¹⁴ Then he deported all Jerusalem and all the commanders and all the fighting men,^(A) 10,000 captives,^(B) and all the craftsmen and metalsmiths.^(C) Except for the poorest people of the land,^(D) no one remained.

¹⁵ Nebuchadnezzar deported Jehoiachin to Babylon. Also, he took the king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officials, and the leading men of the land into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.^{(E) 16} The king of Babylon also brought captive into Babylon all 7,000 fighting men and 1,000 craftsmen and metalsmiths—all strong and fit for war.

³ The king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his court officials,^[a] to bring some of the Israelites from the royal family^(A) and from the nobility— ⁴ young men without any physical defect, good-looking, suitable for instruction in all wisdom,^(B) knowledgeable, perceptive, and capable of serving in the king’s palace^(C)—and to teach them the Chaldean language^(D) and literature.