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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>2 Kings 25 NLT</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/2_kings/25.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/2_kings/25-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NLT</a> > 2 Kings 25</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../2_kings/24.htm" title="2 Kings 24">◄</a> 2 Kings 25 <a href="../1_chronicles/1.htm" title="1 Chronicles 1">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New Living Translation</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/nlt/esv/2_kings/25.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></td></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_kings/25-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>So on January 15,<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">a</span></a> during the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon led his entire army against Jerusalem. They surrounded the city and built siege ramps against its walls. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_kings/25-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>Jerusalem was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah’s reign.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_kings/25-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>By July 18 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign,<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">b</span></a> the famine in the city had become very severe, and the last of the food was entirely gone. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_kings/25-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>Then a section of the city wall was broken down. Since the city was surrounded by the Babylonians,<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">c</span></a> the soldiers waited for nightfall and escaped<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">d</span></a> through the gate between the two walls behind the king’s garden. Then they headed toward the Jordan Valley.<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">e</span></a></p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_kings/25-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>But the Babylonian<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">f</span></a> troops chased the king and overtook him on the plains of Jericho, for his men had all deserted him and scattered. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_kings/25-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>They captured the king and took him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where they pronounced judgment upon Zedekiah. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_kings/25-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>They made Zedekiah watch as they slaughtered his sons. Then they gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him in bronze chains, and led him away to Babylon.</p><p class="hdg">The Temple Destroyed</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_kings/25-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>On August 14 of that year,<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">g</span></a> which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard and an official of the Babylonian king, arrived in Jerusalem. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_kings/25-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>He burned down the Temple of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He destroyed all the important buildings<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">h</span></a> in the city. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_kings/25-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>Then he supervised the entire Babylonian army as they tore down the walls of Jerusalem on every side. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_kings/25-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took as exiles the rest of the people who remained in the city, the defectors who had declared their allegiance to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the population. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_kings/25-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>But the captain of the guard allowed some of the poorest people to stay behind to care for the vineyards and fields.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_kings/25-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars in front of the LORD’s Temple, the bronze water carts, and the great bronze basin called the Sea, and they carried all the bronze away to Babylon. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_kings/25-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>They also took all the ash buckets, shovels, lamp snuffers, ladles, and all the other bronze articles used for making sacrifices at the Temple. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_kings/25-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>The captain of the guard also took the incense burners and basins, and all the other articles made of pure gold or silver.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_kings/25-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>The weight of the bronze from the two pillars, the Sea, and the water carts was too great to be measured. These things had been made for the LORD’s Temple in the days of Solomon. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_kings/25-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>Each of the pillars was 27 feet<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">i</span></a> tall. The bronze capital on top of each pillar was 7 <span class="sup">1</span>/<span class="sub">2</span> feet<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">j</span></a> high and was decorated with a network of bronze pomegranates all the way around.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_kings/25-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took with him as prisoners Seraiah the high priest, Zephaniah the priest of the second rank, and the three chief gatekeepers. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_kings/25-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>And from among the people still hiding in the city, he took an officer who had been in charge of the Judean army; five of the king’s personal advisers; the army commander’s chief secretary, who was in charge of recruitment; and sixty other citizens. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_kings/25-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took them all to the king of Babylon at Riblah. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_kings/25-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>And there at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon had them all put to death. So the people of Judah were sent into exile from their land.</p><p class="hdg">Gedaliah Governs in Judah</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_kings/25-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>Then King Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan as governor over the people he had left in Judah. