2 Kings 25

Zedekiah's Capture and Judgement 2 Kings 25:5–10

⁵Verse 5. But the Chaldean army pursued the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him. ⁶Verse 6. Then they captured the king, and carried him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they passed judgment on him. ⁷Verse 7. They killed Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes, then put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him in fetters, and carried him to Babylon. ⁸Verse 8. Now in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.

⁹Verse 9. He burned Yahweh’s house, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house, he burned with fire. ¹⁰Verse 10. All the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem.

Destruction of Jerusalem's Treasures 2 Kings 25:11–15

¹¹Verse 11. Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive the residue of the people who were left in the city, and those who fell away, who fell to the king of Babylon, and the residue of the multitude. ¹²Verse 12. But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to work the vineyards and fields. ¹³Verse 13. The Chaldeans broke up the pillars of brass that were in Yahweh’s house and the bases and the bronze sea that were in Yahweh’s house, and carried the brass pieces to Babylon. ¹⁴Verse 14. They took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the spoons, and all the vessels of brass with which they ministered.

¹⁵Verse 15. The captain of the guard took away the fire pans, the basins, that which was of gold, in gold, and that which was of silver, in silver.

The Fall of Leadership 2 Kings 25:16–21

¹⁶Verse 16. The two pillars, the one sea, and the bases, which Solomon had made for Yahweh’s house, the brass of all these vessels was not weighed. ¹⁷Verse 17. The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and a capital of brass was on it. The height of the capital was three cubits, with network and pomegranates on the capital around it, all of brass; and the second pillar with its network was like these. ¹⁸Verse 18. The captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold; ¹⁹Verse 19. and out of the city he took an officer who was set over the men of war; and five men of those who saw the king’s face, who were found in the city; and the scribe, the captain of the army, who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the city.

²⁰Verse 20. Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah. ²¹Verse 21. The king of Babylon attacked them, and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away captive out of his land.

Gedaliah’s Governance and Assassination 2 Kings 25:22–26

²²Verse 22. As for the people who were left in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, even over them he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, governor. ²³Verse 23. Now when all the captains of the forces, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men. ²⁴Verse 24. Gedaliah swore to them and to their men, and said to them, “Don’t be afraid because of the servants of the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you.”

²⁵Verse 25. But in the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal offspring came, and ten men with him, and struck Gedaliah, so that he died, with the Jews and the Chaldeans that were with him at Mizpah. ²⁶Verse 26. All the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces, arose, and came to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

Jehoiachin's Release 2 Kings 25:27–30

²⁷Verse 27. In the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, Evilmerodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison; ²⁸Verse 28. and he spoke kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon, ²⁹Verse 29. and changed his prison garments. Jehoiachin ate bread before him continually all the days of his life; ³⁰Verse 30. and for his allowance, there was a continual allowance given him from the king, every day a portion, all the days of his life.