Chapter 25

¹And it cometh to pass, in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth of the month, come hath Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, he and all his force, against Jerusalem, and encampeth against it, and buildeth against it a fortification round about. ²And the city entereth into siege till the eleventh year of king Zedekiah, ³on the ninth of the month -- when the famine is severe in the city, and there hath not been bread for the people of the land, ⁴then the city is broken up, and all the men of war [go] by night the way of the gate, between the two walls that [are] by the garden of the king, and the Chaldeans [are] against the city round about, and [the king] goeth the way of the plain. ⁵And the force of the Chaldeans pursue after the king, and overtake him in the plains of Jericho, and all his force have been scattered from him; ⁶and they seize the king, and bring him up unto the king of Babylon, to Riblah, and they speak with him -- judgment. ⁷And the sons of Zedekiah they have slaughtered before his eyes, and the eyes of Zedekiah he hath blinded, and bindeth him with brazen fetters, and they bring him to Babylon. ⁸And in the fifth month, on the seventh of the month (it [is] the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), hath Nebuzaradan chief of the executioners, servant of the king of Babylon, come to Jerusalem, ⁹and he burneth the house of Jehovah, and the house of the king, and all the houses of Jerusalem, yea, every great house he hath burned with fire; ¹⁰and the walls of Jerusalem round about have all the forces of the Chaldeans, who [are] with the chief of the executioners, broken down. ¹¹And the rest of the people, those left in the city, and those falling who have fallen to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude, hath Nebuzaradan chief of the executioners removed; ¹²and of the poor of the land hath the chief of the executioners left for vine-dressers and for husbandmen. ¹³And the pillars of brass that [are] in the house of Jehovah, and the bases, and the sea of brass, that [is] in the house of Jehovah, have the Chaldeans broken in pieces, and bear away their brass to Babylon. ¹⁴And the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass with which they minister they have taken, ¹⁵and the fire-pans, and the bowls that [are] wholly of silver, hath the chief of the executioners taken. ¹⁶The two pillars, the one sea, and the bases that Solomon made for the house of Jehovah, there was no weighing of the brass of all these vessels; ¹⁷eighteen cubits [is] the height of the one pillar, and the chapiter on it [is] of brass, and the height of the chapiter [is] three cubits, and the net and the pomegranates [are] on the chapiter round about -- the whole [is] of brass; and like these hath the second pillar, with the net. ¹⁸And the chief of the executioners taketh Seraiah the head priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold, ¹⁹and out of the city he hath taken a certain eunuch who is appointed over the men of war, and five men of those seeing the king`s face who have been found in the city, and the head scribe of the host, who mustereth the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who are found in the city, <sup>20</sup>and Nebuzaradan chief of the executioners taketh them, and causeth them to go unto the king of Babylon, to Libnah, <sup>21</sup>and the king of Babylon smiteth them, and putteth them to death in Riblah, in the land of Hamath, and he removeth Judah from off its land. <sup>22</sup>And the people that is left in the land of Judah whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon hath left -- he appointeth over them Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan. <sup>23</sup>And all the heads of the forces hear -- they and the men -- that the king of Babylon hath appointed Gedaliah, and they come in unto Gedaliah, to Mizpah, even Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and Johanan son of Kareah, and Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah son of the Maachathite -- they and their men; <sup>24</sup>and Gedaliah sweareth to them, and to their men, and saith to them, `Be not afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans, dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it is good for you.` ²⁵And it cometh to pass, in the seventh month, come hath Ishmael son of Nathaniah, son of Elishama of the seed of the kingdom, and ten men with him, and they smite Gedaliah, and he dieth, and the Jews and the Chaldeans who have been with him in Mizpah. ²⁶And all the people rise, from small even unto great, and the heads of the forces, and come in to Egypt, for they have been afraid of the presence of the Chaldeans. ²⁷And it cometh to pass, in the thirty and seventh year of the removal of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the twenty and seventh of the month hath Evil-Merodach king of Babylon lifted up, in the year of his reigning, the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, out of the house of restraint, ²⁸and speaketh with him good things and putteth his throne above the throne of the kings who [are] with him in Babylon, ²⁹and hath changed the garments of his restraint, and he hath eaten bread continually before him all days of his life, ³⁰and his allowance -- a continual allowance -- hath been given to him from the king, the matter of a day in its day, all days of his life.