የኤርምያስ ቃል እዚህ ላይ ይፈጸማል።
የኢየሩሳሌም መውደቅ
52፥1-3 ተጓ ምብ – 2ነገ 24፥18-20፤ 2ዜና 36፥11-16
52፥4-16 ተጓ ምብ – ኤር 39፥1-10
52፥4-21 ተጓ ምብ – 2ነገ 25፥1-21፤ 2ዜና 36፥17-20
1ሴዴቅያስ ሲነግሥ ዕድሜው ሃያ አንድ ዓመት ነበረ፤ በኢየሩሳሌም ዐሥራ አንድ ዓመት ነገሠ፤ የእናቱም ስም አሚጣል ሲሆን፣ እርሷም የሊብና ሰው የኤርምያስ ልጅ ነበረች። 2ሴዴቅያስም ኢዮአቄም እንዳደረገው ሁሉ፣ በእግዚአብሔር ፊት ክፉ ነገር አደረገ። 3እግዚአብሔር በኢየሩሳሌምና በይሁዳ ላይ ይህን ሁሉ ያደረሰውንና በመጨረሻም ከፊቱ ያስወገዳቸው ከቍጣው የተነሣ ነበር።
ሴዴቅያስም በባቢሎን ንጉሥ ላይ ዐመፀ። 4ስለዚህ ሴዴቅያስ በነገሠ በዘጠነኛው ዓመት በዐሥረኛው ወር፣ ከወሩም በዐሥረኛው ቀን፣ የባቢሎን ንጉሥ ናቡከደነፆር ሰራዊቱን ሁሉ አስከትቶ በኢየሩሳሌም ላይ ዘመተ፤ ከተማዪቱንም ከበቧት፤ በዙሪያውም የዐፈር ድልድል ሠሩ። 5ከተማዪቱም እስከ ንጉሡ እስከ ሴዴቅያስ ዐሥራ አንደኛ ዘመነ መንግሥት ተከብባ ነበር።
6በአራተኛው ወር በዘጠነኛው ቀን በከተማዪቱ ራብ ጸንቶ ስለ ነበር ሕዝቡ የሚበላውን ዐጣ፤ 7የከተማዪቱም ቅጥር ተነደለ፤ ሰራዊቱም ሁሉ ኰብልሎ ሄደ። ባቢሎናውያን52፥7 ወይም ከለዳውያን፤ 17 ይመ። በከተማዪቱ ዙሪያ ቢኖሩም፣ በንጉሡ የአትክልት ስፍራ አጠገብ በሁለት ቅጥሮች መካከል ባለው በር በሌሊት ከተማዪቱን ጥለው ሸሹ፤ ወደ ዓረባም52፥7 ወይም ዮርዳኖስ ሸለቆ አመሩ። 8የባቢሎናውያንም52፥8 ወይም ከለዳውያን፤ 14 ይመ። ሰራዊት ንጉሥ ሴዴቅያስን ተከታትሎ በማሳደድ በኢያሪኮ ሜዳ ደረሱበት፤ ወታደሮቹም ሁሉ ከእርሱ ተለይተው ተበታትነው ሳለ፣ ንጉሡን ያዙት።
9እርሱም በሐማት ምድር በሪብላ ወደ ነበረው ወደ ባቢሎንም ንጉሥ ተወሰደ፤ የባቢሎን ንጉሥ በዚያ ፈረደበት። 10በሪብላም የባቢሎን ንጉሥ፣ የሴዴቅያስን ወንዶች ልጆች በአባታቸው ፊት ዐረዳቸው፤ የይሁዳንም ባለሥልጣኖች ሁሉ ገደላቸው፤ 11የሴዴቅያስንም ዐይኖች አወጣ፤ በናስ ሰንሰለትም አስሮ ወደ ባቢሎን ወሰደው፤ በዚያም እስከ ዕለተ ሞቱ በእስር ቤት አቈየው።
