The Fall of Jerusalem
1Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. 2He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as Jehoiakim had done. 3It was because of the Lord’s anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, and in the end he thrust them from his presence.
Now Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
4So 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. They encamped outside the city and built siege works all around it. 5The city was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
6By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat. 7Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled. They left the city at night through the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, though the Babylonians52:7 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 17 were surrounding the city. They fled toward the Arabah,52:7 Or the Jordan Valley 8but the Babylonian52:8 Or Chaldean; also in verse 14 army pursued King Zedekiah and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him and scattered, 9and he was captured.
He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced sentence on him. 10There at Riblah the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; he also killed all the officials of Judah. 11Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon, where he put him in prison till the day of his death.
12On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard, who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 13He set fire to the temple of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down. 14The whole Babylonian army, under the commander of the imperial guard, broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. 15Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exile some of the poorest people and those who remained in the city, along with the rest of the craftsmen52:15 Or the populace and those who had deserted to the king of Babylon. 16But Nebuzaradan left behind the rest of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields.
17The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars, the movable stands and the bronze Sea that were at the temple of the Lord and they carried all the bronze to Babylon. 18They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes and all the bronze articles used in the temple service. 19The commander of the imperial guard took away the basins, censers, sprinkling bowls, pots, lampstands, dishes and bowls used for drink offerings—all that were made of pure gold or silver.
20The bronze from the two pillars, the Sea and the twelve bronze bulls under it, and the movable stands, which King Solomon had made for the temple of the Lord, was more than could be weighed. 21Each pillar was eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference52:21 That is, about 27 feet high and 18 feet in circumference or about 8.1 meters high and 5.4 meters in circumference; each was four fingers thick, and hollow. 22The bronze capital on top of one pillar was five cubits52:22 That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters high and was decorated with a network and pomegranates of bronze all around. The other pillar, with its pomegranates, was similar. 23There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; the total number of pomegranates above the surrounding network was a hundred.
24The commander of the guard took as prisoners Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest next in rank and the three doorkeepers. 25Of those still in the city, he took the officer in charge of the fighting men, and seven royal advisers. He also took the secretary who was chief officer in charge of conscripting the people of the land, sixty of whom were found in the city. 26Nebuzaradan the commander took them all and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27There at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king had them executed.
So Judah went into captivity, away from her land. 28This is the number of the people Nebuchadnezzar carried into exile:
in the seventh year,
3,023 Jews;
29in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year,
832 people from Jerusalem;
30in his twenty-third year,
745 Jews taken into exile by Nebuzaradan the commander of the imperial guard.
There were 4,600 people in all.
Jehoiachin Released
31In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the year Awel-Marduk became king of Babylon, on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month, he released Jehoiachin king of Judah and freed him from prison. 32He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 33So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king’s table. 34Day by day the king of Babylon gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance as long as he lived, till the day of his death.
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።