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_kings/25-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>When all the army commanders and their men learned that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor, they went to see him at Mizpah. These included Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, Jezaniah<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">k</span></a> son of the Maacathite, and all their men.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_kings/25-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>Gedaliah vowed to them that the Babylonian officials meant them no harm. “Don’t be afraid of them. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and all will go well for you,” he promised.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_kings/25-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span>But in midautumn of that year,<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">l</span></a> Ishmael son of Nethaniah and grandson of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family, went to Mizpah with ten men and killed Gedaliah. He also killed all the Judeans and Babylonians who were with him at Mizpah.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_kings/25-26.htm"><b>26</b></a></span>Then all the people of Judah, from the least to the greatest, as well as the army commanders, fled in panic to Egypt, for they were afraid of what the Babylonians would do to them.</p><p class="hdg">Hope for Israel’s Royal Line</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_kings/25-27.htm"><b>27</b></a></span>In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, Evil-merodach ascended to the Babylonian throne. He was kind to<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">m</span></a> Jehoiachin and released him<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">n</span></a> from prison on April 2 of that year.<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">o</span></a> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_kings/25-28.htm"><b>28</b></a></span>He spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and gave him a higher place than all the other exiled kings in Babylon. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_kings/25-29.htm"><b>29</b></a></span>He supplied Jehoiachin with new clothes to replace his prison garb and allowed him to dine in the king’s presence for the rest of his life. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_kings/25-30.htm"><b>30</b></a></span>So the king gave him a regular food allowance as long as he lived.</p><A name="footnotes"></a><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="fn">a</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">25:1 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="it">on the tenth day of the tenth month,</span><span class="ft"> of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. A number of events in 2 Kings can be cross-checked with dates in surviving Babylonian records and related accurately to our modern calendar. This day was January 15, 588 </span><span class="sc">b.c.</span><br><span class="fn">b</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">25:3 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="it">By the ninth day of the [fourth] month</span><span class="ft"> [in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign] (compare Jer 39:2; 52:6 and the notes there). This day was July 18, 586 </span><span class="sc">b.c.</span><span class="ft">; also see note on 25:1.</span><br><span class="fn">c</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">25:4a </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="it">the Chaldeans;</span><span class="ft"> also in 25:13, 25, 26.</span><br><span class="fn">d</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">25:4b </span><span class="ft">As in Greek version (see also Jer 39:4; 52:7); Hebrew lacks </span><span class="it">escaped.</span><br><span class="fn">e</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">25:4c </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="it">the Arabah.</span><br><span class="fn">f</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">25:5 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="it">Chaldean</span><span class="ft">; also in 25:10, 24.</span><br><span class="fn">g</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">25:8 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="it">On the seventh day of the fifth month,</span><span class="ft"> of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This day was August 14, 586 </span><span class="sc">b.c.</span><span class="ft">; also see note on 25:1.</span><br><span class="fn">h</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">25:9 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="it">destroyed the houses of all the important people.</span><br><span class="fn">i</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">25:17a </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="it">18 cubits</span><span class="ft"> [8.3 meters].</span><br><span class="fn">j</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">25:17b </span><span class="ft">As in parallel texts at 1 Kgs 7:16, 2 Chr 3:15, and Jer 52:22, all of which read </span><span class="it">5 cubits</span><span class="ft"> [2.3 meters]; Hebrew reads </span><span class="it">3 cubits,</span><span class="ft"> which is 4.5 feet or 1.4 meters.</span><br><span class="fn">k</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">25:23 </span><span class="ft">As in parallel text at Jer 40:8; Hebrew reads </span><span class="it">Jaazaniah</span><span class="ft">, a variant spelling of Jezaniah.</span><br><span class="fn">l</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">25:25 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="it">in the seventh month,</span><span class="ft"> of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This month occurred within the months of October and November 586 </span><span class="sc">b.c.</span><span class="ft">; also see note on 25:1.</span><br><span class="fn">m</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">25:27a </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="it">He raised the head of.</span><br><span class="fn">n</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">25:27b </span><span class="ft">As in some Hebrew manuscripts and Greek and Syriac versions (see also Jer 52:31); Masoretic Text lacks </span><span class="it">released him.</span><br><span class="fn">o</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">25:27c </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="it">on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month,</span><span class="ft"> of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This day was April 2, 561 </span><span class="sc">b.c.</span><span class="ft">; also see note on 25:1.</span><br></span></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><em>Holy Bible</em>, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of <a href="http://www.tyndale.com">Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.</a>, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. 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