The Fall of Jerusalem

In the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon arrived at Jerusalem with his entire army. They built siege walls around the city, and the siege lasted until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah (2 Kings 25:1-2). By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city became so severe that there was no food for the people of the land. The city wall was broken through, and all the men of war fled by night toward the Arabah, though the Chaldeans surrounded the city. The Chaldean army pursued King Zedekiah and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, where his entire army was scattered from him (2 Kings 25:4-5).

Zedekiah was captured and brought to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where sentence was passed upon him. They slaughtered his sons before his eyes, put out his eyes, bound him in bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon. One month later, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard and servant of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem. He burned the house of the Lord, the royal palace, and all the houses of the city (2 Kings 25:7-9). The Chaldean army broke down the walls surrounding Jerusalem, and Nebuzaradan deported the remaining people, though he left some of the poorest of the land to serve as vinedressers and laborers (2 Kings 25:10-12).

The text does not mention the prophet Jeremiah. The Chaldeans stripped the bronze, silver, and gold from the temple, including the two pillars and the bronze sea, and carried the metal to Babylon (2 Kings 25:13-17). Nebuzaradan took the chief priest, the second priest, and several royal officials and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where they were executed. Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, as governor over the people left in the land of Judah (2 Kings 25:22). Ishmael, who was of the royal family, later came with ten men and struck down Gedaliah and the Judeans and Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah (2 Kings 25:25).