1 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mothers name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
2 And he did evil in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.
3 For although the anger of Jehovah was upon Jerusalem and Judah (until He had cast them out from His presence), Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
4 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it and built siege walls against it all around.
5 So the city was under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
6 And in the fourth month, in the ninth of the month, the famine was so severe in the city, so that there was no food for the people of the land.
7 Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the kings garden. (And the Chaldeans lay in wait all around the city.) And they went by the way of the plain.
8 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. And all his army was scattered from him.
9 So they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon, to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he passed judgment against him.
10 And the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. He also killed all the rulers of Judah in Riblah.
11 And he put out the eyes of Zedekiah. And the king of Babylon bound him in chains, and brought him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death.
12 And in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, (which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, who served the king of Babylon, came into Jerusalem.
13 And he burned the house of Jehovah, and the kings house. And he burned with fire all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great ones.
14 And all the army of the Chaldeans, with the captain of the guard, broke down all the walls of Jerusalem all around.
15 And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took captive some of the poor of the people, and the rest of the people who remained in the city, and those who deserted, who had defected to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude.
16 But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poor of the land as vinedressers and farmers.
17 Also the Chaldeans broke the pillars of bronze that were in the house of Jehovah, and the bases, and the bronze sea in the house of Jehovah, and carried all the bronze from them to Babylon.
18 They also took away the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the bowls, and the spoons, and all the vessels of bronze with which they ministered.
19 And the captain of the guard took away the basins, and the firepans, and the bowls, and the pots, and the lampstands, and the spoons, and the cups; what was gold, in gold; and what was silver, in silver.
20 The two pillars, one sea, and twelve bronze bulls that were under the bases, which King Solomon had made in the house of Jehovah; the bronze of all these vessels was without weight.
21 And concerning the pillars: the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits. And a measuring line of twelve cubits went around it, and its thickness was four fingers; it was hollow.
22 And a capital of bronze was on it. And the height of one capital was five cubits, with network and pomegranates on the capitals all around, all of bronze. The second pillar also, and the pomegranates, were like these.
23 And there were ninety-six pomegranates on a side; all the pomegranates on the network were a hundred all around.
24 And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three doorkeepers.
25 He also took out of the city an official who was in charge of the men of war; and seven men from those who were close to the king, who were found in the city; and the chief scribe of the army, who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the middle of the city.
26 And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah.
27 And the king of Babylon struck them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was taken captive out of his own land.
28 These are the people whom Nebuchadnezzar took captive: in the seventh year, three thousand and twenty-three Jews;
29 in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar he took captive from Jerusalem eight hundred and thirty-two persons;
30 in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took captive seven hundred and forty-five persons of the Jews. All the persons were four thousand and six hundred.
31 And it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the twenty-fifth of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon in the first year of his reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him out of prison,
32 and spoke kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon.
33 And he changed from his prison garments, and he ate bread before him all the days of his life.
34 And as for his allowance: a continual allowance was given him from the king of Babylon, the matter day by day, until the day of his death, all the days of his life.
1 Zedequias tinha vinte e um anos quando se tornou rei, e reinou onze anos em Jerusalém. O nome de sua mãe era Hamutal, filha de Jeremias, de Libna.
2 Ele fez o que o Senhor reprova, assim como fez Jeoaquim.
3 A ira do Senhor tem sido provocada em Jerusalém e em Judá de tal forma que tenho que tirá-los da minha frente. Zedequias se rebelou contra o rei da Babilônia.
4 Então, no nono ano do reinado de Zedequias, no décimo mês, Nabucodonosor, rei da Babilônia, marchou contra Jerusalém com todo o seu exército. Acamparam fora da cidade e construíram torres de assalto ao redor dela.
5 A cidade ficou sob cerco até o décimo primeiro ano do rei Zedequias.
6 Ao chegar o nono dia do quarto mês a fome era tão severa que não havia comida para o povo.
7 Então o muro da cidade foi rompido. O rei e todos os soldados fugiram e saíram da cidade, à noite, na direção do jardim real, pela porta entre os dois muros, embora os babilônios estivessem cercando a cidade. Foram para a Arabá,
8 mas os babilônios perseguiram o rei Zedequias e o alcançaram na planície de Jericó. Todos os seus soldados se separaram dele e se dispersaram,
9 e ele foi capturado. Ele foi levado ao rei da Babilônia em Ribla, na terra de Hamate, que o sentenciou.
