THE BOOK OF
SECOND KINGS
CHAPTERS 19-25
1 ¶ And it came
to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered
himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD.
2
And he sent Eliakim, which was over the household, and Shebna the
scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the
prophet the son of Amoz.
3 And they said
unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and
blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
4 It may be the
LORD thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his
master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which
the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that
are left.
5
So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
6 And Isaiah said
unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid
of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of
Assyria have blasphemed me.
7 Behold, I will
send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in
his own land.
8 ¶ So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria
warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
9 And when he
heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against
thee: he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying,
10
Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God
in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered
into the hand of the king of Assyria.
11 Behold, thou
hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them
utterly: and shalt thou be delivered?
12
Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed;
as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in
Thelasar?
13 Where is the
king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim,
of Hena, and Ivah?
14 And Hezekiah
received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the LORD, and spread it
before the LORD.
15 And Hezekiah
prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which dwellest between
the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the
earth; thou hast made heaven and earth.
16 LORD, bow down
thine ear, and hear: open, LORD, thine eyes, and see: and hear
the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God.
17 Of a truth,
LORD, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands,
18 And have cast
their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands,
wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.
19
Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his
hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God,
even thou only.
20 ¶ Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah,
saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me
against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.
21 This is the
word that the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin the daughter of Zion
hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath
shaken her head at thee.
22 Whom hast thou
reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted
thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of
Israel.
23 By thy
messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of
my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of
Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir
trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his
borders, and into the forest of his Carmel.
24 I have digged
and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the
rivers of besieged places.
25 Hast thou not
heard long ago how I have done it, and of ancient times that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest
be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps.
26 Therefore
their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they
were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the
housetops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up.
27
But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage
against me.
28 Because thy
rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore I will put
my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by
the way by which thou camest.
29
And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such things
as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springeth of the same;
and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits
thereof.
30 And the
remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root
downward, and bear fruit upward.
31
For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out
of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.
32 Therefore thus
saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this
city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank
against it.
33
By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come
into this city, saith the LORD.
34 For I will
defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's
sake.
35 ¶ And it came to pass that night, that the angel of
the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians
an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the
morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
36 So Sennacherib
king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
37 And it came to
pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword:
and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in
his stead.
1 ¶ In those
days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came
to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.
2 Then he turned
his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying,
3 I beseech thee,
O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect
heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.
4
And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court,
that the word of the LORD came to him, saying,
5 Turn again, and
tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David
thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal
thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD.
6
And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and
this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city
for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
7 And Isaiah
said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he
recovered.
8
And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the LORD will
heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the LORD the third day?
9 And Isaiah
said, This sign shalt thou have of the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing
that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten
degrees?
10
And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten
degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.
11 And Isaiah the
prophet cried unto the LORD: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by
which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz.
12 ¶ At that time Berodachbaladan, the son of Baladan,
king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah:
for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.
13 And Hezekiah
hearkened unto them, and shewed them all the house of his precious things, the
silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the
house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing
in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.
14
Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What
said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They
are come from a far country, even from Babylon.
15 And he said,
What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All the things that
are in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures
that I have not shewed them.
16 And Isaiah
said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD.
17 Behold, the
days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have
laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be
left, saith the LORD.
18
And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget,
shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of
Babylon.
19 Then said
Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken. And
he said, Is it not good, if peace and truth be in my days?
20 And the rest
of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought water into the city, are they not
written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
21 And Hezekiah
slept with his fathers: and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.
1 ¶ Manasseh was
twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hephzibah.
2 And he did that
which was evil in the sight of the LORD, after the abominations of the heathen,
whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.
3 For he built up
again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up
altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.
4 And he built
altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem will I
put my name.
5 And he built
altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.
6
And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used
enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much
wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
7 And he set a
graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the LORD said
to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put
my name for ever:
8 Neither will I
make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their
fathers; only if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded
them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them.
9 But they
hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of
Israel.
10 ¶ And the LORD spake by his servants the prophets,
saying,
11 Because
Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly
above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah
also to sin with his idols:
12
Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such
evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears
shall tingle.
13 And I will
stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of
Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning
it upside down.
14
And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them
into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all
their enemies;
15 Because they
have done that which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since
the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day.
16 Moreover
Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made
Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.
17 Now the rest
of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, are
they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
18 And Manasseh
slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza: and Amon his son reigned in his
stead.
