Jeremiah 52

₁Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king and he was king in Jerusalem for 11 years. His mother's name was Hamutal. She was the daughter of Jeremiah from the town of Libnah. ₂Zedekiah did things that the Lord said were wrong. He did the same sins as Jehoiakim. ₃That is why the Lord became angry with the people of Jerusalem and Judah. He wanted to throw them away and turn his back on them.

Zedekiah rebelled_against the king of Babylon ₄and Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon came to war_against Jerusalem, he and his soldiers. It was the 9th year after Zedekiah had become king, on the 10th day of the 10th month. The soldiers of Babylon put up their tents around the city and started to build a ramp against the wall of the city.

₅They besieged the city until the 11th year after Zedekiah had become king. ₆On the 9th day of the 4th month there was no more food to eat in the city and the people were very hungry. There was no more food for the people of the land. ₇The soldiers from Babylon started to break down the wall of the city and then Zedekiah and his soldiers started to run away in the night. They went through the gate near the king's garden. The Babylonian soldiers were around the city and King Zedekiah tried to escape on the way to the Jordan Valley. ₈But the Babylonian soldiers followed the king and they caught him near the city of Jericho. All his soldiers fled and ran away from him. ₉The Babylonians took King Zedekiah to the king of Babylon in the town of Riblah. There the king of Babylon told Zedekiah how he would punish him. ₁₀They killed Zedekiah's sons and he had to look while they did it. ₁₁Then they took out his eyes and they tied him with chains and took him to Babylon. Then the king of Babylon took Zedekiah to Babylon and he put Zedekiah in jail and kept him there until he died. ₁₂Nebuzaradan was the chief_officer of the king of Babylon. He came to Jerusalem in the 5th month, on the 10th day of the month in the 19th year after Nebuchadnezzar had become king of Babylon. Nebuzaradan came to Jerusalem to do what the king of Babylon told him to do. ₁₃He burnt down the temple of the Lord, the palace and all the houses in Jerusalem, all the big houses. ₁₄The Babylonian soldiers who were with the chief_officer broke down the walls around Jerusalem.

₁₅The chief_officer, Nebuzaradan, caught all the people in Jerusalem. He took the poor people to the king of Babylon, and also the people who were left in the city and the people who had decided to go to Babylon. ₁₆But Nebuzaradan left some of the poorest people there to work in the vineyards and in the wheat_fields. ₁₇The Babylonians broke down the pillars at the temple, the wagons and the water-tank at the temple, that were made of bronze, and they took the bronze to Babylon. ₁₈They also took the pots, the shovels, the lamp-snuffers, the bowls and everything that was made of bronze, everything that the priests used at the temple. ₁₉The chief_officer also took the buckets, bowls, pots, lamps and everything that was made of gold and silver. ₂₀The 2 pillars and the big water-tank, and the 12 bronze oxen under the water-tank, and the wagons that King Solomon had made for the temple were very heavy. No one could weigh them. All these things were made of bronze. ₂₁Each pillar was 18 cubits high and 12 cubits around. They were hollow with nothing inside, and the bronze was 4 fingers thick. ₂₂Over each pillar was a top made of bronze. It was 5 cubits high. There were bronze pomegranates all around each top. ₂₃There were 100 pomegranates, but you could see only 96 of them.

₂₄The chief_officer caught the high-priest, Seraiah, and the 2nd priest, Zephaniah, and the 3 gatekeepers. ₂₅He also took one officer from the city who was the chief of the soldiers, and 7 of the king's advisors who were in the city, and the secretary of the chief of the army who had to call the people of the land when there was war, and 60 of the important people of the land who were in the city. ₂₆The chief_officer, Nebuzaradan, brought them to the king of Babylon in Riblah. ₂₇The king of Babylon had them killed in Riblah in the land of Hamath. He took other people of Judah from their land and sent them to Babylon.

₂₈Nebuchadnezzar caught a lot of people and took them away. There were 3 023 people of Judah that he took away in the 7th year, ₂₉832 people from Jerusalem in the 18th year after Nebuchadnezzar had become king, ₃₀and in the 23rd year after Nebuchadnezzar had become king, the chief_officer, Nebuzaradan, took another 745 people of Judah away. They took 4 600 people altogether.

₃₁Awel-Marduk, the son of Nebuchadnezzar, became king of Babylon and he decided to be good to King Jehoiachin. That was in the 37th year after Jehoiachin, king_of_Judah, had become a prisoner in Babylon and in the first year after Awel-Marduk had become king. It was in the 12th month, on the 25th day of the month. King Awel-Marduk then let King Jehoiachin out of prison. ₃₂Awel-Marduk was friendly to Jehoiachin and he made him important, more than the other kings who were prisoners in Babylon. ₃₃Jehoiachin could take off his prisoner clothes and he could sit at the king's table every day until he died. ₃₄As long as Jehoiachin lived, he received food and clothes, as much as he needed.