12የባቢሎን ንጉሥ ናቡከደነፆር በነገሠ በዐሥራ ዘጠነኛው ዓመት በአምስተኛው ወር፤ ከወሩም በዐሥረኛው ቀን፣ የባቢሎን ንጉሥ ባለሟል የክብር ዘበኞች አዛዥ የነበረው ናቡዘረዳን ወደ ኢየሩሳሌም መጣ። 13የእግዚአብሔርን ቤተ መቅደስና የንጉሡን ቤተ መንግሥት እንዲሁም በኢየሩሳሌም የነበሩትን ቤቶች ሁሉ በእሳት አቃጠለ፤ ሌሎች ትልልቅ ሕንጻዎችንም በእሳት አወደመ። 14በክብር ዘበኞቹ አዛዥ ሥር የነበሩት የባቢሎናውያን ሰራዊት ሁሉ በኢየሩሳሌም ዙሪያ ያለውን ቅጥር በሙሉ አፈረሱ። 15የዘቦቹ አዛዥ ናቡዘረዳን አንዳንድ ድኾችንና በከተማዪቱ የቀረውን ሕዝብ፣ የእጅ ጥበብ ያላቸውንና52፥15 ወይም ተራው ሕዝብ ሸሽተው ወደ ባቢሎን ንጉሥ የተጠጉትን አፈለሳቸው። 16ነገር ግን የክብር ዘበኞቹ አዛዥ ናቡዘረዳን ሌሎች የምድሪቱን ድኾች ወይን ተካዮችና ዐራሾች እንዲሆኑ አስቀራቸው።
17ባቢሎናውያን በእግዚአብሔር ቤተ መቅደስ የነበሩትን የናስ ዐምዶች፣ ተንቀሳቃሽ ማስቀመጫዎችንና ከናስ የተሠራውን የውሃ ገንዳ ሰባበሩ፤ ናሱንም ሁሉ ወደ ባቢሎን ይዘው ሄዱ። 18ከእነዚህም ሌላ ምንቸቶቹን፣ መጫሪያዎቹን፣ መኰስተሪያዎቹን፣ ወጭቶቹን፣ ጭልፋዎቹንና ለቤተ መቅደስ አገልግሎት የሚውሉትን የናስ ዕቃዎች በሙሉ ወሰዱ። 19የክብር ዘበኞቹ አዛዥ ከንጹሕ ወርቅና ከንጹሕ ብር የተሠሩትን ዕቃዎች ሁሉ ጐድጓዳ ሳሕኖችን ጥናዎችን፣ ወጭቶችን፣ ምንቸቶችን፣ መቅረዞችን፣ ጭልፋዎችንና ለመጠጥ ቍርባን ማቅረቢያ የሚሆኑ ወጭቶችን ይዞ ሄደ።
20ንጉሥ ሰሎሞን ለእግዚአብሔር ቤተ መቅደስ ከናስ ያሠራቸው፦ ሁለቱ ዐምዶች፣ ትልቁ የውሃ ገንዳ፣ ከሥሩ ያሉት ዐሥራ ሁለት ወይፈኖችና ተንቀሳቃሽ ማስቀመጫዎች ክብደታቸው ሚዛን ከሚችለው በላይ ነበር። 21እያንዳንዱም ዐምድ ከፍታው ዐሥራ ስምንት ክንድ ዙሪያ ክቡም52፥21 ከፍታው 27 ጫማ (8.1 ሜትር) እና ዙሪያ ክቡ 18 ጫማ (5.4 ሜትር) ገደማ ነው። ዐሥራ ሁለት ክንድ ነበረ፤ ውስጡ ክፍት ስለሆነ የእያንዳንዱ ከንፈር ውፍረት አራት ጣት ነበረ። 22በአንዱ ዐምድ ዐናት ላይ ያለው የናስ ጕልላት ቁመት አምስት ክንድ52፥22 7½ ጫማ (2.3 ሜትር) ገደማ ነው። ሲሆን፣ ዙሪያውንም ሁሉ የሮማን ቅርጽ ባላቸው የናስ ጌጣጌጦች የተዋበ ነበር፤ ሌላውም ዐምድ የሮማኑን ጌጣጌጥ ጨምሮ ከዚሁ ጋር አንድ ዐይነት ነበር። 23ዘጠና ስድስቱ ሮማኖች ከጐን በቀላሉ የሚታዩ ሲሆኑ፣ በአጠቃላይ በዙሪያው ካለው ጌጥ በላይ ያለው የሮማኖች ቍጥር አንድ መቶ ነበር።
