The Reign of Zedekiah

521 Zedekiah was twenty-one e years old when he became king , and he reigned eleven e years in Jerusalem ; and his mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah . 2 He did evil in the sight of the Lord like all that Jehoiakim had done . 3 For through the anger of the Lord this came about in Jerusalem and Judah until He cast them out from His presence . And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon .

The Fall of Jerusalem

4 Now it came about in the ninth year of his reign , on the tenth day of the tenth month , that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came , he and all his army , against Jerusalem , camped against it and built a siege wall all around it. 5 So the city was under siege until the eleventh e year of King Zedekiah . 6 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 . 7 Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled and went forth from the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls which was by the king's garden , though the Chaldeans were all around the city . And they went by way of the Arabah . 8 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho , and all his army was scattered from him. 9 Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath , and he passed sentence on him. 10 The king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes , and he also slaughtered all the princes of Judah in Riblah . 11 Then he blinded the eyes of Zedekiah ; and the king of Babylon bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon and put him in prison e until the day of his death .

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Jeremiah 52:1-11

Commentary on Jeremiah 52:1-11

(Read Jeremiah 52:1-11)

This fruit of sin we should pray against above any thing; Cast me not away from thy presence, Psalm 51:11. None are cast out of God's presence but those who by sin have first thrown themselves out. Zedekiah's flight was in vain, for there is no escaping the judgments of God; they come upon the sinner, and overtake him, let him flee where he will.