for every day, all the days of his life.
This concludes disc number 22.