10 Em Ribla, o rei da Babilônia mandou executar os filhos de Zedequias diante de seus olhos, e também matou todos os nobres de Judá.
11 Então mandou furar os olhos de Zedequias e prendê-lo com correntes de bronze e o levou para a Babilônia, onde o manteve na prisão até o dia de sua morte.
12 No décimo dia do quinto mês, no décimo nono ano de Nabucodonosor, rei da Babilônia, Nebuzaradã, comandante da guarda imperial, que servia o rei da Babilônia, veio a Jerusalém.
13 Ele incendiou o templo do Senhor, o palácio real e todas as casas de Jerusalém. Todo o edifício importante foi incendiado por ele.
14 Todo o exército babilônio, sob o comandante da guarda imperial, derrubou todos os muros em torno de Jerusalém.
15 Nebuzaradã, o comandante da guarda imperial, deportou para a Babilônia alguns dos mais pobres e o povo que restou na cidade, juntamente com o restante dos artesãos e aqueles que tinham se rendido ao rei da Babilônia.
16 Mas Nebuzaradã deixou para trás o restante dos mais pobres da terra para trabalhar nas vinhas e campos.
17 Os babilônios despedaçaram as colunas de bronze, os estrados móveis e o mar de bronze que ficavam no templo do Senhor e levaram todo o bronze para a Babilônia.
18 Também levaram embora as panelas, pás, tesouras de pavio, bacias de aspersão, tigelas e todos os utensílios de bronze usados no serviço do templo.
19 O comandante da guarda imperial levou embora as pias, os incensários, as bacias de aspersão, as panelas, os candeeiros, as tigelas e as bacias usadas para as ofertas derramadas, tudo que era feito de ouro puro ou de prata.
20 O bronze tirado das duas colunas, o mar e os doze touros de bronze debaixo dele, e os estrados móveis, que o rei Salomão fizera para o templo do Senhor, eram mais do que se podia pesar.
21 Cada uma das colunas tinha oito metros e dez centímetros de altura e cinco metros e quarenta centímetros de circunferência; cada uma tinha quadro dedos de espessura e era oca.
22 O capitel de bronze no alto de uma coluna tinha dois metros e vinte e cinco centímetros de altura e era ornamentado com um trabalho entrelaçado e romãs de bronze em volta, tudo de bronze. A outra coluna, com suas romãs, era igual.
23 Havia noventa e seis romãs nos lados; o número total de romãs acima do trabalho entrelaçado ao redor era de cem.
24 O comandante da guarda tomou como prisioneiros o sumo sacerdote Seraías, o sacerdote adjunto Sofonias e os três guardas das portas.
25 Dos que ainda estavam na cidade, tomou o oficial encarregado dos homens de combate e sete conselheiros reais. Também tomou o secretário que era o oficial maior encarregado do alistamento do povo da terra e sessenta de seus homens que foram encontrados na cidade.
26 O comandante Nebuzaradã tomou todos eles e os levou ao rei da Babilônia em Ribla.
27 Ali em Ribla, na terra de Hamate, o rei fez com que fossem executados. Assim Judá foi para o cativeiro, longe de sua terra.
28 Este é o número dos que Nebuzaradã levou para o exílio: no sétimo ano, 3. 023 judeus;
29 no décimo oitavo ano de Nabucodonosor, 832 de Jerusalém;
30 em seu vigésimo terceiro ano, 745 judeus levados ao exílio pelo comandante da guarda imperial Nebuzaradã. Foram ao todo 4. 600 judeus.
31 No ano trinta e sete do exílio do rei Joaquim de Judá, no ano em que Evil-Merodaque tornou-se rei de Babilônia, ele libertou o rei Joaquim de Judá da prisão no dia vinte e cinco do décimo segundo mês.
32 Ele falou bondosamente com ele e deu-lhe um assento de honra mais elevado do que os dos outros reis que estavam com ele na Babilônia.
33 Desse modo Joaquim tirou as roupas da prisão e pelo resto da vida comeu à mesa do rei.
34 Dia após dia o rei da Babilônia deu a Joaquim uma pensão diária enquanto ele viveu, até o dia de sua morte.