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.
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エルサレムの陥落
（以下は、三十九章の記事の補足です。）
1ゼデキヤは二十一歳で王となり、十一年間エルサレムで王座につきました。彼の母はリブナ出身のエレミヤの娘で、名をハムタルといいました。 2ところが彼は、先代のエホヤキムのように悪名の高い王でした。 3悪事の限りを尽くす王に、神はとうとう怒りを燃やし、バビロン王に反逆するよう仕向けたのです。こうして王とイスラエルの民は、神の前から追放され、エルサレムとユダをあとにして、遠くバビロンへ捕虜として連れ去られました。
4ゼデキヤが即位して九年目の、十二月二十五日（ユダヤ暦では十月十日）に、バビロンのネブカデネザル王は全軍を率いてエルサレムを攻め、周囲にとりでを築き、 5二年間この町を包囲しました。 6六月二十四日（ユダヤ暦では四月九日）になって、町ではききんがひどくなり、ついに最後の食糧も底をついたので、 7住民は城壁に穴をあけ、また兵士たちもみな夜の闇にまぎれ、王の庭園の近くにある二重の城壁の間にある門を通って、町の外へ逃げました。町はカルデヤ人にすっかり囲まれていたからです。人々は野原を横切り、アラバめざして急ぎました。 8しかし、カルデヤ兵はあとを追い、エリコに近い野原で、護衛兵に逃げられて孤立しているゼデキヤ王を捕まえました。 9兵士たちは、ハマテのリブラという町にいるバビロン王のところへ彼を引き立てて行き、そこで軍事裁判にかけました。 10ゼデキヤは、目の前で、息子をはじめユダの重立った人たちが虐殺されるのを見せつけられたあと、 11両眼をえぐり出され、鎖につながれてバビロンへ引いて行かれ、死ぬまで牢に閉じ込められていました。
12バビロンのネブカデネザル王が即位して十九年目の七月二十五日（ユダヤ暦では五月十日）に、親衛隊長ネブザルアダンがエルサレムに乗り込んで、 13神殿と王宮、それにすべての邸宅を焼き、 14兵士たちに、町の城壁をいっせいに取り壊すように命じました。 15それから、貧しい人々の一部、町が壊された時に生き残っていた者、ゼデキヤを見限ってバビロン軍に投降した者、それにまだ残っていた交易商人を、捕虜としてバビロンへ連れて行きました。 16しかし貧しい人々の一部は残して、ぶどう園の手入れをさせたり、畑を耕させたりしました。
17バビロニヤ人は、神殿の入口に立つ二本の大きな青銅の柱と、牛の形をした青銅の台と、その上にすえてある青銅の洗盤を取りはずして、バビロンへ運びました。 18また、すべての青銅のつぼと湯わかし、祭壇で使う十能、芯切りばさみ、そのほか神殿で使ういっさいの器具を差し押さえました。 19さらに、火皿、純金と純銀の燭台、茶わん、鉢も奪いました。 20途方もなく大きな二本の柱、洗盤、それに十二の青銅の牛の重さは、大変なものでした。とても量りようがありません。みな、ソロモン王の時代に作られたものです。 21柱はそれぞれ高さ九メートル、周囲六メートル、厚さ八センチで、中は空洞でした。 22柱の頭の部分二・五メートルは、青銅のざくろを彫刻した網目模様になっていました。 23回りには九十六のざくろがあり、周囲の網細工には、さらに百のざくろがありました。 24-25親衛隊長はまた、祭司長セラヤと次席祭司ゼパニヤ、三人の神殿警備隊長、軍の参謀、町の中で見つかった王の特別補佐官七人を捕まえました。さらに、ユダヤ軍の徴兵指揮官と、隠れていた六十人の高官も捕まえました。 26そのあと、彼らを、リブラにいるバビロン王のところへ連れて行ったのです。 27彼らは王の命令によって、一人残らず死刑になりました。こうしてユダの民は、捕虜となって故国をあとにすることになったのです。
28ネブカデネザルが即位して七年目に、捕虜としてバビロンへ連れ去られた人々の数は、三千二十三人でした。 29それから十一年後には、八百三十二人が加わりました。 30さらに五年後、王の命令を受けた親衛隊長ネブザルアダンは、七百四十五人を連れて来ました。結局、合計で四千六百人です。
エホヤキン、解放される
31ユダ王国のエホヤキン王が、バビロンの牢に入って三十七年目の三月十日（ユダヤ暦では十二月二十五日）に、その年バビロン王となったエビル・メロダクは、エホヤキンに親切にし、彼を牢から出しました。 32しかも、親しみを込めて彼に話しかけ、バビロンのどの総督よりも高い位を与え、 33新しい衣服をあてがい、生涯、いつも王の料理係の作る物を食べさせました。 34エホヤキンは死ぬ日まで、生活費を王から支給されました。
