1So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. He encamped outside the city and built siege works all around it. 2The city was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
3By the ninth day of the fourth25:3 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text (see Jer. 52:6); Masoretic Text does not have fourth. month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat. 4Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled at night through the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, though the Babylonians25:4 Or Chaldeans; also in verses 13, 25 and 26 were surrounding the city. They fled toward the Arabah,25:4 Or the Jordan Valley 5but the Babylonian25:5 Or Chaldean; also in verses 10 and 24 army pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him and scattered, 6and he was captured.
He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where sentence was pronounced on him. 7They killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon.
8On the seventh day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard, an official of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 9He set fire to the temple of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down. 10The whole Babylonian army under the commander of the imperial guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem. 11Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exile the people who remained in the city, along with the rest of the populace and those who had deserted to the king of Babylon. 12But the commander left behind some of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields.
13The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars, the movable stands and the bronze Sea that were at the temple of the Lord and they carried the bronze to Babylon. 14They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, dishes and all the bronze articles used in the temple service. 15The commander of the imperial guard took away the censers and sprinkling bowls—all that were made of pure gold or silver.
16The bronze from the two pillars, the Sea and the movable stands, which Solomon had made for the temple of the Lord, was more than could be weighed. 17Each pillar was eighteen cubits25:17 That is, about 27 feet or about 8.1 meters high. The bronze capital on top of one pillar was three cubits25:17 That is, about 4 1/2 feet or about 1.4 meters high and was decorated with a network and pomegranates of bronze all around. The other pillar, with its network, was similar.
