CHAPTER 52
1 Zedekiah was a son of one and twenty years (or Zedekiah was twenty-one years old), when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremy of Libnah.
2 And he did evils before the eyes of the Lord, by all things which Jehoiakim had done. (And he did evil things before the Lord, like all the things that Jehoiakim had done.)
3 For the strong vengeance of the Lord was in Jerusalem, and in Judah, till he casted them away from his face. And Zedekiah went away from the king of Babylon. (And so the strong vengeance of the Lord was toward Jerusalem, and toward Judah, until he threw them away from his face. And then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.)
4 Forsooth it was done in the ninth year of his realm, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, came, he and all his host, against Jerusalem; and they besieged it, and builded against it strongholds in compass. (And it was done in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem; and they besieged it, and built strongholds all around it.)
5 And the city was besieged, till to the eleventh year of the realm of Zedekiah. (And the city was besieged, until the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign.)
6 Forsooth in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, hunger held the city; and foods were not to the people of the land. (And by the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, hunger held the city, and there was no food for the people of the land.)
7 And (then) the city was broken (into), and all (the) men warriors thereof fled; and they went out of the city in the night, by the way of the gate, which is betwixt (the) two walls, and leadeth to the garden of the king, while [the] Chaldees besieged the city in compass (or while the Chaldeans besieged the city on every side); and they went forth by the way that leadeth into (the) desert.
8 Soothly the host of Chaldees pursued the king; and they took Zedekiah in desert, which is beside Jericho, and all his fellowship fled away from him. (And the Chaldean army pursued the king; and they took hold of, or caught, Zedekiah in the desert, which is beside Jericho, and all his fellows, or all his soldiers, fled away from him.)
9 And when they had taken (hold of) the king, they brought him to the king of Babylon in Riblah, which is in the land of Hamath; and the king of Babylon spake dooms to him. (And when they had captured the king, they brought him to the king of Babylon in Riblah, which is in the land of Hamath; and the king of Babylon passed judgement upon him or and the king of Babylon spoke out his sentence, or his fate.)
10 And the king of Babylon strangled the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; but also he killed all the princes of Judah in Riblah, (or and he also killed all the princes, or all the leaders, of Judah in Riblah).
11 And he putted out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in stocks; and the king of Babylon brought him into Babylon, and putted him in the house of the prison (or and put him in the prison house), till to the day of his death.
12 Forsooth in the ninth month, in the tenth day of the month, that is the nineteenth year of the king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the prince of [the] chivalry, that stood before the king of Babylon, came into Jerusalem. (Now in the ninth month, on the tenth day of the month, of the nineteenth year of the reign of the king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, who stood before the king of Babylon, came into Jerusalem.)
13 And he burnt the house of the Lord, and the house of the king, and all the houses of Jerusalem; and he burnt with fire each great house. (And he burned down the House of the Lord, and the house of the king, or the palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem; yea, he burned down each great house, or mansion.)
14 And all the host of Chaldees, that was with the master of (the) chivalry, destroyed all the wall of Jerusalem by compass. (And the Chaldean army, that was with the captain of the guard, destroyed the wall of Jerusalem that was all around it.)
15 Soothly Nebuzaradan, the prince of [the] chivalry, translated (most) of the poor men of the people, and of the residue common people, that was left in the city, and of the fleers-over, that fled over to the king of Babylon; and he translated other men of the multitude. (And Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried away captive most of the poor people, and the rest of the common people, who were left in the city, and the fleers-over, who had fled over to the king of Babylon; and he also carried away captive others of the multitude.)
16 But Nebuzaradan, the prince of [the] chivalry, left of the poor men of the land (to be) vine-tillers, and earth-tillers. (But Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, left some of the poor people of the land to look after the vineyards, and to be farmers.)
17 Also Chaldees brake the brazen pillars, that were in the house of the Lord, and the foundaments, and the brazen washing vessel, that was in the house of the Lord; and they took all the metal of those into Babylon. (And the Chaldeans broke up the bronze pillars, that were in the House of the Lord, and their bases, and the bronze washing vessel, that was in the House of the Lord; and they took all of that metal back to Babylon.)
18 And they took cauldrons, and fleshhooks, and psalteries, and vials, and mortars, and all brazen vessels, that were in service (in the house of the Lord); (And they took the cauldrons, and the fleshhooks, and the trowels, and the basins, and the spoons, and all the vessels of bronze, that were in service in the House of the Lord;)
19 they took also [the] water pots, and vessels of incense, and pots, and basins, and candlesticks, and mortars (or and spoons), and little cups; how many ever golden, golden, and how many ever silveren, silveren.
