예루살렘 함락
1시드기야는 21세에 왕위에 올라 예루살렘에서 11년을 통치하였다. 그 리고 그의 어머니는 립나 사람 예레미야의 딸인 하무달이었다.
2그는 여호야김의 모든 행위를 본받아 여호와께서 보시기에 악을 행하였다.
3그래서 여호와께서는 예루살렘과 유다 백성에게 노하셔서 결국 그들을 자기 앞에서 추방해 버렸다. 그러나 시드기야는 바빌로니아 왕에게 반기를 들었다.
4그래서 시드기야왕 9년 10월 10일에 바빌로니아의 느부갓네살왕이 그의 모든 군대를 이끌고 와서 예루살렘 주변에 토성을 쌓고
5시드기야왕 11년까지 포위하였다.
6그리하여 성 안에 기근이 심하여 그 해 4월 9일에 백성들이 먹을 식량이 다 떨어졌고
7성벽이 뚫렸다. 그래서 유다군은 바빌로니아군이 포위하고 있는데도 밤중에 왕의 동산 곁에 있는 두 담 사이 문을 빠져 나와 52:7 또는 ‘아라바 길로’요단 계곡 방향으로 도망하였다.
8그러나 바빌로니아군이 시드기야왕을 추격하여 여리고 평야에서 그를 생포하자 왕의 모든 군대는 뿔뿔이 흩어져 버렸다.
9그들은 왕을 잡아 가지고 하맛 땅의 리블라성에 머물러 있던 바빌로니아 왕에게 끌고 갔으며 느부갓네살왕은 거기서 그를 심문하였다.
10바빌로니아 왕은 그 곳 리블라에서 시드기야의 아들들을 그가 보는 앞에서 다 죽이고 또 유다의 모든 대신들도 죽였다.
11그러고서 그는 시드기야의 두 눈을 뽑고 쇠사슬로 그를 묶어 바빌론으로 끌고 가서 죽을 때까지 그를 감옥에 가두어 두었다.
초토화된 예루살렘과 성전
12바빌로니아의 느부갓네살왕 19년 52:12 왕하25:8에는 ‘5월 7일’5월 10일에 왕의 경호대장 느부사라단이 예루살렘에 와서
13성전과 궁전에 불을 지르고 예루살렘의 모든 집과 중요한 건물들을 다 태워 버렸으며
14또 그의 부하들은 예루살렘의 성벽을 모조리 헐어 버렸다.
15그런 다음 느부사라단은 바빌로니아군에게 항복한 자들과 일부 기술자들을 포함하여 성 안에 남아 있는 사람들을 바빌로니아로 잡아갔다.
16그러나 그는 그 땅에서 제일 가난한 사람들을 남겨 두어 포도원을 가꾸고 농사를 짓게 하였다.
17바빌로니아 사람들은 성전의 두 놋기둥과 놋받침과 놋으로 만든 거대한 물탱크를 깨뜨려 그 놋을 바빌론으로 가져갔으며
18또 가마와 부삽과 불집게와 주발과 국자와 그 밖에 성전에서 사용하는 모든 놋그릇을 가져갔다.
19그리고 그들은 잔과 화로와 주발과 솥과 촛대와 국자와 술을 따르는 그릇도 가져갔는데 이 모든 것은 금과 은으로 만든 것들이었다.
20솔로몬왕이 성전을 위해 만든 두 놋기둥과 거대한 물탱크와 그것을 떠받치고 있는 열두 마리의 놋소와 그리고 놋받침에 사용된 이 모든 놋은 너무 많아 그 중량을 측정할 수가 없었다.
21두 개의 그 놋기둥은 높이가 각각 52:21 히 ‘18규빗’8.1미터이고 둘레가 52:21 히 ‘12규빗’5.4미터인데 그것은 속이 비었고 그 두께는 손가락 네 개가 놓일 수 있을 정도였다.
22그 기둥 위에는 놋으로 덮개를 씌웠으며 그 덮개 높이는 약 52:22 히 ‘5규빗’2.3미터이고 그 둘레는 그물 세공과 놋석류로 장식되어 있었다. 두 개의 그 놋기둥은 모두 똑같은 모양으로 만들어졌는데
23기둥 하나에 놋석류가 각각 100개씩 붙어 있으며 측면에서 볼 수 있는 것은 96개였다.
바빌로니아로 잡혀가는 유다 백성
24그리고 경호대장 느부사라단은 대제사장 스라야, 부제사장 스바냐, 성전 경비원 세 사람,
25군 지휘관 한 사람, 왕의 보좌관 일곱 사람, 징집 담당 서기관 한 사람, 그 밖에 성 안에 남아 있던 사람 60명을 생포하여
26리블라에 있는 바빌로니아 왕에게 끌고 갔으며
27바빌로니아 왕은 하맛 땅에 있는 그 곳 리블라에서 그들을 모조리 처형시켰다. 이렇게 해서 유다 백성들은 포로가 되어 고국을 떠나게 되었는데
28느부갓네살이 포로로 잡아간 사람들의 수는 다음과 같다: 그의 통치 7년에 유다 사람 3,023명,
2918년에 예루살렘 사람 832명,
3023년에 경호대장 느부사라단을 통해 잡아간 유다 사람 745명 – 모두 4,600명이었다.
31유다의 여호야긴왕이 포로로 잡혀간 지 37년째가 되는 해에 에윌 – 므로닥이 바빌로니아 왕으로 즉위하면서 그 해 52:31 왕하25:27에는 ‘12월 27일’12월 25일에 여호야긴왕을 감옥에서 풀어 주었다.