18The commander of the guard took as prisoners Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest next in rank and the three doorkeepers. 19Of those still in the city, he took the officer in charge of the fighting men, and five royal advisers. He also took the secretary who was chief officer in charge of conscripting the people of the land and sixty of the conscripts who were found in the city. 20Nebuzaradan the commander took them all and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21There at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king had them executed.
So Judah went into captivity, away from her land.
22Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to be over the people he had left behind in Judah. 23When all the army officers and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, Jaazaniah the son of the Maakathite, and their men. 24Gedaliah took an oath to reassure them and their men. “Do not be afraid of the Babylonian officials,” he said. “Settle down in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you.”
25In the seventh month, however, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was of royal blood, came with ten men and assassinated Gedaliah and also the men of Judah and the Babylonians who were with him at Mizpah. 26At this, all the people from the least to the greatest, together with the army officers, fled to Egypt for fear of the Babylonians.
Jehoiachin Released
27In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the year Awel-Marduk became king of Babylon, he released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. He did this on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month. 28He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 29So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king’s table. 30Day by day the king gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance as long as he lived.
1በይሁዳ ንጉሥ በሴዴቅያስ ዘመነ መንግሥት በዘጠነኛው ዓመት በዐሥረኛው ወር፣ ከወሩም በዐሥረኛው ቀን የባቢሎን ንጉሥ ናቡከደነፆር መላ ሰራዊቱን ይዞ ወደ ኢየሩሳሌም ዘመተ፤ ከከተማዪቱ ቅጥር ውጭ ሰፈረ፤ ዙሪያውንም በሙሉ በዕርድ ከበባት። 2ከተማዪቱም እስከ ሴዴቅያስ ዘመነ መንግሥት ዐሥራ አንደኛ ዓመት ድረስ እንዲሁ እንደ ተከበበች ቈየች።
3በአራተኛው25፥3 ኤር 52፥6 ይመ ወር በዘጠነኛው ቀን በከተማዪቱ ውስጥ የተከሠተው ራብ ጸንቶ ስለ ነበር ሕዝቡ የሚቀምሰው ዐጣ። 4ምንም እንኳ ባቢሎናውያን25፥4 በዚህና በቍጥር 13፡25 እንዲሁም 26 ላይ፣ ከለዳውያን ከተማዪቱን እንደ ከበቧት ቢሆንም የከተማዪቱ ቅጥር ተጣሰ፤ ሰራዊቱም ሁሉ በንጉሡ አትክልት አጠገብ ባሉት በሁለቱ ቅጥሮች መካከል በሚገኘው በር ዐልፎ በሌሊት ሸሸ፤ ሽሽቱም ወደ ዮርዳኖስ ሸለቆ25፥4 ወይም፣ በዓረባም ነበር። 5ይሁን እንጂ የባቢሎን25፥5 በዚህም ሆነ በቍጥር 10 እና 24 ላይ፣ ከለዳውያን ሰራዊት ንጉሡን ተከታትሎ በኢያሪኮ ሜዳ ላይ ደረሰበት። ወታደሮቹ ሁሉ ተለይተውት ተበታትነው ነበር። 6እርሱም ተያዘ፤ በዚያን ጊዜ ሪብላ ወደ ነበረው ወደ ባቢሎን ንጉሥ አመጡት፤ ፈረዱበትም። 7ሴዴቅያስ ዐይኑ እያየም የገዛ ልጆቹን ገደሉበት፤ ከዚያም ሁለት ዐይኖቹን በማውጣት በናስ ሰንሰለት አስረው ወደ ባቢሎን ወሰዱት።
