Jeremiah 52:1-34, NLT
Jeremiah 52
The Fall of Jerusalem
1Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah.
Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
6By July 18 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign,*52:6 Hebrew By the ninth day of the fourth month [in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign]. This day was July 18, 586 b.c.; also see note on 52:4a. the famine in the city had become very severe, and the last of the food was entirely gone.
8But the Babylonian troops chased King Zedekiah and overtook him on the plains of Jericho, for his men had all deserted him and scattered.
The Temple Destroyed
12On August 17 of that year,*52:12 Hebrew On the tenth day of the fifth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This day was August 17, 586 b.c.; also see note on 52:4a. 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.
17The 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.
20The weight of the bronze from the two pillars, the Sea with the twelve bronze oxen beneath it, and the water carts was too great to be measured. These things had been made for the Lord’s Temple in the days of King Solomon.
24Nebuzaradan, 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.
28The number of captives taken to Babylon in the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign*52:28 This exile in the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign occurred in 597 b.c. was 3,023.
Hope for Israel’s Royal Line
31In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, Evil-merodach ascended to the Babylonian throne. He was kind to*52:31a Hebrew He raised the head of. Jehoiachin and released him from prison on March 31 of that year.*52:31b Hebrew on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This day was March 31, 561 b.c.; also see note on 52:4a.