32그는 여호야긴왕에게 친절하게 말하였고 그의 지위를 바빌로니아에서 포로 생활을 하고 있는 다른 왕들보다 더 높여 주었다.
33-34그래서 여호야긴왕은 죄수복을 벗고 죽는 날까지 왕의 식탁에서 식사하며 바빌로니아 왕에게서 매일 일정한 양의 물품을 지급받았다.
Nebuchadnezzar Destroys Jerusalem
1Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 11 years. His mother’s name was Hamutal. She was the daughter of Jeremiah. She was from Libnah. 2Zedekiah did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. He did just as Jehoiakim had done. 3The enemies of Jerusalem and Judah attacked them because the Lord was angry. In the end he threw them out of his land.
Zedekiah refused to obey the king of Babylon.
4Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon. He marched out against Jerusalem. All his armies went with him. It was in the ninth year of the rule of Zedekiah. It was on the tenth day of the tenth month. The armies set up camp outside the city. They set up ladders and built ramps and towers all around it. 5It was surrounded until the 11th year of King Zedekiah’s rule.
6By the ninth day of the fourth month, there wasn’t any food left in the city. So the people didn’t have anything to eat. 7Then the Babylonians broke through the city wall. Judah’s whole army ran away. They left the city at night. They went out through the gate between the two walls that were near the king’s garden. They escaped even though the Babylonians surrounded the city. Judah’s army ran toward the Arabah Valley. 8But the armies of Babylon chased King Zedekiah. They caught up with him in the plains near Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him. They had scattered in every direction. 9The king was captured.
He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah. Riblah was in the land of Hamath. That’s where Nebuchadnezzar decided how Zedekiah would be punished. 10At Riblah the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah. He forced him to watch it with his own eyes. Nebuchadnezzar also killed all the officials of Judah. 11Then he poked out Zedekiah’s eyes. He put him in bronze chains. And he took him to Babylon. There he put Zedekiah in prison until the day he died.
12Nebuzaradan served the king of Babylon. In fact, he was commander of the royal guard. He came to Jerusalem. It was in the 19th year that Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon. It was on the tenth day of the fifth month. 13Nebuzaradan set the Lord’s temple on fire. He also set fire to the royal palace and all the houses in Jerusalem. He burned down every important building. 14The armies of Babylon broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. That’s what the commander told them to do. 15Some of the poorest people still remained in the city along with the others. But the commander Nebuzaradan took them away as prisoners. He also took the rest of the skilled workers. That included the people who had joined the king of Babylon. 16But Nebuzaradan left the rest of the poorest people of the land behind. He told them to work in the vineyards and fields.
17The armies of Babylon destroyed the Lord’s temple. They broke the bronze pillars into pieces. They broke up the bronze stands that could be moved around. And they broke up the huge bronze bowl. Then they carried away all the bronze to Babylon. 18They also took away the pots, shovels, wick cutters, sprinkling bowls and dishes. They took away all the bronze objects that were used for any purpose in the temple. 19The commander of the royal guard took away the bowls and the shallow cups for burning incense. He took away the sprinkling bowls, the pots, the lampstands and the dishes. He took away the bowls used for drink offerings. So he took away everything made out of pure gold or silver.
20The bronze was more than anyone could weigh. It included the bronze from the two pillars. It included the bronze from the huge bowl and the 12 bronze bulls under it. It also included the stands. King Solomon had made all those things for the Lord’s temple. 21Each pillar was 27 feet high and 18 feet around. The pillars were hollow. The metal in each of them was three inches thick. 22The bronze top of one pillar was seven and a half feet high. It was decorated with a set of bronze chains and pomegranates all around it. The other pillar was just like it. It also had pomegranates. 23There were 96 pomegranates on the sides of each of the two tops. The total number of pomegranates above the bronze chains around each top was 100.
24The commander of the guard took many prisoners. They included Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the priest who reported to him. They also included the three men who guarded the temple doors. 25Some people were still left in the city. The commander took as a prisoner the officer in charge of the fighting men. He took the seven men who gave advice to the king. He also took the secretary who was the chief officer in charge of getting the people of the land to serve in the army. There were 60 people of the land still in the city. 26The commander Nebuzaradan took all of them away. He brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27There the king had them put to death. Riblah was in the land of Hamath.
So the people of Judah were taken as prisoners. They were taken far away from their own land.
28Here is the number of the people Nebuchadnezzar took to Babylon as prisoners.
In the seventh year of his rule,
he took 3,023 Jews.
29In his 18th year,
he took 832 people from Jerusalem.
30In Nebuchadnezzar’s 23rd year,
Nebuzaradan, the commander of the royal guard, took 745 Jews to Babylon.
The total number of people taken to Babylon was 4,600.
Jehoiachin Is Set Free
31Awel-Marduk set Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, free from prison. It was in the 37th year after Jehoiachin had been taken away to Babylon. It was also the year Awel-Marduk became king of Babylon. It was on the 25th day of the 12th month. 32Awel-Marduk spoke kindly to Jehoiachin. He gave him a place of honor. Other kings were with Jehoiachin in Babylon. But his place was more important than theirs. 33So Jehoiachin put away his prison clothes. For the rest of Jehoiachin’s life the king of Babylon provided what he needed. 34The king did that for Jehoiachin day by day as long as he lived. He did it until the day Jehoiachin died.