24የክብር ዘበኞቹ አዛዥ የካህናት አለቃ የነበረውን ሠራያን፣ ምክትሉንም ካህን ሶፎንያስንና ሦስቱን በር ጠባቂዎች አስሮ ወሰዳቸው፤ 25በከተማው ውስጥ ከቀሩትም ሕዝብ፣ የተዋጊዎቹ ኀላፊ የነበረውን መኰንን፣ ሰባቱን የንጉሡን አማካሪዎች ከአገሬው ሕዝብ ወታደር የሚመለምለውን መኰንን ጸሓፊና በከተማው ውስጥ የተገኙትን ሌሎች ስድሳ ሰዎች ወሰደ። 26የክብር ዘበኞቹ አዛዥ ናቡዘረዳን እነዚህን ሁሉ ይዞ የባቢሎን ንጉሥ ወደ ነበረበት ወደ ሪብላ አመጣቸው። 27ንጉሡም በሐማት ምድር በነበረችው በሪብላ ፈጃቸው።
ይሁዳም በዚህ ሁኔታ ከምድሯ በምርኮ ተወሰደች። 28ናቡከደነፆር ማርኮ የወሰደው ሕዝብ ቍጥር እንደሚከተለው ነው፦
በነገሠ በሰባተኛው ዓመት፣
ሦስት ሺሕ ሃያ ሦስት አይሁድ፤
29ናቡከደነፆር በነገሠ በዐሥራ ስምንተኛው ዓመት፣
ስምንት መቶ ሠላሳ ሁለት ሰዎች ከኢየሩሳሌም፤
30ናቡከደነፆር በነገሠ በሃያ ሦስተኛው ዓመት፣
የክብር ዘበኞች አዛዥ ናቡዘረዳን፣ ሰባት መቶ አርባ አምስት አይሁድ ማርኮ ወስዷል።
በአጠቃላይ አራት ሺሕ ስድስት መቶ ሰዎች ነበሩ።
የዮአኪን መፈታት
31የይሁዳ ንጉሥ ዮአኪን በተማረከ በሠላሳ ሰባተኛው ዓመት፣ ዮርማሮዴክ52፥31 እንዲሁም አሜልማርዱክ ተብሎ ይጠራል። በባቢሎን ነገሠ፤ በዚሁ ዓመት፣ በዐሥራ ሁለተኛው ወር ከወሩም በሃያ አምስተኛው ቀን የይሁዳን ንጉሥ ዮአኪንን ዐሰበው፤ ከእስር ቤትም አወጣው፤ 32በመልካምም ቃል አናገረው፤ ከእርሱም ጋር በባቢሎን በምርኮ ከነበሩት ነገሥታት ይልቅ ከፍ ባለ የክብር ቦታ አስቀመጠው። 33ዮአኪንም እስር ቤት ለብሶት የነበረውን ልብሱን አውልቆ ጣለ፤ በቀረውም የሕይወቱ ዘመን ሁሉ ከንጉሡ ማእድ ይበላ ነበር። 34የባቢሎንም ንጉሥ፣ ዮአኪን እስኪሞት ድረስ፣ በሕይወት ዘመኑ ሁሉ ሳያቋርጥ በየዕለቱ ቀለቡን ይሰጠው ነበር።
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.
