1Now in the ninth year of his rule, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked Jerusalem with all his army. He took his position and laid siege to it. They built earthworks all round the town. 2They surrounded the town and laid siege till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 3On the ninth day of the fourth month, the store of food in the town was almost gone. There was no food for the people of the land. 4An opening was made in the wall of the town. All the men of war went in flight by night through the doorway between the two walls by the king's garden. The Chaldaeans were stationed around the town: and the king went by the way toward the plain of Arabah. 5But the Chaldaean army went after the king. They overtook him in the lowlands of Jericho. All his army went in flight from him in every direction. 6They made the king a prisoner and took him to the king of Babylon at Riblah to be judged. 7They put the sons of Zedekiah to death before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, chained him with iron bands and took him to Babylon. 8It was the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. Nebuzaradan, the captain of the armed men, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 9He had the Temple of Jehovah, the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house, burned with fire. 10The army of the Chaldaeans under the command of the captain of the army broke down the walls around Jerusalem. 11The rest of the people still in the town, and all those who had given themselves up to the king of Babylon, and all the rest of the workmen were taken away as prisoners by Nebuzaradan, the captain of the army. 12He let the poorest of the land go on living there, to take care of the vines and the fields. 13The copper pillars in the Temple of Jehovah, and the wheeled bases, and the great copper water-vessel in the Temple of Jehovah were broken up by the Chaldaeans. They took the copper to Babylon. 14The pots and the spades and the scissors for the lights and the spoons, and all the copper vessels used in Jehovah’s Temple were taken away. 15The captain of the guard took all of the incense burners and bowls that were made of gold or silver. 16The bronze from the two pillars, the pool, and the stands that Solomon made for Jehovah’s Temple could not be weighed. 17One pillar was twenty-seven feet high and had a copper crown on it that was four and one half feet high. The filigree and the pomegranates around the crown were all made of copper. The second pillar and its filigree were the same. 18The captain of the guard took the high priest Seraiah, the second priest Zephaniah, and the three doorkeepers. 19From the city he also took an army commander, five men who had access to the king whom he found in the city, the scribe who was in charge of the militia, and sixty of the common people whom he found in the city. 20Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21The king of Babylon executed them at Riblah in the territory of Hamath. So the people of Judah were captives when they left their land. 22There were people who were still living in the land of Judah. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, did not take them captive. He made Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, ruler over them. 23The captains of the armed forces heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah ruler. They brought their men 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 the Maacathite, came with all their men. 24Then Gedaliah gave his oath to them and their men. He said: Have no fear because of the servants of the Chaldaeans. Go on living in the land under the rule of the king of Babylon, and all will be well. 25In the seventh month, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the king's seed, came with ten men and made an attack on Gedaliah, causing his death and the death of the Jews and the Chaldaeans who were with him at Mizpah. 26Then all the people, small and great, and the captains of the forces, got up and went away to Egypt, for fear of the Chaldaeans. 27In the thirty-seventh year after Jehoiachin king of Judah had been taken prisoner, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, Evil-merodach, king of Babylon, in the first year of his rule, took Jehoiachin, king of Judah, out of prison. 28He said kind things to him and placed his seat higher than the seats of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 29His prison clothing was changed. He was a guest at the king's table every day for the rest of his life. 30The king gave him a regular amount of food every day for the rest of his life.