Chapter 52 Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign,
and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.
And his mother's name was Hamutel, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libna.
And he did that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that
Jehoiakim had done.
For through the anger of the Lord it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah,
till he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against
the king of Babylon.
And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month,
in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon,
came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it,
and built forts against it round about.
So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.
And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in the
city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.
Then the city was broken up, and all the men of Wharfe led, and went forth out of
the city by night, by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the
king's garden.
Now the Chaldeans were by the city round about, and they went by the way of the
plain.
But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in
the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him.
Then they took the king, and carried him up unto the king of Babylon, to Riblah,
in the land of Hamath, where he gave judgment upon him.
And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes.
He slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah.
Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and the king of Babylon bound him in
chains, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his
death.
Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth
year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuchadrezzar, captain of the guard,
which served the king of Babylon in Jerusalem, and burned the house of the
Lord, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of
the great men, burned he with fire.
And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the guard,
break down all the walls of Jerusalem round about.
Then Nebuchadrezzar, the captain of the guard, carried away captive, certain of
the poor of the people, and the residue of the people that remained in the city,
and those that fell away, that fell to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the
multitude.
But Nebuchadrezzar, the captain of the guard, left certain of the poor of the
land, for vinedressers, and for husbandmen.
Also 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, the Chaldeans break,
and carried all the brass of them to Babylon.
The cauldrons also, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the bowls,
and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass, wherewith they ministered,
took they away.
And the basins, and the firepans, and the bowls, and the cauldrons,
and the candlesticks, and the spoons, and the cups, that which was of gold in
gold, and that which was of silver in silver, took the captain of the guard
away.
The two pillars, one sea, and twelve brass and bowls, that were under the bases,
which King Solomon had made in the house of the Lord, the brass of all these
vessels was without weight.
And concerning the pillars, the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits,
and a fillet of twelve cubits did compass it, and the thickness thereof was four
fingers, it was hollow, and a chapter of brass was upon it, and the height of one
chapter was five cubits, with a network and pomegranates upon the chapters round
about, all of brass.
The second pillar also, and the pomegranates, were like unto these.
And there were ninety and six pomegranates on a side, and all the pomegranates upon
the network were in hundred round about.
And the captain of the guard took Saraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second
priest, and the three keepers of the door.
He took also out of the city an eunuch, which had the charge of the men of war,
and seven men of them, that were near the king's person, which were found in the
city, and the principal scribe of the host, who mustered the people of the land,
and threescore men of the people of the land, that were found in the midst of the
city.
So Nebuchadrezzar the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of
Babylon, to Riblah.
And the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death in Riblah,
in the land of Hamath.
Thus Judah was carried away captive out of his own land.
This is the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive, in the seventh year
three thousand Jews and three and twenty.
In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem
eight hundred thirty and two persons.
In the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar, Nebuchadrezzar the captain
of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred forty and five persons.
All the persons were four thousand and six hundred.
And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of
Jehoiachin, king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of
the month, that evil Meroduk, king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign,
lifted up the head of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, and brought him forth out
of prison, and spake kindly unto 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 continually eat bread before him all the days of his life, and for his
diet there was a continual diet given him of the king of Babylon, every day a
portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life.