Jeremiah Chapter 52
The Fall of Jerusalem
1 Zedekiah was 21 when he became king and ruled for 11 years in Jerusalem. His mother was Hamutal Bat-Jeremiah of Libnah. 2 He did all the evil Jehoiakim had done. 3 Because of Yahveh’s anger over that, he put Jerusalem and Judah out of his presence.
Zedekiah revolted against the king of Babylon. 4 The tenth day, tenth month, ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar came with his army, set up camp against Jerusalem, and built a siege wall around it. 5 The city lay under siege till Zedekiah’s eleventh year. 6 The ninth day, fourth month, the famine was so severe in the city that the people didn’t have any food left. 7 Then they broke into the city, and the fighting men fled at night through the gate between the two walls by the king’s garden, even though the Babylonians were all around the city. They went toward the Arabah, 8 but the Babylonian army overtook the king in the plains by Jericho. His whole army scattered from him. 9 They captured him and took him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in Hamath, and he passed sentence on him. 10 He executed Zedekiah’s sons right in front of him and executed the officials of Judah. 11 Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him with bronze bonds, and took him to Babylon. He put him in prison till his death.
Jer 52:1-11
The Temple Burned
12 The tenth day, fifth month, nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan, captain of the king of Babylon’s bodyguard, came to Jerusalem. 13 He burned Yahveh’s Temple, the king’s palace, the houses in Jerusalem, and the important buildings. 14 The Babylonian army tore down the walls around Jerusalem. 15 Nebuzaradan took into exile some of the poorest people, people left in the city, those who defected to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the artisans. 16 He left some destitute to dress grapevines and plow fields.
Jer 52:12-16
17 The Babylonians broke in pieces the bronze pillars in front of Yahveh’s Temple, the stands, and the bronze sea; and carried their bronze to Babylon. 18 They took away the pots, shovels, snuffers, basins, pans—all the bronze articles for the Temple service. 19 The captain of the guard also took away the bowls, firepans, basins, pots, lampstands, dishes for incense and liquid offering bowls, what was gold and fine silver. 20 The 2 pillars, the sea, the 12 bronze bulls under the sea, and the stands King Solomon had made for Yahveh’s Temple—the bronze in all those items was too much to weigh. 21 Each pillar was 27ft tall and 18ft in circumference—4 fingers thick and hollow. 22 The bronze capital on each pillar was 7½ft high, with bronze network and pomegranates all around it. 23 There were 96 pomegranates on the sides—100 altogether.
Jer 52:17-23
24 Nebuzaradan took
Seraiah the chief priest,
Zephaniah the second priest,
three of the Temple’s doorkeepers,
25 one city official that oversaw the fighting men,
seven of the king’s council they found in the city,
the secretary to the commander of the army who mustered the people, and
60 men they found in the city.
26 He took them to the king of Babylon at Riblah, 27 and the king put them to death there in Hamath. So they led Judah away into exile.
28 These are the people Nebuchadnezzar carried away:
in his seventh year, 3,023 Jews;
29 in his eighteenth year, 832 from Jerusalem;
30 in his twenty-third year Nebuzaradan took away, 745 Jews:
4,600 in all.
Jer 52:24-30
Jehoiachin Released
31 The twenty-fifth day, twelfth month, thirty-seventh year of Jehoiachin’s exile, Evil-merodach, king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, was gracious to Jehoiachin and brought him out of prison. 32 He was kind to him and set his throne above the thrones of the other kings that were with him in Babylon. 33 So Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes and had his meals with the king regularly 34 till his death.
Jer 52:31-34
Version by Virgil Warren: christir.org