20-23 The amount of bronze they got from the two pillars, the Sea, the twelve bronze bulls that supported the Sea, and the ten washstands that Solomon had made for the Temple of God was enormous. They couldn’t weigh it all! Each pillar stood twenty-seven feet high with a circumference of eighteen feet. The pillars were hollow, the bronze a little less than an inch thick. Each pillar was topped with an ornate capital of bronze pomegranates and filigree, which added another seven and a half feet to its height. There were ninety-six pomegranates evenly spaced—in all, a hundred pomegranates worked into the filigree.

24-27 The king’s deputy took a number of special prisoners: Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the associate priest, three wardens, the chief remaining army officer, seven of the king’s counselors who happened to be in the city, the chief recruiting officer for the army, and sixty men of standing from among the people who were still there. Nebuzaradan the king’s deputy marched them all off to the king of Babylon at Riblah. And there at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon killed the lot of them in cold blood.

Judah went into exile, orphaned from her land.

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23 There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; the total number of pomegranates(A) above the surrounding network was a hundred.(B)

24 The commander of the guard took as prisoners Seraiah(C) the chief priest, Zephaniah(D) the priest next in rank and the three doorkeepers.(E) 25 Of those still in the city, he took the officer in charge of the fighting men, and seven royal advisers. He also took the secretary(F) who was chief officer in charge of conscripting the people of the land, sixty of whom were found in the city.

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