Berean Study Bible (BSB) Reader

2 Kings 25

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Elisha Succeeds Elijah 2:15–25
Elisha Mocked 2:23–25
Moab’s Rebellion 3:1–27
The Shunammite Woman 4:8–37
Elisha Raises the Shunammite’s Son 4:19–37
Elisha Purifies the Poisonous Stew 4:38–41
Elisha Feeds a Hundred Men 4:42–44
Elisha and Naaman 5:1–27
Gehazi’s Greed and Leprosy 5:15–27
The Famine of Samaria 6:24–33
Ahaziah of Judah 8:25–29
Ahaziah the Evil King 8:25–27
Ahaziah and Joram son of Ahab Fight Hazael 8:28–29
Jehu Kills Joram and Ahaziah 9:14–29
Jezebel’s Violent Death 9:30–37
Jehu Kills the Priests of Baal 10:18–27
Jehu Repeats Jeroboam’s Sins 10:28–33
Jehoahaz Succeeds Jehu 10:34–36
Jehoash of Israel 13:10–25
Elisha’s Death and Final Prophecy 13:14–25
Jeroboam II of Israel 14:23–29
Jeroboam II the Evil King 14:23–28
Pekahiah of Israel 15:23–26
Pekah Kills and Succeeds Pekahiah 15:25–26
Pekah of Israel 15:27–31
Pekah the Evil King 15:27–28
Hoshea Kills and Succeeds Pekah 15:30–31
Jotham of Judah 15:32–38
Jotham the Mostly Good King 15:32–37
Hoshea of Israel 17:1–41
Israel Resettled by Foreigners 17:24–41
Jerusalem’s Demise and the Babylonian Exile 18:1–25:30
Assyria Sieges Jerusalem 18:17–37
Isaiah’s Prophecy and Jerusalem’s Deliverance 19:1–37
Amon of Judah 21:19–26
Josiah Succeeds Amon 21:25–26
Josiah Returns the People to the LORD 23:1–27
Josiah Restores the Passover 23:21–27
The Death of Josiah 23:28–29
Jehoahaz of Judah 23:31–35
Jehoahaz the Evil King 23:31–32
Jehoiakim Succeeds Jehoahaz 23:34–35
Jehoiakim the Evil King 23:36–37
Zedekiah of Judah 24:18–25:21
Gedaliah Governs in Judah 25:22–26
The People Rebel and Flee to Egypt 25:25–26
Jehoiachin Released from Prison in Babylon 25:27–30

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1 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 a siege wall all around it.

2 And the city was kept under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year.

3 By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so severe that the people of the land had no food.

4 Then the city was breached; and though the Chaldeans had 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. They headed toward the Arabah,

5 but the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and his whole army deserted him.

6 The Chaldeans seized the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where they pronounced judgment on him.

7 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.

8 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.

9 He burned down the house of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem—every significant building.

10 And the whole army of the Chaldeans under the captain of the guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem.

11 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.

12 But the captain of the guard left behind some of the poorest of the land to tend the vineyards and fields.

13 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.

14 They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, dishes, and all the articles of bronze used in the temple service.

15 The captain of the guard also took away the censers and sprinkling bowls—anything made of pure gold or fine silver.

16 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.

17 Each pillar was eighteen cubits tall. The bronze capital atop one pillar was three cubits high, with a network of bronze pomegranates all around. The second pillar, with its network, was similar.

18 The captain of the guard also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of second rank, and the three doorkeepers.

19 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.

20 Nebuzaradan captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.

21 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.

22 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.

23 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 son of the Maacathite, as well as their men.

24 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.”

25 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.

26 Then all the people small and great, together with the commanders of the army, arose and fled to Egypt for fear of the Chaldeans.

27 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 King Jehoiachin of Judah from prison.

28 And he spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and set his throne above the thrones of the other kings who were with him in Babylon.

29 So Jehoiachin changed out of his prison clothes, and he dined regularly at the king’s table for the rest of his life.

30 And the king provided Jehoiachin a daily portion for the rest of his life.

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Dictionary

Exile

(1.) Of the kingdom of Israel. In the time of Pekah, Tiglath-pileser II. carried away captive into Assyria (2 Kings 15:29; comp. Isa. 10:5, 6) a part of the inhabitants of Galilee and of Gilead (B.C. 741). After the destruction of Samaria (B.C. 720) by Shalmaneser and Sargon (q.v.), there was a general deportation of the Israelites into Mesopotamia and Media (2 Kings 17:6; 18:9; 1 Chr. 5:26). (See ISRAEL, KINGDOM [198]OF.) (2.) Of the kingdom of the two tribes, the kingdom of Judah. Nebuchadnezzar, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim (Jer. 25:1), invaded Judah, and carried away some royal youths, including Daniel and his companions (B.C. 606), together with the sacred vessels of the temple (2 Chr. 36:7; Dan. 1:2). In B.C. 598 (Jer. 52:28; 2 Kings 24:12), in the beginning of Jehoiachin's reign (2 Kings 24:8), Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive 3,023 eminent Jews, including the king (2 Chr. 36:10), with his family and officers (2 Kings 24:12), and a large number of warriors (16), with very many persons of note (14), and artisans (16), leaving behind only those who were poor and helpless. This was the first general deportation to Babylon. In B.C. 588, after the revolt of Zedekiah (q.v.), there was a second general deportation of Jews by Nebuchadnezzar (Jer. 52:29; 2 Kings 25:8), including 832 more of the principal men of the kingdom. He carried away also the rest of the sacred vessels (2 Chr. 36:18). From this period, when the temple was destroyed (2 Kings 25:9), to the complete restoration, B.C. 517 (Ezra 6:15), is the period of the "seventy years." In B.C. 582 occurred the last and final deportation. The entire number Nebuchadnezzar carried captive was 4,600 heads of families with their wives and children and dependants (Jer. 52:30; 43:5-7; 2 Chr. 36:20, etc.). Thus the exiles formed a very considerable community in Babylon. When Cyrus granted permission to the Jews to return to their own land (Ezra 1:5; 7:13), only a comparatively small number at first availed themselves of the privilege. It cannot be questioned that many belonging to the kingdom of Israel ultimately joined the Jews under Ezra, Zerubbabel, and Nehemiah, and returned along with them to Jerusalem (Jer. 50:4, 5, 17-20, 33-35). Large numbers had, however, settled in the land of Babylon, and formed numerous colonies in different parts of the kingdom. Their descendants very probably have spread far into Eastern lands and become absorbed in the general population. (See JUDAH, [199]KINGDOM OF; [200]CAPTIVITY.)

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