19 ¶ Amon was twenty and two years old when he began to
reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was
Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.
20 And he did
that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh did.
21 And he walked
in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father
served, and worshipped them:
22 And he forsook
the LORD God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the LORD.
23
And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and slew the king in his
own house.
24 And the people
of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people
of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.
25 Now the rest
of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
26 And he was
buried in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza: and Josiah his son reigned in
his stead.
1 ¶ Josiah was
eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jedidah,
the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath.
2 And he did that
which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the way of David
his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.
3 And it came to
pass in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the scribe,
to the house of the LORD, saying,
4 Go up to
Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum the silver which is brought into the
house of the LORD, which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people:
5 And let them
deliver it into the hand of the doers of the work, that have the oversight of the house of the LORD: and let them give it to
the doers of the work which is in the house of the LORD, to repair the breaches
of the house,
6 Unto
carpenters, and builders, and masons, and to buy timber and hewn stone to
repair the house.
7 Howbeit there
was no reckoning made with them of the money that was delivered into their hand, because they dealt faithfully.
8 And Hilkiah the
high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in
the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.
9 And Shaphan the
scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said,
Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have
delivered it into the hand of them that do the work, that have the oversight of
the house of the LORD.
10 And Shaphan
the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a
book. And Shaphan read it before the king.
11 ¶ And it came to pass, when the
king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.
12 And the king
commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son
of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king's,
saying,
13
Go ye, enquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all
Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath
of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened
unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written
concerning us.
14 So Hilkiah the
priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah, went
unto Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of
Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college;)
and they communed with her.
15 And she said
unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me,
16
Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon
the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah
hath read:
17 Because they
have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke
me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath
shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.
18 But to the
king of Judah which sent you to enquire of the LORD, thus shall ye say to him,
Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, As touching the words which thou hast heard;
19 Because thine
heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD,
when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants
thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy
clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the LORD.
20 Behold
therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into
thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will
bring upon this place. And they brought the king word
again.
1 ¶ And the king
sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.
2 And the king
went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests,
and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in
their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the
house of the LORD.
3 And the king
stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD,
and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words
of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to
the covenant.
4 ¶ And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and
the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth
out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for
the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned
them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them
unto Bethel.
5 And he put down
the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in
the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about
Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the
moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.
6 And he brought
out the grove from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, unto the brook
Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and
cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.
7 And he brake
down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove.
8 And he brought
all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where
the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba, and brake down the high
places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the
governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city.
9
Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of
the LORD in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their
brethren.
10 And he defiled
Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might
make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.
11 And he took
away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of
Nathanmelech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots
of the sun with fire.
12 And the altars
that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had
made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of
the LORD, did the king beat down, and brake them down from
thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.
13 And the high
places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of
corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the
abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites,
and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.
14 And he brake
in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the
bones of men.
15 Moreover the
altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat,
who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he brake down, and burned the high place, and stamped it
small to powder, and burned the grove.
16 And as Josiah
turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount, and sent,
and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and
polluted it, according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.
17 Then he said,
What title is that that I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the
sepulchre of the man of God, which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things
that thou hast done against the altar of Bethel.
18 And he said,
Let him alone; let no man move his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of
Samaria.
19 And all the
houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings
of Israel had made to provoke the LORD to anger, Josiah took away, and did to
them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel.
20 And he slew
all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burned men's bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem.
21 And the king
commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto the LORD your God, as
it is written in the book of this covenant.
22 Surely there
was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel,
nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah;
23
But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, wherein this passover was
holden to the LORD in Jerusalem.
24 Moreover the
workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols,
and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem,
did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the
house of the LORD.
25 ¶ And like unto him was there no king before him, that
turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his
might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any
like him.
26
Notwithstanding the LORD turned not from the fierceness of his great
wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah,
because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal.
27 And the LORD
said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and
will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I
said, My name shall be there.
28
Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, are they not
written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
29 In his days
Pharaohnechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river
Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and he slew him at Megiddo, when
he had seen him.
30
And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought
him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the people of the
land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in
his father's stead.
31 ¶ Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he
began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.
And his mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
32 And he did
that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers
had done.
33 And
Pharaohnechoh put him in bands at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and put the land to a tribute
of an hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.
