251 Now in the ninth year of his reign , on the tenth day of the tenth month , Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came , he and all his army , against Jerusalem , camped against it and built a siege wall all around it. 2 So the city was under siege until the eleventh e year of King Zedekiah . 3 On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land . 4 Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls beside the king's garden , though the Chaldeans were all around the city . And they went by way of the Arabah . 5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho and all his army was scattered from him. 6 Then they captured the king and brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah , and he passed sentence on him. 7 They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes , then put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon .
8 Now on the seventh day of the fifth month , which was the nineteenth e year of King Nebuchadnezzar , king of Babylon , Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard , a servant of the king of Babylon , came to Jerusalem . 9 He burned the house of the Lord , the king's house , and all the houses of Jerusalem ; even every great house he burned with fire . 10 So all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem . 11 Then the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon and the rest of the people , Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away into exile . 12 But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen . 13 Now the bronze pillars which were in the house of the Lord , and the stands and the bronze sea which were in the house of the Lord , the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried the bronze to Babylon . 14 They took away the pots , the shovels , the snuffers , the spoons , and all the bronze vessels which were used in temple service . 15 The captain of the guard also took away the firepans and the basins , what was fine gold and what was fine silver . 16 The two pillars , the one sea , and the stands which Solomon had made for the house of the Lord - the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight . 17 The height of the one pillar was eighteen e cubits , and a bronze capital was on it; the height of the capital was three cubits , with a network and pomegranates on the capital all around , all of bronze . And the second pillar was like these with network . 18 Then the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest , with the three officers of the temple . 19 From the city he took one official who was overseer of the men of war , and five of the king's advisers e who were found in the city ; and the scribe of 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 . 20 Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah . 21 Then the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath . So Judah was led away into exile from its land .
22 Now as for the people who were left in the land of Judah , whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left , he appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam , the son of Shaphan over them. 23 When all the captains of the forces , they and their men , heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah governor, they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah , namely, 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 . 24 Gedaliah swore to them and their men and said to them, "Do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans ; live in the land and serve the king of Babylon , and it will be well with you." 25 But it came about in the seventh month , that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah , the son of Elishama , of the royal family , came with ten men and struck Gedaliah down so that he died along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah . 26 Then all the people , both small and great , and the captains of the forces arose and went to Egypt ; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans .
27 Now it came about in the thirty-seventh e year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah , in the twelfth e month , on the twenty-seventh e day of the month , that Evil-merodach king of Babylon , in the year that he became king , released e Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison e ; 28 and he spoke kindly to him and set his throne above e the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon . 29 Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes and had his meals in the king's presence regularly all the days of his life ; 30 and for his allowance , a regular allowance was given him by the king , a portion for each day , all the days of his life .
