Fall and Captivity of Judah

1 ^uAnd in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, ^vNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem and laid siege to it. ^wAnd they built siegeworks all around it. 2 So the city was besieged till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 3 On the ninth day of the fourth month ^xthe famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. 4 Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, by ^ythe king’s garden, and ^zthe Chaldeans were around the city. And they went in the direction of the ^aArabah. 5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. 6 Then they captured the king ^band brought him up to the king of Babylon at ^cRiblah, and they passed sentence on him. 7 They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, ^dand put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains and took him to Babylon.

8 ^eIn the fifth month, on ^fthe seventh day of the month—that was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 9 ^gAnd he burned the house of the Lord ^hand the king’s house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down. 10 And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, ⁱbroke down the walls around Jerusalem. 11 ^jAnd the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the multitude, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile. 12 But the captain of the guard left ^ksome of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.

13 ^lAnd the pillars ^mof bronze that were in the house of the Lord, and ⁿthe stands and ^othe bronze sea that were in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried the bronze to Babylon. 14 ^pAnd they took away the pots and the shovels and the snuffers and the dishes for incense and all the vessels of bronze used in the temple service, 15 the fire pans also and the bowls. What was of gold the captain of the guard took away as gold, and what was of silver, as silver. 16 As for the two pillars, the one sea, and the stands that Solomon had made for the house of the Lord, ^qthe bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight. 17 ^rThe height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits,¹ and on it was a capital of bronze. The height of the capital was three cubits. A latticework and pomegranates, all of bronze, were all around the capital. And the second pillar had the same, with the latticework.

18 ^sAnd the captain of the guard took ^tSeraiah the chief priest and ^uZephaniah the second priest and the three keepers of the threshold; 19 and from the city he took an officer who had been in command of the men of war, and ^vfive men of the king’s council who were found in the city; and the secretary of the commander of the army, who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the city. 20 And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at ^wRiblah. 21 And the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at ^wRiblah in the land of Hamath. ^xSo Judah was taken into exile out of its land.

Gedaliah Made Governor of Judah

22 And over the people who remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, he appointed ^yGedaliah the son of ^zAhikam, son of Shaphan, governor. 23 ^aNow when all the captains and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah governor, they came with their men to Gedaliah at ^bMizpah, namely, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite. 24 And Gedaliah swore to them and their men, saying, “Do not be afraid because of the Chaldean officials. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.” 25 ^cBut in the seventh month, ^dIshmael the son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with ten men and struck down Gedaliah and put him to death along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. 26 ^eThen all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces arose and went to Egypt, for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

Jehoiachin Released from Prison

27 ^fAnd in the thirty-seventh year of ^gthe exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, graciously ^hfreed² Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. 28 And he spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat above the seats of the kings who were with him in Babylon. 29 So Jehoiachin put off his prison garments. And every day of his life ⁱhe dined regularly at the king’s table, 30 and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, according to his daily needs, as long as he lived.

Sing to the Lord a New Song

The Fall of Babylon

1 After this I saw ⁿanother angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and ^othe earth was made bright with his glory. 2 And he called out with a mighty voice,

4 Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,

9 And ^hthe kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, ⁱwill weep and wail over her ^jwhen they see the smoke of her burning. 10 ^kThey will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say,

11 And ⁿthe merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, 12 cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, 13 cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls.²

15 ^oThe merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, ^pwill stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,

And ^tall shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off 18 and ^ucried out ^vas they saw the smoke of her burning,

19 And they threw ^xdust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out,

21 Then ^da mighty angel ^etook up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,

Rejoicing in Heaven

1 After this I heard ⁿwhat seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out,

3 Once more they cried out,

4 And ^tthe twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” 5 And from the throne came a voice saying,

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

6 Then I heard what seemed to be ^wthe voice of a great multitude, like ^xthe roar of many waters and ^ylike the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,

for the fine linen is ^dthe righteous deeds of the saints.

9 And the angel said³ to me, “Write this: ^eBlessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, ^f“These are the true words of God.” 10 Then ^gI fell down at his feet to worship him, ^hbut he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to ⁱthe testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

The Rider on a White Horse

11 Then I saw ^jheaven opened, and behold, ^ka white horse! The one sitting on it is called ^lFaithful and True, and ^min righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 ⁿHis eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are ^omany diadems, and he has ^pa name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in ^qa robe dipped in⁴ blood, and the name by which he is called is ^rThe Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, ^sarrayed in fine linen, white and pure, ^twere following him on white horses. 15 ^uFrom his mouth comes a sharp sword ^vwith which to strike down the nations, and ^whe will rule⁵ them with a rod of iron. ^xHe will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh ^yhe has a name written, ^zKing of kings and Lord of lords.

17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to ^aall the birds that fly directly overhead, ^b“Come, gather for ^cthe great supper of God, 18 ^dto eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave,⁶ both small and great.” 19 And I saw ^ethe beast and the kings of the earth with their armies ^fgathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. 20 And the beast was captured, and with it ^gthe false prophet ^hwho in its presence⁷ had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who ⁱworshiped its image. These two were ^jthrown alive into the lake of ^kfire that burns with sulfur. 21 And the rest were slain by the sword ^lthat came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and ^mall the birds were gorged with their flesh.