1 In the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built forts against it around it. 2 So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. 3 On the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine was severe in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land. 4 Then 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, which was by the king’s garden (now the Kasdim were against the city around it); and the king went by the way of the Arabah. 5 But the Chaldean army pursued the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him. 6 Then they captured the king, and carried him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they passed judgment on him. 7 They killed Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes, then put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him in fetters, and carried him to Babylon.

8 Now 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. 9 He burned the LORD’s house, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house, he burned with fire. 10 All the army of the Kasdim, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem. 11 Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive the residue of the people who were left in the city, and those who fell away, who fell to the king of Babylon, and the residue of the multitude. 12 But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to work the vineyards and fields. 13 The Kasdim broke up the pillars of bronze that were in the LORD’s house and the bases and the bronze sea that were in the LORD’s house, and carried the bronze pieces to Babylon. 14 They took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the spoons, and all the vessels of bronze with which they ministered. 15 The captain of the guard took away the fire pans, the basins, that which was of gold, in gold, and that which was of silver, in silver. 16 The two pillars, the one sea, and the bases, which Solomon had made for the LORD’s house, the bronze of all these vessels was not weighed. 17 The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and a capital of bronze was on it. The height of the capital was three cubits, with network and pomegranates on the capital around it, all of bronze; and the second pillar with its network was like these.

18 The captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold; 19 and out of the city he took an officer who was set over the men of war; and five men of those who saw the king’s face, who were found in the city; and the scribe, the captain 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. 20 Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah. 21 The king of Babylon attacked them, and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away captive out of his land. 22 As for the people who were left in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, even over them he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, governor. 23 Now when all the captains of the forces, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Yochanan the son of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men. 24 Gedaliah swore to them and to their men, and said to them, "Don’t be afraid because of the servants of the Kasdim. Dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you."

25 But in the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal offspring came, and ten men with him, and struck Gedaliah, so that he died, with the Jews and the Kasdim that were with him at Mizpah. 26 All the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces, arose, and came to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Kasdim. 27 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, Evilmerodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison; 28 and he spoke kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon, 29 and changed his prison garments. Jehoiachin ate bread before him continually all the days of his life; 30 and for his allowance, there was a continual allowance given him from the king, every day a portion, all the days of his life.

1 O rei Nabucodonozor de Babilónia mobilizou todo o seu exército e pôs cerco a Jerusalém, chegando ali no dia 15 de Janeiro do nono ano do reinado de Zedequias, rei de Judá. O cerco manteve-se até ao décimo primeiro ano do seu reinado.

3 A 18 de Julho tinham-se esgotado completamente os mantimentos e a fome torturava a cidade. Nessa noite, o rei e os seus cabos de guerra fizeram um buraco na muralha da cidade e conseguiram depois escapar-se em direcção da campina de Arabá, através da porta que ficava entre a dupla muralha, perto do jardim do rei. As tropas babilónicas que rodeavam a cidade puseram-se em sua perseguição e capturaram-no das campinas de Jericó; os seus homens conseguiram, no entanto, escapar todos. Foi feito prisioneiro em Ribla, onde o interrogaram e o sentenciaram perante o rei de Babilónia. Os seus filhos foram degolados na sua presença; depois vazaram-lhe os olhos e foi preso com cadeias e levado para Babilónia.

8 O general Nebuzaradão, chefe da guarda real, chegou a Jerusalém, vindo de Babilónia, a 14 de Agosto do décimo nono ano do reinado de Nabucodonozor. Mandou incendiar o templo, o palácio e todas as outras casas que tinham algum valor. Conduziu depois os trabalhos de derrube das muralhas da cidade. A população da cidade e os judeus desertores, que tinham declarado a sua fidelidade ao rei de Babilónia, foram todos levados para esta cidade. Aos mais pobre deixaram-nos para irem cultivando a terra.

13 Os babilónios deitaram abaixo os pilares de bronze do templo, o tanque também de bronze com as suas bases e levaram esse bronze todo para Babilónia. Também pegaram em todos os recipientes, talheres, tenazes, pás, perfumadores e outros instrumentos em bronze usados nos sacrifícios e levaram-nos. As bacias de ouro e de prata com tudo o que havia mais de ouro e de prata foi fundido. Era impossível fazer uma estimativa do peso das duas colunas e do grande tanque com a suas bases - tudo isso feito para o templo pelo rei Salomão - pois que eram extremamente pesados. Cada um dos pilares media nove metros de altura, com uma intrincada rede em bronze de romãs decorativas nos capitéis de metro e meio, no alto dos pilares.

18 O general levou Seraías, o sumo sacerdote, com o seu assistente Sofonias e os três guardas do templo como cativos. Um comandante do exército de Judá, o chefe dos serviços de recrutamento do exército, cinco dos conselheiros do rei e sessenta fazendeiros, todos eles descobertos em esconderijos na cidade, foram levados pelo general Nebuzaradão ao rei da Babilónia, em Ribla, onde foram executados à espada. Assim Judá foi exilado da sua terra.

22 O rei Nabucodonozor nomeou Gedalias (filho de Aicão e neto de Safã) como governador da terra e sobre o povo que foi permitido lá ficar. Quando as forças de guerrilha israelita souberam que o rei de Babilónia tinha nomeado Gedalias como governador, alguns chefes que viviam no anonimato, mais os seus homens, juntaram-se a ele em Mizpá. Neste número estava Ismael, filho de Netanias; Joanã, filho de Careá; Seraías, filho de Tanumete o netofatita; e Jazanias, filho de Maacatita, com os seus homens.

24 Gedalias prometeu que se eles depusessem as armas e se submetessem aos babilónios, os deixariam viver na terra e não seriam exilados. Mas sete meses mais tarde Ismael, que era membro da família real, foi a Mizpá com dez homens e matou Gedalias, mais os seus conselheiros, tanto os que eram judeus como os que tinham a nacionalidade babilónica. Então todos os homens de Judá e os chefes da guerrilha fugiram em pânico para o Egipto, porque estavam com receio das represálias que o rei da Babilónia viesse a exercer sobre eles.

27 O rei Jeconias foi libertado da prisão no dia vinte e sete do último mês do trigésimo sétimo ano do seu cativeiro. Isto ocorreu durante o primeiro ano do reinado do rei Evil-Merodaque de Babilónia.

28 Este soberano tratou Jeconias com bondade e deu-lhe um tratamento preferencial, acima dos outros reis cativos com ele em Babilónia. Deram a Jeconias roupa condigna, que substituisse aquela que trazia habitualmente na prisão, e todo o resto da sua vida passou a comer regularmente com o rei, à mesa. O rei também lhe deu um subsídio de manutenção para o resto da vida.