The LORD sent raiders to destroy Judah, in accordance with the word of the LORD proclaimed by his servants the prophets. Surely these things happened to Judah according to the LORD’s command, in order to remove them from his presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all he had done, including the shedding of innocent blood. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD was not willing to forgive.

Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon advanced on Jerusalem and laid siege to it. Jehoiachin king of Judah surrendered to him.

1
TED LARSON
"King Nebuchadnezzar's Siege of Jerusalem"

2
Source

3
"Siege of Jerusalem"

4
"Nebuchadnezzar Besieges Jerusalem"

5
PETRUS COMESTOR
"Nebuchadnezzar Camped outside Jerusalem,
Famine in the City"

6
"Taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar"

7
"Nebuchadnezzar battles King Zedekiah of Judah
(who holds a plan of Jerusalem)"

8
PETER CONNOLLY
"The Siege of Jerusalem"

9
"Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem"

10
F STOCKS MAY
"Nebuchadnezzar Took the City of Jerusalem by Storm"

11
PETER JACKSON
"Fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonian Army
of Nebuchadnezzar II"

12
WILLIAM BRASSEY HOLE
"The Submission of [Jehoiachin] to Nebuchadnezzar"

As the LORD had declared, Nebuchadnezzar removed all the treasures from the temple of the LORD and from the royal palace, and took away all the gold articles that Solomon king of Israel had made for the temple of the LORD. He carried into exile all Jerusalem: all the officers and fighting men, and all the craftsmen and artisans—a total of ten thousand. Only the poorest people of the land were left.

Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin captive to Babylon. He made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king in his place and changed his name to Zedekiah.

Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, just as Jehoiakim had done. It 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. So Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. He encamped outside the city and built siege works all around it. Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled at night toward the Arabah, but the Babylonian army pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him and scattered, and he was captured. He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where sentence was pronounced on him. They killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon.

13
FRANÇOIS-XAVIER FABRE
"Nabuchodonosor Has Zedekiah's Children Killed before his Eyes"

14
PAT NICOLLE
"Nebuchadnezzar and Zedekiah"

15
GUSTAVE DORÉ
"Slaughter of the Sons of Zedekiah before their Father"

16
PETRUS COMESTOR
"Zedekiah is Chained and Brought before Nebuchadnezzar"

17
Source

18
Source

The king of Babylon set fire to the temple of the LORD, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down. The whole Babylonian army, under the commander of the imperial guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem. The commander of the guard carried into exile the people who remained in the city.

The 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.

19
SAMUEL COLMAN
"The Destruction of the Temple"

20
FRANCESCO HAYEZ
"The Destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem"

21
NICOLAS POUSSIN
"Destruction and Sack of the Temple"

22
NICOLAS POUSSIN
"Destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem"

23
Source

24
Source

25
JUAN DE LA CORTE
"The Burning of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar’s Army"

26
WILLIAM BRASSEY HOLE
"The Destruction of Jerusalem
by Nebuchadnezzar in 587 BC"

27
Source

28
JAMES TISSOT
"Chaldeans Destroy the Brazen Sea"

29
MASTER OF MARRADI
"The Treasure of the Temple at Jerusalem
Brought by Nebuchadnezzar to the House of God"

So Judah went into captivity, away from her land.

30
"Zedekiah and the People of Judah Carried Captive"

31
"Expulsion of the Jews from Jerusalem
under Nebuchadnezzar"

32
Source

33
JAMES TISSOT
"The Flight of the Prisoners"

34
EDUARD BENDEMANN
"Jews Mourning the Exile in Babylon"

→ a n d... f i n a l l y ←

In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the year Evil-Merodach became king of Babylon, he released Jehoiachin from prison. He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king’s table. Day by day the king gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance as long as he lived.

New International Version ©1984, Abrdgd, EMPHASES Added
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