2 Kings 25

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 In the tenth month of the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and his whole army advanced against Jerusalem, encamped around it, and built siege walls on every side.	1 Then it happened that, in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, he and his entire army, arrived against Jerusalem. And they encircled it, and they constructed fortifications all around it.
2 The siege of the city continued until the eleventh year of Zedekiah.	2 And the city was enclosed and besieged, even until the eleventh year of king Zedekiah,
3 On the ninth day of the fourth month, when famine had gripped the city, and the people had no more bread,	3 on the ninth day of the month. And a famine prevailed in the city; neither was there bread for the people of the land.
4 the city walls were breached. Then the king and all the soldiers left the city by night through the gate between the two walls which was near the king's garden. Since the Chaldeans had the city surrounded, they went in the direction of the Arabah.	4 And the city was breached. And all the men of war fled in the night along the way of the gate which is between the double wall at the garden of the king. Now the Chaldeans were besieging the city on all sides. And so Zedekiah fled along the way which leads to the plains of the wilderness.
5 But the Chaldean army pursued the king and overtook him in the desert near Jericho, abandoned by his whole army.	5 And the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and they overtook him in the plains of Jericho. And all the warriors who were with him were dispersed, and they abandoned him.
6 The king was therefore arrested and brought to Riblah to the king of Babylon, who pronounced sentence on him.	6 Therefore, having apprehended him, they led the king to the king of Babylon at Riblah. And he was speaking with him in judgment.
7 He had Zedekiah's sons slain before his eyes. Then he blinded Zedekiah, bound him with fetters, and had him brought to Babylon.	7 Then he killed the sons of Zedekiah before him, and he dug out his eyes, and he bound him with chains, and he led him away to Babylon.
8 On the seventh day of the fifth month (this was in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon), Nebuzaradan, captain of the bodyguard, came to Jerusalem as the representative of the king of Babylon.	8 In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, the same is the nineteenth year of the king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the leader of the army, a servant of the king of Babylon, went into Jerusalem.
9 He burned the house of the LORD, the palace of the king, and all the houses of Jerusalem; every large building was destroyed by fire.	9 And he set fire to the house of the Lord, and to the house of the king. And the houses of Jerusalem, and every great house, he burned with fire.
10 Then the Chaldean troops who were with the captain of the guard tore down the walls that surrounded Jerusalem.	10 And the entire army of the Chaldeans, which was with the leader of the military, tore down the walls of Jerusalem all around.
11 Then Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, led into exile the last of the people remaining in the city, and those who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the last of the artisans.	11 Then Nebuzaradan, the leader of the military, carried away the rest of the people, who had remained in the city, and the fugitives, who had fled over to the king of Babylon, and the remnant of the common people.
12 But some of the country's poor, Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, left behind as vinedressers and farmers.	12 But he left behind some vinedressers and farmers from the poor of the land.
13 The bronze pillars that belonged to the house of the LORD, and the wheeled carts and the bronze sea in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans broke into pieces; they carried away the bronze to Babylon.	13 Now the pillars of brass which were in the temple of the Lord, and the bases, and the sea of brass, which was in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke apart. And they took all the brass to Babylon.
14 They took also the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the bowls, the pans and all the bronze vessels used for service.	14 Also, they took away the cooking pots of brass, and the scoops, and the forks, and the cups, and the little mortars, and all the articles of brass with which they were ministering.
15 The fire-holders and the bowls which were of gold or silver the captain of the guard also carried off.	15 And the leader of the military even took away the censers and the bowls, whatever was of gold for the gold, and whatever was of silver for the silver,
16 The weight in bronze of the two pillars, the bronze sea, and the wheeled carts, all of them furnishings which Solomon had made for the house of the LORD, was never calculated.	16 and also the two pillars, the one sea, and the bases which Solomon had made for the temple of the Lord. The brass of all these items was beyond measure.
17 Each of the pillars was eighteen cubits high; a bronze capital five cubits high surmounted each pillar, and a network with pomegranates encircled the capital, all of bronze; and so for the other pillar, as regards the network.	17 One pillar had eighteen cubits in height. And the head of brass upon it was three cubits in height. And the network and pomegranates upon the head of the pillar were all of brass. And the second pillar had a similar adornment.
18 The captain of the guard also took Seraiah the high priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the entry.	18 Also, the leader of the military took away Seraiah, the chief priest, and Zephaniah, the second priest, and three doorkeepers,
19 And from the city he took one courtier, a commander of soldiers, five men in the personal service of the king who were still in the city, the scribe of the army commander, who mustered the people of the land, and sixty of the common people still remaining in the city.	19 and from the city, one eunuch, who was in charge of the men of war, and five men out of those who had stood before the king, whom he found in the city, and Sopher, the leader of the army who trained the young soldiers from the people of the land, and sixty men from the common people, who had been found in the city.
20 The captain of the guard, Nebuzaradan, arrested these and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah;	20 Taking them, Nebuzaradan, the leader of the military, led them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.
21 the king had them struck down and put to death in Riblah, in the land of Hamath. Thus was Judah exiled from her land.	21 And the king of Babylon struck them and killed them at Riblah, in the land of Hamath. And Judah was taken away from his land.
22 As for the people whom he had allowed to remain in the land of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, appointed as their governor Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan.	22 But over the people who had remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had permitted, he appointed as ruler Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan.
23 Hearing that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah governor, all the army commanders with their men came to him at Mizpah: Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, Johanan, son of Kareah, Seraiah, son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah, from Beth-maacah.	23 And when all the commanders of the military had heard this, they and the men who were with them, specifically, that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, they went to Gedaliah at Mizpah: Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan, the son of Kareah, and Seraiah, the son of Tanhumeth, the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah, the son of a Maacathite, they and their companions.
24 Gedaliah gave the commanders and their men his oath. "Do not be afraid of the Chaldean officials," he said to them. "Remain in the country and serve the king of Babylon, and all will be well with you."	24 And Gedaliah swore to them and to their companions, saying: “Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Remain in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.”
25 But in the seventh month Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of royal descent, came with ten men, attacked Gedaliah and killed him, along with the Jews and Chaldeans who were in Mizpah with him.	25 But it happened that, in the seventh month, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of royal offspring, and ten men with him, went and struck Gedaliah, who then died, along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah.
26 Then all the people, great and small, left with the army commanders and went to Egypt for fear of the Chaldeans.	26 And all the people, from small to great, and the leaders of the military, rising up, went away to Egypt, fearing the Chaldeans.
27 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month, Evilmerodach, king of Babylon, in the inaugural year of his own reign, raised up Jehoiachin, king of Judah, from prison.	27 Truly, it happened that, in the thirty-seventh year of the transmigration of Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, Evilmerodach, the king of Babylon, in the year when he had begun to reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, from prison.
28 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a throne higher than that of the other kings who were with him in Babylon.	28 And he spoke kindly to him. And he set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him at Babylon.
29 Jehoiachin took off his prison garb and ate at the king's table as long as he lived.	29 And he changed his garments that he had worn in prison. And he ate bread before him always, during all the days of his life.
30 The allowance granted him by the king was a perpetual allowance, in fixed daily amounts, for as long as he lived.	30 Also, he appointed to him an allowance without ceasing, which also was given to him by the king, for each day, during all the days of his life.