Old/New Testament
24 During Jehoiakim’s reign,[a] King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked.[b] Jehoiakim was his subject for three years, but then he rebelled against him.[c] 2 The Lord sent against him Babylonian, Syrian, Moabite, and Ammonite raiding bands; he sent them to destroy Judah, just as in the Lord’s message that he had announced through his servants the prophets. 3 Just as the Lord had announced, he rejected Judah because of all the sins that Manasseh had committed.[d] 4 Because he killed innocent people and stained Jerusalem with their blood, the Lord was unwilling to forgive them.[e]
5 The rest of the events of Jehoiakim’s reign and all his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.[f] 6 He passed away[g] and his son Jehoiachin replaced him as king. 7 The king of Egypt did not march out from his land again, for the king of Babylon conquered all the territory that the king of Egypt had formerly controlled between the Stream of Egypt and the Euphrates River.
Jehoiachin’s Reign over Judah
8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother[h] was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan, from Jerusalem. 9 He did evil in the sight of[i] the Lord as his ancestors had done.
10 At that time the generals[j] of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon marched to Jerusalem and besieged the city.[k] 11 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to the city while his generals were besieging it. 12 King Jehoiachin of Judah, along with his mother, his servants, his officials, and his eunuchs surrendered[l] to the king of Babylon. The king of Babylon, in the eighth year of his reign,[m] took Jehoiachin[n] prisoner. 13 Nebuchadnezzar[o] took from there all the riches in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and of the royal palace. He removed all the gold items that King Solomon of Israel had made for the Lord’s temple, just as the Lord had warned. 14 He deported all the residents of Jerusalem, including all the officials and all the soldiers (10,000 people in all). This included all the craftsmen and those who worked with metal. No one was left except for the poorest among the people of the land. 15 He deported Jehoiachin from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with the king’s mother and wives, his eunuchs, and the high-ranking officials of the land.[p] 16 The king of Babylon deported to Babylon all the soldiers (there were 7,000), as well as 1,000 craftsmen and metal workers. This included all the best warriors.[q] 17 The king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s[r] uncle, king in Jehoiachin’s place. He renamed him Zedekiah.
Zedekiah’s Reign over Judah
18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled for eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother[s] was Hamutal,[t] the daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah. 19 He did evil in the sight of[u] the Lord, as Jehoiakim had done.[v]
20 What follows is a record of what happened to Jerusalem and Judah because of the Lord’s anger; he finally threw them out of his presence.[w] Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 25 1 So King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Jerusalem with his whole army and set up camp outside[x] it. They built siege ramps all around it. He arrived on the tenth day of the tenth month in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign.[y] 2 The city remained under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year. 3 By the ninth day of the fourth month[z] the famine in the city was so severe the residents[aa] had no food. 4 The enemy broke through the city walls,[ab] and all the soldiers tried to escape. They left the city during the night.[ac] They went through the gate between the two walls, which is near the king’s garden.[ad] (The Babylonians were all around the city.) Then they headed for the rift valley.[ae] 5 But the Babylonian army chased after the king. They caught up with him in the rift valley plains of Jericho,[af] and his entire army deserted him. 6 They captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah,[ag] where he[ah] passed sentence on him. 7 Zedekiah’s sons were executed while Zedekiah was forced to watch.[ai] The king of Babylon[aj] then had Zedekiah’s eyes put out, bound him in bronze chains, and carried him off to Babylon.
Nebuchadnezzar Destroys Jerusalem
8 On the seventh[ak] day of the fifth month,[al] in the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard,[am] who served the king of Babylon, arrived in Jerusalem. 9 He burned down the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem, including every large house.[an] 10 The whole Babylonian army that came with the captain of the royal guard tore down the walls that surrounded Jerusalem. 11 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, deported the rest of the people who were left in the city, those who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen.[ao] 12 But he[ap] left behind some of the poor of the land and gave them fields and vineyards.
