Jeremiah

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 Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

1Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother was Hamutal, daughter of Jeremiah, from the town of Libnah.

2And he did that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.

2Zedekiah did what the LORD said was evil, just as King Jehoiakim had done before him.

3For 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.

3All of this happened to Jerusalem and Judah because the LORD was angry, until at last he sent them away from him. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

4And 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.

4In the ninth year of Zedekiah's rule, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. They camped outside the city and built a wall of dirt all around it.

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

5The city was surrounded and cut off until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.

6And 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.

6By the ninth day of the fourth month, the hunger in the city was so bad that the people had no food at all.

7Then the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled, 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.

7Then the enemy broke through the city wall. The Babylonian soldiers were all around the city, but every fighting man escaped at night. They went out through the gate between the two walls, near the king's garden, and headed toward the flat land of the Arabah.

NoteThe Arabah is the deep, dry valley that runs south from the Sea of Galilee past the Dead Sea. The KJV calls it "the plain."

8But 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.

8But the Babylonian army chased the king and caught Zedekiah on the plains near Jericho. His whole army scattered and left him alone.

9Then 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.

9They seized the king and took him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, in the land of Hamath. There the king of Babylon decided his punishment.

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

10At Riblah the king of Babylon killed Zedekiah's sons while Zedekiah watched. He also killed all the leading officials of Judah.

11Then 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.

11Then he blinded Zedekiah, tied him with bronze chains, and took him to Babylon. He kept him in prison until the day he died.

12Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, which served the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem,

12On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Nebuzaradan came into Jerusalem. He was the commander of the king's guard and served the king of Babylon.

13And 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:

13He burned down the temple of the LORD, the king's palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building was burned.

14And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down all the walls of Jerusalem round about.

14The whole Babylonian army, under the commander of the guard, tore down all the walls around Jerusalem.

15Then Nebuzaradan 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.

15Then Nebuzaradan the commander took people away as prisoners. He took some of the poorest people, those still left in the city, those who had gone over to the side of Babylon, and the skilled workers.

16But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left certain of the poor of the land for vinedressers and for husbandmen.

16But Nebuzaradan left some of the poorest people of the land behind to care for the vineyards and work the fields.

17Also the pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD, and the bases, and the brasen sea that was in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans brake, and carried all the brass of them to Babylon.

17The Babylonians broke apart the bronze pillars in the temple of the LORD, along with the stands and the large bronze basin called the Sea. They carried all the bronze to Babylon.

18The caldrons 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.

18They also took away the pots, the shovels, the tools for trimming lamp wicks, the sprinkling bowls, the dishes, and every bronze object used in the temple.

19And the basons, and the firepans, and the bowls, and the caldrons, 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.

19The commander of the guard also took the basins, the pans for burning incense, the sprinkling bowls, the pots, the lampstands, the dishes, and the cups. He took everything made of pure gold or pure silver.

20The two pillars, one sea, and twelve brasen bulls 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.

20There were two pillars, the great basin called the Sea, the twelve bronze bulls under it, and the movable stands. King Solomon had made them all for the temple of the LORD. There was so much bronze in these things that no one could weigh it.

21And 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.

21Each pillar stood eighteen cubits high, and a cord twelve cubits long would reach around it. Each pillar was hollow, and its metal was four fingers thick.

NoteA cubit was about eighteen inches, so each pillar stood about twenty-seven feet high. The KJV word "brass" here means bronze, a mix of copper and tin.

22And a chapiter of brass was upon it; and the height of one chapiter was five cubits, with network and pomegranates upon the chapiters round about, all of brass. The second pillar also and the pomegranates were like unto these.

22On top of each pillar sat a bronze cap five cubits high. Around the cap was a woven pattern of bronze with bronze pomegranates. The second pillar and its pomegranates looked the same.

23And there were ninety and six pomegranates on a side; and all the pomegranates upon the network were an hundred round about.

23There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides. In all, one hundred pomegranates stood around the woven pattern.

24And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door:

24The commander of the guard also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest who was next in rank, and the three men who guarded the temple doors.

25He 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.

25From the people still in the city he took a court official who was in charge of the soldiers. He also took seven of the king's trusted advisers, the army scribe who signed up men for the army, and sixty ordinary men found in the city.

NoteThe KJV word "eunuch" here means a palace official who served the king. The KJV phrase "scribe of the host" means the officer who kept the army's records.

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

26Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard took all of them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.

27And 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.

27There at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death. So the people of Judah were carried far away from their own land.

28This is the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year three thousand Jews and three and twenty:

28These are the people Nebuchadnezzar carried away: in his seventh year, 3,023 Jews;

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

29in his eighteenth year, 832 people from Jerusalem;

30In the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar Nebuzaradan 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.

30in his twenty-third year, Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried away 745 Jews. In all, 4,600 people were taken away.

31And 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 Evilmerodach 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,

31In the thirty-seventh year after Jehoiachin king of Judah was taken away, on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month, Evil-merodach became king of Babylon. In his first year as king, he showed kindness to Jehoiachin and let him out of prison.

NoteThe KJV says the king "lifted up the head" of Jehoiachin. That was a way of saying he treated him with favor and set him free.

32And spake kindly unto him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon,

32He spoke gently to Jehoiachin and gave him a seat of greater honor than the other kings who were with him in Babylon.

33And changed his prison garments: and he did continually eat bread before him all the days of his life.

33So Jehoiachin took off his prison clothes and put on other clothes. For the rest of his life he ate at the king's table.

34And 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.

34Every day the king of Babylon gave Jehoiachin what he needed for food. This continued for the rest of his life, until the day he died.