2 Kings 25:4-24
English Standard Version
Chapter 25
4Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, by the king 's garden, and the Chaldeans were around the city. And they went in the direction of the Arabah. 5But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. 6Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they passed sentence on him. 7They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains and took him to Babylon.
8In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month — that was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon — Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.
9And he burned the house of the Lord and the king 's house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down.
10And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem.
11And the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the multitude, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile.
12But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.
13And the pillars of bronze that were in the house of the Lord, and the stands and the bronze sea that were in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried the bronze to Babylon.
14And they took away the pots and the shovels and the snuffers and the dishes for incense and all the vessels of bronze used in the temple service,
15the fire pans also and the bowls. What was of gold the captain of the guard took away as gold, and what was of silver, as silver.
16As for the two pillars, the one sea, and the stands that Solomon had made for the house of the Lord, the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight.
17The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and on it was a capital of bronze. The height of the capital was three cubits. A latticework and pomegranates, all of bronze, were all around the capital. And the second pillar had the same, with the latticework.
18And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest and the three keepers of the threshold;
19and from the city he took an officer who had been in command of the men of war, and five men of the king 's council who were found in the city; and the secretary of the commander 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.
20And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.
21And the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was taken into exile out of its land.
22And over the people who remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, he appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, governor.
23Now when all the captains and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah governor, they came with their men to Gedaliah at 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.
24And Gedaliah swore to them and their men, saying, "Do not be afraid because of the Chaldean officials. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you."
