The Daily Audio Bible

⁵⁸ This is what the Lord of Armies says:

⁵⁹ This is what the prophet Jeremiah commanded Seraiah son of Neriah son of Mahseiah,^(G) the quartermaster, when he went to Babylon with King Zedekiah of Judah in the fourth year of Zedekiah’s reign. ⁶⁰ Jeremiah wrote on one scroll about all the disaster that would come to Babylon;^(H) all these words were written against Babylon.

⁶¹ Jeremiah told Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud. ⁶² Say, ‘Lord, you have threatened to cut off^(I) this place so that no one will live in it—people or animals.^(J) Indeed, it will remain desolate forever.’ ⁶³ When you have finished reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates River.^{(K) 64} Then say, ‘In the same way, Babylon will sink and never rise again because of the disaster I am bringing on her. They will grow weary.’”

The words of Jeremiah end here.

The Fall of Jerusalem

52 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. ² Zedekiah did what was evil in the Lord’s sight just as Jehoiakim had done.^{(L) 3} Because of the Lord’s anger, it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he finally banished them from his presence. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.^(M)

⁴ In the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem with his entire army. They laid siege to the city and built a siege wall against it all around. ⁵ The city was under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year.

⁶ By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that the common people had no food. ⁷ Then the city was broken into, and all the warriors fled. They left the city at night by way of the city gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans surrounded the city. They made their way along the route to the Arabah.^{(N) 8} The Chaldean army pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. Zedekiah’s entire army left him and scattered. ⁹ The Chaldeans seized the king and brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he passed sentence on him.

¹⁰ At Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes, and he also slaughtered the Judean commanders. ¹¹ Then he blinded Zedekiah and bound him with bronze chains. The king of Babylon brought Zedekiah to Babylon, where he kept him in custody^[a] until his dying day.^(O)

¹² On the tenth day of the fifth month—which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guards, entered Jerusalem as the representative of^[b] the king of Babylon. ¹³ He burned the Lord’s temple, the king’s palace, all the houses of Jerusalem; he burned down all the great houses. ¹⁴ The whole Chaldean army with the captain of the guards tore down all the walls surrounding Jerusalem.^{(P) 15} Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guards, deported some of the poorest of the people, as well as the rest of the people who remained in the city, the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen. ¹⁶ But Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guards, left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and farmers.^(Q)

¹⁷ Now the Chaldeans broke into pieces the bronze pillars for the Lord’s temple and the water carts and the bronze basin^[c] that were in the Lord’s temple,^(R) and they carried all the bronze to Babylon. ¹⁸ They also took the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, sprinkling basins, dishes, and all the bronze articles used in the temple service. ¹⁹ The captain of the guards took away the bowls, firepans, sprinkling basins, pots, lampstands, pans, and drink offering bowls^(S)—whatever was gold or silver.

²⁰ As for the two pillars, the one basin, with the twelve bronze oxen under it, and the water carts^[d] that King Solomon had made for the Lord’s temple, the weight of the bronze of all these articles was beyond measure. ²¹ One pillar was 27 feet^[e] tall, had a circumference of 18 feet,^[f] was hollow—four fingers thick— ²² and had a bronze capital on top of it.^(T) One capital, encircled by bronze grating and pomegranates, stood 7½ feet^[g] high. The second pillar was the same, with pomegranates. ²³ Each capital had ninety-six pomegranates all around it. All the pomegranates around the grating numbered one hundred.

²⁴ The captain of the guards also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of the second rank, and the three doorkeepers. ²⁵ From the city he took a court official^[h] who had been appointed over the warriors; seven trusted royal aides^[i] found in the city; the secretary of the commander of the army, who enlisted the people of the land for military duty; and sixty men from the common people^[j] who were found within the city. ²⁶ Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guards, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. ²⁷ The king of Babylon put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah went into exile from its land.^(U)

²⁸ These are the people Nebuchadnezzar deported:^(V) in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews; ²⁹ in his eighteenth year,^[k] 832 people from Jerusalem; ³⁰ in Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty-third year, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guards, deported 745 Jews. Altogether, 4,600 people were deported.

Jehoiachin Pardoned

³¹ On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Judah’s King Jehoiachin, King Evil-merodach of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, pardoned King Jehoiachin of Judah and released him from prison. ³² He spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the thrones of the kings who were with him in Babylon. ³³ So Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes, and he dined regularly in the presence of the king of Babylon for the rest of his life. ³⁴ As for his allowance, a regular allowance was given to him by the king of Babylon, a portion for each day until the day of his death, for the rest of his life.^(W)

Christian Living among Outsiders

3 Remind them to submit^(A) to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, ² to slander no one, to avoid fighting, and to be kind, always showing gentleness^(B) to all people. ³ For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved by various passions^(C) and pleasures,^(D) living in malice and envy, hateful, detesting one another.

⁴ But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared,^{(E) 5} he saved us^(F)—not by works of righteousness that we had done,^(G) but according to his mercy^(H)—through the washing of regeneration^(I) and renewal by the Holy Spirit.^{(J) 6} He poured out his Spirit on us abundantly^(K) through Jesus Christ our Savior ⁷ so that, having been justified by his grace,^(L) we may become heirs with the hope of eternal life.^{(M) 8} This saying is trustworthy.^(N) I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed God might be careful to devote themselves to good works. These are good and profitable for everyone. ⁹ But avoid foolish debates,^(O) genealogies,^(P) quarrels,^(Q) and disputes about the law, because they are unprofitable and worthless. ¹⁰ Reject a divisive^(R) person after a first and second warning.^{(S) 11} For you know that such a person has gone astray and is sinning; he is self-condemned.

Final Instructions and Closing

¹² When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you,^(T) make every effort to come to me^(U) in Nicopolis, because I have decided to spend the winter there. ¹³ Diligently help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos^(V) on their journey, so that they will lack^(W) nothing.

¹⁴ Let our people learn to devote themselves to good works for pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful.^{(X) 15} All those who are with me send you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with all of you.^(Y)

Psalm 100

Be Thankful

A psalm of thanksgiving.