2 Kings 25 :: New King James Version (NKJV)

The Fall and Captivity of Judah

The Captivity of Judah

(2 Chr. 36:15–21; Jer. 52:4–30 )

2Ki 25:1Now it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and encamped against it; and they built a siege wall against it all around.

2Ki 25:2

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

2Ki 25:3

2Ki 25:3By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine had become so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.

2Ki 25:4

2Ki 25:4Then the city wall was broken through, and all the men of war fled at night by way of the gate between two walls, which was by the king’s garden, even though the Chaldeans were still encamped all around against the city. And the king[fn] went by way of the plain.[fn]

2Ki 25:5

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

2Ki 25:6

2Ki 25:6So they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they pronounced judgment on him.

2Ki 25:7

2Ki 25:7Then they killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, put out the eyes of Zedekiah, bound him with bronze fetters, and took him to Babylon.

2Ki 25:8

2Ki 25:8And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month (which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.

2Ki 25:9

2Ki 25:9He burned the house of the LORD and the king’s house; all the houses of Jerusalem, that is, all the houses of the great, he burned with fire.

2Ki 25:10

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

2Ki 25:11

2Ki 25:11Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive the rest of the people who remained in the city and the defectors who had deserted to the king of Babylon, with the rest of the multitude.

2Ki 25:12

2Ki 25:12But the captain of the guard left some of the poor of the land as vinedressers and farmers.

2Ki 25:13

2Ki 25:13The bronze pillars that were in the house of the LORD, and the carts and the bronze Sea that were in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and carried their bronze to Babylon.

2Ki 25:14

2Ki 25:14They also took away the pots, the shovels, the trimmers, the spoons, and all the bronze utensils with which the priests ministered.

2Ki 25:15

2Ki 25:15The firepans and the basins, the things of solid gold and solid silver, the captain of the guard took away.

2Ki 25:16

2Ki 25:16The two pillars, one Sea, and the carts, which Solomon had made for the house of the LORD, the bronze of all these articles was beyond measure.

2Ki 25:17

2Ki 25:17The height of one pillar was eighteen cubits, and the capital on it was of bronze. The height of the capital was three cubits, and the network and pomegranates all around the capital were all of bronze. The second pillar was the same, with a network.

2Ki 25:18

2Ki 25:18And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and the three doorkeepers.

2Ki 25:19

2Ki 25:19He also took out of the city an officer who had charge of the men of war, five men of the king’s close associates who were found in the city, the chief recruiting officer 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 25:20So Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, took these and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.

2Ki 25:21

2Ki 25:21Then the king of Babylon struck them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive from its own land.

Gedaliah Made Governor of Judah

(Jer. 40:5—41:18 )

2Ki 25:22

2Ki 25:22Then he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, governor over the people who remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left.

2Ki 25:23

2Ki 25:23Now when all the captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Johanan the son of Careah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah[fn] the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.

2Ki 25:24

2Ki 25:24And Gedaliah took an oath before them and their men, and said to them, “Do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.”

2Ki 25:25

2Ki 25:25But it happened in the seventh month that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with ten men and struck and killed Gedaliah, the Jews, as well as the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah.

2Ki 25:26

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

Jehoiachin Released from Prison

(Jer. 52:31–34 )

2Ki 25:27

2Ki 25:27Now it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, that Evil-Merodach[fn] king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison.

2Ki 25:28

2Ki 25:28He spoke kindly to him, and gave him a more prominent seat than those of the kings who were with him in Babylon.

2Ki 25:29

2Ki 25:29So Jehoiachin changed from his prison garments, and he ate bread regularly before the king all the days of his life.

2Ki 25:30

2Ki 25:30And as for his provisions, there was a regular ration given him by the king, a portion for each day, all the days of his life.

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

NKJV Footnotes

(25:4)

Literally he

(25:4)

Or Arabah, that is, the Jordan Valley

(25:23)

Spelled Jezaniah in Jeremiah 40:8

(25:27)

Literally Man of Marduk

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For more information on this translation, see the NKJV Preface.

2 Kings Chapter 25 — Additional Translations:

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2 Kings 25 :: New King James Version (NKJV)

NKJV Footnotes

2 Kings Chapter 25 — Additional Translations:

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