2 Kings 25 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

Fall and Captivity of Judah

(2Ch 36:15–21; Jer 52:4–30 )

2Ki 25:1And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem and laid siege to it. And they built siegeworks all around it.

2Ki 25:2

2Ki 25:2So the city was besieged till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.

2Ki 25:3

2Ki 25:3On 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.

2Ki 25:4

2Ki 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.

2Ki 25:5

2Ki 25:5But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him.

2Ki 25:6

2Ki 25:6Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they passed sentence on him.

2Ki 25:7

2Ki 25:7They 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.

2Ki 25:8

2Ki 25:8In 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.

2Ki 25:9

2Ki 25:9And he burned the house of the LORD and the king’s house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down.

2Ki 25:10

2Ki 25:10And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem.

2Ki 25:11

2Ki 25:11And 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.

2Ki 25:12

2Ki 25:12But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.

2Ki 25:13

2Ki 25:13And 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.

2Ki 25:14

2Ki 25:14And 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,

2Ki 25:15

2Ki 25:15the 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.

2Ki 25:16

2Ki 25:16As 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.

2Ki 25:17

2Ki 25:17The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits,[fn] 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.

2Ki 25:18

2Ki 25:18And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest and the three keepers of the threshold;

2Ki 25:19

2Ki 25:19and 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.

2Ki 25:20

2Ki 25:20And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.

2Ki 25:21

2Ki 25:21And 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.

Gedaliah Made Governor of Judah

(Jer 40:5—41:18 )

2Ki 25:22

2Ki 25:22And 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.

2Ki 25:23

2Ki 25:23Now 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.

2Ki 25:24

2Ki 25:24And 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.”

2Ki 25:25

2Ki 25:25But in the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with ten men and struck down Gedaliah and put him to death along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah.

2Ki 25:26

2Ki 25:26Then all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces arose and went to Egypt, for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

Jehoiachin Released from Prison

(Jer 52:31–34 )

2Ki 25:27

2Ki 25:27And in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, graciously freed[fn] Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison.

2Ki 25:28

2Ki 25:28And he spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat above the seats of the kings who were with him in Babylon.

2Ki 25:29

2Ki 25:29So Jehoiachin put off his prison garments. And every day of his life he dined regularly at the king’s table,

2Ki 25:30

2Ki 25:30and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, according to his daily needs, as long as he lived.

See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

ESV Footnotes

(25:17)

A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters

(25:27)

Hebrew reign, lifted up the head of

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2 Kings Chapter 25 — Additional Translations: