⁸ Nebuzaradan was the commander of the king’s special guards. This officer of the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem on ·the seventh day of the fifth month [^CAugust 14, 586 bc], in Nebuchadnezzar’s nineteenth year as king of Babylon. ⁹ Nebuzaradan ·set fire to [burned down] the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord and the ·palace [^Lking’s house] and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building was burned.

¹⁰ The whole Babylonian army, led by the commander of the king’s special guards, ·broke down [demolished] the walls around Jerusalem. ¹¹ Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, ·captured [carried into exile] the people left in Jerusalem, those who had ·surrendered [deserted] to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the people. ¹² But the commander of the guard left behind some of the poorest people of the land to ·take care of [work] the vineyards and fields.

¹³ The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars, the bronze stands, and the large bronze ·bowl [basin] called the Sea [1 Kin. 7:23–45] in the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord. Then they carried the bronze to Babylon. ¹⁴ They also took the pots, shovels, ·wick trimmers [snuffers], dishes, and all the bronze objects used to serve in the ·Temple [^Lhouse]. ¹⁵ The commander of the king’s special guards took away the ·pans for carrying hot coals [censers], the ·bowls [basins], and everything made of ·pure [fine] gold or silver. ¹⁶ There were two pillars and the large bronze Sea and the ·movable stands [water carts] which Solomon had made for the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord. There was so much bronze that it could not be weighed. ¹⁷ Each pillar was ·about twenty-seven feet [^Leighteen cubits; 1 Kin. 7:15–20] high. The bronze capital on top of the pillar was ·about four and one-half feet [^Lthree cubits] high. It was decorated with a ·net design and [latticework/network of] bronze pomegranates all around it. The other pillar also had a ·net design [latticework; network] and was like the first pillar.

Judah Is Taken Prisoner^(A)

¹⁸ The commander of the guards took some ·prisoners [captives]—Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest next in rank, and the three ·doorkeepers [gatekeepers]. ¹⁹ Of the people who were still in the city, he took the officer in charge of the ·fighting men [soldiers], as well as five advisors to the king. He took the royal secretary who ·selected [conscripted] people for the army and sixty other men who were in the city. ²⁰ Nebuzaradan, the commander, took all these people and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. ²¹ There at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king had them killed. So the people of Judah were ·led away from their country as captives [sent into exile from their land].