8የባቢሎን ንጉሥ ናቡከደነፆር በነገሠ በዐሥራ ዘጠነኛው ዓመት፣ በአምስተኛው ወር ከወሩም በሰባተኛው ቀን የክብር ዘቡ ሰራዊት አዛዥና የባቢሎን ንጉሥ ከፍተኛ ባለ ሥልጣን የሆነው ናቡዘረዳን ወደ ኢየሩሳሌም መጣ። 9የእግዚአብሔርን ቤተ መቅደስ፣ ቤተ መንግሥቱንና በኢየሩሳሌም የሚገኙትን ቤቶች ሁሉ አቃጠለ፤ እያንዳንዱንም ታላላቅ ሕንጻ ለእሳት ዳረገው። 10በክብር ዘቡ አዛዥ የተመራው መላው የባቢሎን ሰራዊትም በኢየሩሳሌም ዙሪያ የነበረውን ቅጥር አፈረሰው። 11የክብር ዘቡ አዛዥም በከተማዪቱ ቀርቶ የነበረውን፣ ከድቶም በዚያ የተገኘውን ሰው ሁሉ ወደ ባቢሎን ንጉሥ የገባውን ጭምር በምርኮ ወደ ባቢሎን ወሰደው። 12ሆኖም አዛዡ ከአገሬው ሰዎች ምንም የሌላቸውን ድኾች ወይን እንዲተክሉ፣ ዕርሻም እንዲያርሱ እዚያው ተዋቸው። 13ባቢሎናውያን የናስ ዐምዶቹን፣ በቤተ መቅደሱ ውስጥ የነበሩትን ተንቀሳቃሽ የዕቃ ማስቀመጫዎችንና ከናስ የተሠራውን የውሃ ማጠራቀሚያ ክብ በርሜል ሰባብረው ናሱን ወደ ባቢሎን ወሰዱ። 14እንዲሁም ምንቸቶቹን፣ መጫሪያዎቹን፣ መኰስተሪያዎቹን፣ ጭልፋዎቹን፣ በአጠቃላይም ከናስ የተሠሩትን የቤተ መቅደሱን መገልገያ ዕቃዎች ሁሉ ወሰዱ። 15የክብር ዘቡ አዛዥም ከንጹሕ ወርቅና ብር የተሠሩትን ጽናዎችና የመርጫ ወጭቶችን ወሰደ።
16ሰሎሞን ለእግዚአብሔር ቤተ መቅደስ መገልገያ ብሎ ከናስ ያሠራቸው ሁለት ዐምዶች፣ የውሃ ማጠራቀሚያው ክብ በርሜልና ተንቀሳቃሽ የዕቃ ማስቀመጫዎቹ ክብደታቸው ከሚዛን በላይ ነበር። 17እያንዳንዱ ዐምድ ዐሥራ ስምንት ክንድ25፥17 8.1 ሜትር ያህል ነው። ሲሆን፣ የናስ ጕልላት ነበረው፤ የጕልላቱ ርዝመት ሦስት ክንድ25፥17 1.3 ሜትር ያህል ነው። ሆኖ፣ ዙሪያውን በሙሉ የናስ መርበብና የሮማን ፍሬዎች ቅርጽ ነበረው፤ ሌላውም ዐምድ ከነቅርጾቹ ከዚሁ ጋር ተመሳሳይ ነበር።
18የክብር ዘብ አዛዡም ሊቀ ካህኑን ሠራያን፣ በማዕረግ ከእርሱ ቀጥሎ ያለውን ካህኑን ሶፎንያስንና ሦስቱን የበር ጠባቂዎች እስረኛ አድርጎ ወሰዳቸው። 19እስከዚያች ጊዜ ድረስ በከተማዪቱ ውስጥ ከቀሩትም የተዋጊዎቹን አለቃና አምስት የንጉሡን አማካሪዎች ወሰዳቸው። ደግሞም የአገሩን ሕዝብ ለውትድርና የሚመለምለውን ዋና የጦር አለቃ የነበረውን ጸሓፊውንና በከተማዪቱ ውስጥ የተገኙትን የጸሓፊውን ስድሳ ሰዎች ወሰዳቸው። 20አዛዡ ናቡዘረዳንም እነዚህን ሁሉ ይዞ ልብና ወዳለው ወደ ባቢሎን ንጉሥ አመጣቸው። 21ንጉሡም ሰዎቹን በሐማት ምድር እዚያው ልብና ውስጥ አስገደላቸው። ይሁዳም ከምድሩ በዚህ ሁኔታ ተማርኮ ሄደ።
22የባቢሎን ንጉሥ ናቡከደነፆር፣ የሳፋን የልጅ ልጅ የሆነውን የአኪቃምን ልጅ ጎዶልያስን እዚያው በቀረው በይሁዳ ሕዝብ ላይ አለቃ አድርጎ ሾመው። 23መላው የሰራዊቱ ጦር አለቆችና ሰዎቻቸው የባቢሎን ንጉሥ፣ አገረ ገዥ አድርጎ ጎዶልያስን መሾሙን ሲሰሙ፣ እርሱ ወዳለበት ወደ ምጽጳ መጡ፤ እነርሱም የናታንያ ልጅ እስማኤል፣ የቃሬያም ልጅ ዮሐናን፣ የነጦፋዊው የተን ሑሜት ልጅ ሠራያ የማዕካታዊው ልጅ ያእዛንያና ሰዎቻቸው ነበሩ። 24ጎዶልያስም፣ “የባቢሎናውያንን ሹማምት አትፍሩ፤ እዚሁ አገር ኑሩ፤ የባቢሎንን ንጉሥ አገልግሉ፤ ሁሉም ነገር ይሳካላችኋል” ሲል ይህንኑ በቃለ መሐላ አረጋገጠላቸው። 25ነገር ግን በሰባተኛው ወር ንጉሣዊ ዝርያ የነበረው የኤሊሳማ የልጅ ልጅ የሆነው የናታንያ ልጅ እስማኤል ዐሥር ሰዎች ይዞ መጥቶ ጎዶልያስንና በምጽጳ አብረውት የነበሩትን የይሁዳን ሰዎችና ባቢሎናውያንን ገደለ። 26ባቢሎናውያንን ከመፍራታቸው የተነሣም ትንሽ ትልቅ ሳይባል ሕዝቡ ሁሉ ከሰራዊቱ የጦር አለቆች ጋር ወደ ግብፅ ሸሹ።
ዮአኪን ከእስራት ተፈታ
25፥27-30 ተጓ ምብ – ኤር 52፥31-34
27የይሁዳ ንጉሥ ዮአኪን በተማረከ በሠላሳ ሰባተኛው ዓመት፣ በዐሥራ ሁለተኛው ወር ከወሩም በሃያ ሰባተኛው ቀን ዮርማሮዴቅ25፥27 አሜል ማርዶክ ይባላል። በባቢሎን በነገሠ በዓመቱ ዮአኪንን ከእስራቱ ፈታው። 28በርኅራኄም መንፈስ አነጋገረው፤ በባቢሎን አብረውት ከነበሩት ነገሥታት ይልቅ ከፍ ያለውን የክብር ቦታ ሰጠው። 29ዮአኪንም የእስር ቤት ልብሱን ጣለ፤ እስከ ዕድሜው ፍጻሜ ድረስ ከንጉሡ ማዕድ ዘወትር ይመገብ ጀመር፤ 30ንጉሡም ለዮአኪን እስከ ዕድሜው ፍጻሜ ድረስ የዕለት ቀለቡን ይሰጠው ነበር።