20 The master of chivalry took (the) two pillars, and (the) one washing vessel, and [the] twelve brazen calves, that were under the foundaments, which king Solomon had made in the house of the Lord. No weight was of the metal of all these vessels. (And the weight of the metal of the two pillars, and the one washing vessel, and the twelve bronze calves, that were under the bases, which King Solomon had made for the House of the Lord, was beyond measure.)
21 Forsooth of the pillars, eighteen cubits of height were in one pillar, and a rope of twelve cubits compassed it; certainly the thickness thereof was of four fingers, and was hollow within. (And concerning the pillars, each pillar was eighteen cubits in height, and a rope, twelve cubits long, was needed to go all around it; its metal was four fingers thick, and it was hollow within.)
22 And brazen pommels were on ever either; and the height of one pommel was of five cubits; and works like nets and pomegranates were on the crown in compass, [(and) all was brazen. Like manner was the second pillar, and the pomegranates; and they were upon the head in compass, all brazen, like manner of the tother pillar]. (And a bronze crown, or a bronze capital, was upon each pillar; and each crown was five cubits in height; and all around the crown was a network arrayed with pomegranates, and all was bronze. In like manner was the second pillar, and its pomegranates; and they went all around its crown, and all was bronze, just like the other pillar.)
23 And the pomegranates were ninety and six hanging down, and all [the] pomegranates were compassed with an hundred works like nets. (And ninety-six pomegranates could be seen hanging down, and altogether there were a hundred pomegranates on the network, all around each crown.)
24 And the master of the chivalry took Seraiah, the first priest, and Zephaniah, the second priest, and [the] three keepers of the vestiary. (And the captain of the guard took hold of Seraiah, the first priest, and Zephaniah, the second priest, and the three guards, or the three doorkeepers.)
25 And of the city he took one chaste servant and honest, that was sovereign on the men warriors; and seven men of them that saw the face of the king, which were found in the cities; and a scribe, prince of knights, that proved [the] young knights; and sixty men of the people of the land, that were found in the midst of the city. (And he also took away from the city one honest and chaste servant, that is, a eunuch, who was the ruler over the warriors; and seven men of them who saw the face of the king, who were found in the city; and a writer, or a secretary, who was the leader of the horsemen, who assayed, or mustered, the young horsemen; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were also found in the midst of the city.)
26 Forsooth Nebuzaradan, the master of [the] chivalry, (or And Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard), took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon in Riblah.
27 And the king of Babylon smote them, and killed them in Riblah, in the land of Hamath; and Judah was translated from his land. (And the king of Babylon struck them down, and killed them in Riblah, in the land of Hamath. And so the people of Judah were carried away captive from their land.)
28 This is the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar translated in the seventh year; Jews, three thousand and three and twenty. (These be the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive in the seventeenth year; three thousand and twenty-three Jews.)
29 In the eighteenth year, Nebuchadnezzar translated from Jerusalem eight hundred and two and thirty persons. (In the eighteenth year, Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive eight hundred and thirty-two people from Jerusalem.)
30 In the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan, the master of [the] chivalry, translated seven hundred and five and forty persons of Jews. Therefore all the persons were four thousand and six hundred. (In the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried away captive seven hundred and forty-five people of the Jews. And so all the people taken captive were four thousand and six hundred.)
31 And it was done, in the seven and thirtieth year of the passing over of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, Evilmerodach, king of Babylon, raised [up] in that (first) year of his realm the head of Jehoiachin, king of Judah; and led him out of the house of the prison, (And it was done, in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, Evilmerodach, the king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, raised up the head of Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, and let him out of the prison house,)
32 and spake good things with him. And he setted the throne of him above the thrones of (the) kings, that were after him in Babylon, (and spoke good things to him. And he put his throne above the thrones of the other kings, who were with him in Babylon,)
33 and changed the clothes of his prison (or and changed his prison clothes, that is, he gave him some new clothes). And Jehoiachin ate bread before him ever[more], in all the days of his life;
34 and (for) his meats, everlasting meats were given to him of the king of Babylon, (or and for his sustenance, food was given to him regularly by the king of Babylon), ordained by each day, till to the day of his death, in all the days of his life.