Nebuchadnezzar Besieges Jerusalem
(2 Chronicles 36:15–21; Jeremiah 39:1–10)
So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army. They encamped outside the city and built 1a siege wall all around it. Jer 52:4-111Ch 6:15Isa 29:3Jer 34:1-6Jer 43:102Ch 36:17-212Ki 24:12Ki 24:10 And the city was kept under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year.
By the ninth day of the fourth month, 2 the famine in the city was so severe that the people of the land had no food. Deu 28:52-53Ezk 14:21Ezk 5:12Ezk 7:15Jer 38:2Jer 52:6Lam 4:4-10Lev 26:26 Then the city was breached; and though the Chaldeans 3had surrounded the city, all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden. Ezk 33:212Ki 25:5Deu 28:25Deu 32:24-25Deu 32:30Ezk 12:12Jer 39:2-7Jer 5:10
They headed toward the Arabah, 4 but the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was separated from him. Amo 2:14-16Isa 30:16Jer 24:8Jer 39:5Jer 52:8 The Chaldeans seized the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where they pronounced judgment on him. 2Ki 23:33Jer 34:21-222Ch 33:11Ezk 17:20-21Ezk 21:25-27Jer 21:7Jer 32:4Jer 38:23 And they slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon. Jer 32:4-52Ch 33:112Ch 36:6Deu 28:34Ezk 12:13-16Ezk 17:16-20Ezk 7:27Gen 21:16
The Temple Destroyed
(Jeremiah 52:12–23)
On the seventh day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign over Babylon, Nebuzaradan captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem. Jer 52:12-162Ki 24:122Ki 25:27Jer 39:8-14Jer 40:1-4Lam 4:12Zec 8:19 He burned down the house of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem—every significant building. Amo 2:5Psa 74:3-71Ki 9:82Ch 36:19Mic 3:12Psa 79:1Act 6:13-14Isa 64:10-11 And the whole army of the Chaldeans under the captain of the guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem. Neh 1:3Jer 39:8Jer 5:10Jer 52:14-23
Then Nebuzaradan captain of the guard carried into exile the people who remained in the city, along with the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon and the rest of the population. 2Ch 36:20Ezk 12:15-16Ezk 22:15-16Ezk 5:2Jer 15:1-2Jer 39:9Jer 52:12 But the captain of the guard left behind some of the poorest of the land to tend the vineyards and fields. 2Ki 24:14Jer 40:7Ezk 33:24Jer 39:10Jer 52:16
Moreover, the Chaldeans broke up the bronze pillars and stands and the bronze Sea in the house of the LORD, and they carried the bronze to Babylon. 2Ch 36:181Ki 7:152Ki 20:17Jer 52:17-20Lam 1:101Ki 7:23-452Ch 4:12-162Ch 4:2-6 They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, dishes, and all the articles of bronze used in the temple service. Exo 27:31Ki 7:47-502Ch 24:142Ch 4:20-22Exo 38:3 The captain of the guard also took away the censers and sprinkling bowls—anything made of pure gold or fine silver. Dan 5:2-31Ki 7:48-512Ch 24:14Exo 37:23Ezr 1:9-11Num 7:13-14
As for the two pillars, the Sea, and the movable stands that Solomon had made for the house of the LORD, the weight of the bronze from all these articles was beyond measure. 1Ki 7:47 Each pillar was eighteen cubits tall. 5 The bronze capital atop one pillar was three cubits high, 6 with a network of bronze pomegranates all around. The second pillar, with its network, was similar. 1Ki 7:15-22Jer 52:21-23
Captives Carried to Babylon
(Jeremiah 52:24–30)
The captain of the guard also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of second rank, and the three doorkeepers. 1Ch 6:14Ezr 7:1Jer 21:1Jer 29:25Jer 29:29Jer 52:242Ki 25:24-26 Of those still in the city, he took a court official who had been appointed over the men of war, as well as five royal advisors. He also took the scribe of the captain of the army, who had enlisted the people of the land, and sixty men who were found in the city. Est 1:14
Nebuzaradan captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 2Ki 23:33Jer 52:26-27Lam 4:16 There at Riblah in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death. So Judah was taken into exile, away from its own land. 2Ki 23:27Deu 28:642Ki 17:20Amo 5:27Deu 28:36Deu 4:26Ezk 12:25-28Ezk 24:14
Gedaliah Governs in Judah
(Jeremiah 40:1–16)
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, over the people he had left behind in the land of Judah. Jer 39:142Ch 34:202Ki 22:12Jer 26:24Jer 41:22Ki 25:25Jer 40:5-12
When all the commanders of the armies and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah 7son of the Maacathite, as well as their men. Jer 40:7-9Jer 40:11-12Jos 18:26 And Gedaliah took an oath before them and their men, assuring them, “Do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you.” 2Sa 14:112Sa 19:23Ezk 33:24-29Jer 40:9-10Jer 43:6
The Murder of Gedaliah
(Jeremiah 41:1–10)
In the seventh month, however, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family, came with ten men and struck down and killed Gedaliah, along with the Judeans and Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. Zec 7:5Zec 8:19Jer 40:152Ki 11:1 Then all the people small and great, together with the commanders of the army, arose and fled to Egypt for fear of the Chaldeans. Jer 43:4-7Jer 41:16-18Jer 42:14-22
Jehoiachin Released from Prison
(Jeremiah 52:31–34)
On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Judah’s King Jehoiachin, in the year Evil-merodach became king of Babylon, he released 8King Jehoiachin of Judah from prison. Gen 40:20Jer 52:31-342Ki 24:12Gen 40:13Pro 21:12Ki 24:15Jer 24:5-6 And he spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and set his throne above the thrones of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. Dan 2:37Jer 27:6-11Dan 5:18-19
So Jehoiachin changed out of his prison clothes, and he dined regularly at the king’s table for the rest of his life. 2Sa 9:7Isa 61:3Gen 41:422Ki 24:12Est 4:4Est 8:15Luk 15:22Zec 3:4 And the king provided Jehoiachin a daily portion for the rest of his life. Luk 11:3Mat 6:11Neh 11:23Dan 1:5Neh 12:47Act 6:1Gen 48:15-16