13 The Babylonians broke the two bronze pillars in the Lord’s temple, as well as the movable stands and the big bronze basin called “The Sea.”[aq] They took the bronze to Babylon. 14 They also took the pots, shovels,[ar] trimming shears,[as] pans, and all the bronze utensils used by the priests.[at] 15 The captain of the royal guard took the golden and silver censers[au] and basins. 16 The bronze of the items that King Solomon made for the Lord’s temple—including the two pillars, the big bronze basin called “The Sea,” the twelve bronze bulls under “The Sea,”[av] and the movable stands—was too heavy to be weighed. 17 Each of the pillars was about twenty-seven feet[aw] high. The bronze top of one pillar was about 4½ feet[ax] high and had bronze latticework and pomegranate-shaped ornaments all around it. The second pillar with its latticework was like it.
18 The captain of the royal guard took Seraiah, the chief priest, and Zephaniah, the priest who was second in rank, and the three doorkeepers. 19 From the city he took a eunuch who was in charge of the soldiers, five[ay] of the king’s advisers[az] who were discovered in the city, an official army secretary who drafted citizens[ba] for military service, and sixty citizens from the people of the land who were discovered in the city. 20 Nebuzaradan, captain of the royal guard, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21 The king of Babylon ordered them to be executed[bb] at Riblah in the territory[bc] of Hamath. So Judah was deported from its land.
Gedaliah Appointed Governor
22 Now King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, as governor over the people whom he allowed to remain in the land of Judah.[bd] 23 All the officers of the Judahite army[be] and their troops heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah to govern. So they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. The officers who came were Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah son of the Maacathite. 24 Gedaliah took an oath so as to give them and their troops some assurance of safety.[bf] He said, “You don’t need to be afraid to submit to the Babylonian officials. Settle down in the land and submit to the king of Babylon. Then things will go well for you.” 25 But in the seventh month[bg] Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family,[bh] came with ten of his men and murdered Gedaliah,[bi] as well as the Judeans and Babylonians who were with him at Mizpah. 26 Then all the people, from the youngest to the oldest, as well as the army officers, left for[bj] Egypt, because they were afraid of what the Babylonians might do.
Jehoiachin in Babylon
27 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, on the twenty-seventh[bk] day of the twelfth month,[bl] King Evil Merodach of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, pardoned[bm] King Jehoiachin of Judah and released him[bn] from prison. 28 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a more prestigious position than[bo] the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 29 Jehoiachin[bp] took off his prison clothes and ate daily in the king’s presence for the rest of his life. 30 He was given daily provisions by the king for the rest of his life until the day he died.[bq]
Healing a Paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda
5 After this[a] there was a Jewish feast,[b] and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is[c] in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate[d] a pool called Bethzatha[e] in Aramaic,[f] which has five covered walkways.[g] 3 A great number of sick, blind, lame, and paralyzed people were lying in these walkways.[h] 5 Now a man was there who had been disabled for thirty-eight years.[i] 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and when he realized[j] that the man[k] had been disabled a long time already, he said to him, “Do you want to become well?” 7 The sick man answered him, “Sir,[l] I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I am trying to get into the water,[m] someone else[n] goes down there[o] before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Stand up! Pick up your mat[p] and walk.” 9 Immediately the man was healed,[q] and he picked up his mat[r] and started walking. (Now that day was a Sabbath.)[s]
10 So the Jewish leaders[t] said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and you are not permitted to carry your mat.”[u] 11 But he answered them, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat[v] and walk.’” 12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Pick up your mat[w] and walk’?”[x] 13 But the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped out, since there was a crowd in that place.
14 After this Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “Look, you have become well. Don’t sin any more,[y] lest anything worse happen to you.” 15 The man went away and informed the Jewish leaders[z] that Jesus was the one who had made him well.
Responding to Jewish Leaders
16 Now because Jesus was doing these things[aa] on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders[ab] began persecuting[ac] him. 17 So he[ad] told[ae] them, “My Father is working until now, and I too am working.”[af] 18 For this reason the Jewish leaders[ag] were trying even harder to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was also calling God his own Father, thus making himself equal with God.
19 So Jesus answered them,[ah] “I tell you the solemn truth,[ai] the Son can do nothing on his own initiative,[aj] but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father[ak] does, the Son does likewise.[al] 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he does, and will show him greater deeds than these, so that you will be amazed. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life,[am] so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes.[an] 22 Furthermore, the Father does not judge[ao] anyone, but has assigned[ap] all judgment to the Son, 23 so that all people[aq] will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
24 “I tell you the solemn truth,[ar] the one who hears[as] my message[at] and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned,[au] but has crossed over from death to life.
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