34 And
Pharaohnechoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his
father, and turned his name to Jehoiakim, and took Jehoahaz away: and he came
to Egypt, and died there.
35
And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the
land to give the money according to the commandment of Pharaoh: he exacted the
silver and the gold of the people of the land, of every one according to his
taxation, to give it unto Pharaohnechoh.
36 Jehoiakim was
twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Zebudah,
the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.
37 And he did
that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers
had done.
1 ¶ In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim
became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him.
2 And the LORD
sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of
the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah
to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servants the prophets.
3 Surely at the
commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight,
for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did;
4 And also for
the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood;
which the LORD would not pardon.
5
Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, are they not
written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
6 So Jehoiakim
slept with his fathers: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.
7 And the king of
Egypt came not again any more out of his land: for the king of Babylon had
taken from the river of Egypt unto the river Euphrates all that pertained to the king of Egypt.
8 ¶ Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to
reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. And his mother's name was
Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.
9 And he did that
which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done.
10 At that time
the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and
the city was besieged.
11 And
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did
besiege it.
12
And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he,
and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the
king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.
13 And he carried
out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the
king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the
LORD had said.
14 And he carried
away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even
ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save
the poorest sort of the people of the land.
15 And he carried
away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's
wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into
captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.
16 And all the
men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that
were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to
Babylon.
17
And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father's brother king in his
stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah.
18 Zedekiah was
twenty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in
Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of
Libnah.
19
And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to
all that Jehoiakim had done.
20 For through
the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast
them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of
Babylon.
1 ¶ 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 host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built
forts against it round about.
2 And the city
was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.
3
And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the
city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.
4 And the city
was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate
between two walls, which is by the king's garden: (now the Chaldees were
against the city round about:) and the king went the way toward the plain.
5
And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and overtook him in
the plains of Jericho: and all his army were scattered from him.
6 So they took
the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they gave
judgment upon him.
7 And they slew
the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah,
and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon.
8 ¶ And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the
month, which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,
came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto
Jerusalem:
9 And he burnt
the house of the LORD, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man's house burnt he with fire.
10 And all the
army of the Chaldees, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down the
walls of Jerusalem round about.
11 Now the rest
of the people that were left in the city, and the fugitives that fell away to
the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the multitude, did Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carry away.
12 But the
captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be vinedressers and
husbandmen.
13 And the
pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD, and the bases, and the
brasen sea that was in the house of the LORD, did the Chaldees break in pieces,
and carried the brass of them to Babylon.
14 And the pots,
and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass
wherewith they ministered, took they away.
15 And the
firepans, and the bowls, and such things as were of gold, in gold, and of
silver, in silver, the captain of the guard took away.
16
The two pillars, one sea, and the bases which Solomon had made for the
house of the LORD; the brass of all these vessels was without weight.
17 The height of
the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and the chapiter upon it was brass: and the
height of the chapiter three cubits; and the wreathen work, and pomegranates
upon the chapiter round about, all of brass: and like unto these had the second pillar with wreathen work.
18 And the
captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second
priest, and the three keepers of the door:
19 And out of the
city he took an officer that was set over the men of war, and five men of them
that were in the king's presence, which were found in the city, and the principal scribe of the host, which mustered the people of
the land, and threescore men of the people of the land that were found in the
city:
20 And
Nebuzaradan captain of the guard took these, and brought them to the king of Babylon
to Riblah:
21 And the king
of Babylon smote them, and slew them at Riblah in the land of Hamath.
So Judah was carried away out of their land.
22 ¶ And as for the people that remained 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, ruler.
23 And when all
the captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, there came to Gedaliah
to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Careah,
and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of a
Maachathite, they and their men.
24 And Gedaliah
sware to them, and to their men, and said unto them, Fear not to be the servants of the Chaldees: dwell in the land, and serve
the king of Babylon; and it shall be well with you.
25 But it came to
pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of
Elishama, of the seed royal, came, and ten men with him, and smote Gedaliah,
that he died, and the Jews and the Chaldees that were with him at Mizpah.
26 And all the
people, both small and great, and the captains of the armies, arose, and came
to Egypt: for they were afraid of the Chaldees.
27 And it came to
pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of
Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the year that he began
to reign did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison;
28 And he spake
kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with
him in Babylon;
29 And changed
his prison garments: and he did eat bread continually before him all the days of his life.
30 And his allowance
was a continual allowance given him of the king, a daily rate for every day,
all the days of his life.