2 Kings 25
1 Forsothe it was don in the nynthe yeer of his rewme, in the tenthe moneth, in the tenthe dai of the moneth, Nabugodonosor, kyng of Babiloyne, cam, he, and al his oost, in to Jerusalem; and thei cumpassiden it, and bildiden `stronge thingis in the cumpass therof.
On January 15 of the ninth year that Zedekiah had been ruling, King Nebuchadnezzar arrived with his whole army, and they surrounded Jerusalem. They built ramps [made of dirt against the walls of the city], so that they could climb up the ramps and attack the city.
2 And the citee was closid, and cumpassid, `til to the eleuenthe yeer of king Sedechie,
They did that for two years.
3 in the nynthe day of the monethe; and hungur `hadde maistrie in the citee, and `breed was not to the puple of the lond.
After Zedekiah had been ruling for eleven years, the (famine/shortage of food) had become very bad. All their food was gone.
4 And the citee was brokun, and alle men werriours fledden in the niyt bi the weie of the yate, which is bitwixe the double wal, to the gardyn of the kyng; sotheli Caldeis bisegiden the citee `bi cumpas. Therfor Sedechie fledde bi the weie that ledith to the feeldi placis of the wildirnesse;
On July 18 of that year, the Babylonian soldiers broke through part of the city wall, [and that enabled them to enter the city]. All the soldiers of Judah [wanted to escape]. But the Babylonian soldiers surrounded the city, so the [king and] the soldiers of Judah waited until it was nighttime. Then they fled through the gate that was between the two walls near the king’s park. They ran across the fields and started to go down to the Jordan [River] Valley.
5 and the oost of Caldeis pursuede the king, and it took him in the pleyn of Jerico; and alle the werriours, that weren with him, weren scaterid, and leften him.
But the Babylonian soldiers chased/ran after them. They caught the king when he was by himself in the valley near the Jordan River. He was by himself because all his soldiers had abandoned him.
6 Therfor thei ledden the king takun to the king of Babiloyne, in to Reblatha, which spak dom with him, `that is, with Sedechie.
The Babylonian soldiers took King Zedekiah to Riblah [city] in Babylon. There the king of Babylon decided what they would do to punish him.
7 Sotheli he killide the sones of Sedechie bifor him, and puttide out his iyen, and boond him with chaynes, and ledde him in to Babiloyne.
There the king of Babylon forced Zedekiah to watch as the Babylonian soldiers killed all of Zedekiah’s sons. Then they gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes. They put bronze chains on [his hands and feet] and then they took him to Babylon.
8 In the fifthe monethe, in the seuenthe dai of the monethe, thilke is the nyntenthe yeer of the king of Babiloyne, Nabuzardan, prince of the oost, seruaunt of the king of Babiloyne, cam in to Jerusalem;
On August 14 of that year, after Nebuchadnezzar had been ruling for 19 years, Nebuzaradan arrived in Jerusalem. He was one of king Nebuchadnezzar’s officials and captain of the men that guarded the king.
9 and he brente the hows of the Lord, and the hows of the king, and the housis of Jerusalem, and he brente bi fier ech hows;
He [commanded his soldiers to] burn down the temple of Yahweh, the king’s palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem. So they burned down all the important buildings in the city.
10 and al the oost of Caldeis, that was with the prince of knyytis, distriede the wallis of Jerusalem `in cumpas.
Then Nebuzaradan supervised all the soldiers of the Babylonian army as they tore down the walls of Jerusalem.
11 Forsothe Nabuzardan, prince of the chyyualrie, translatide the tother part of the puple, that dwellide in the citee, and the fleeris, that hadden fled ouer to the king of Babiloyne, and the residue comyn puple;
Then he and his soldiers took to Babylon the people who were still living in the city, the other people [who lived in that area], and the soldiers who had previously surrendered to the Babylonian army.
12 and he lefte of the pore men of the lond vyntilieris, and erthe tilieris.
But Nebuzaradan allowed some of the very poor people to stay in Judah to take care of the vineyards and [to plant crops in] the fields.
13 Sotheli Caldeis braken the brasun pilers, that weren in the temple, and the foundementis, and the see of bras, that was in the hous of the Lord; and thei translatiden al the metal in to Babiloyne.
The Babylonian soldiers broke into pieces the bronze pillars, the bronze carts with wheels, and the huge bronze basin, all of which were in the temple courtyard, and they took all the bronze to Babylon.
14 And thei token the pottis of bras, and trullis, and fleisch hokis, and cuppis, and morteris, and alle brasun vessels, in whiche thei mynystriden;
They also took the pots, the shovels, the instruments for (snuffing out/extinguishing) [the wicks of] the lamps, the dishes, and all the other bronze items that the Israeli priests had used for offering sacrifices at the temple.
15 also and censeris, and violis. The prince of the chyualrie took tho that weren of gold, and tho that weren of siluer,
The soldiers also took away the (firepans/trays for carrying burning coals), the basins, and [all the other] items made of pure gold or pure silver.
16 that is, twei pileris, o see, and the foundementis, whiche king Salomon hadde maad `in to the temple of the Lord; and no weiyte was of metal of alle the vessels.
The bronze from the two pillars, the carts with wheels, and the huge basin were very heavy; they could not be weighed. (Those things had been made/A man named Hiram had made these things) for the temple when Solomon [was the king of Israel].
17 O piler hadde eiyten cubitis of hiyte, and a brasun pomel on it of the heiyte of thre cubitis, and a werk lijk a net, and pomgarnadis on the pomel of the piler, alle thingis of bras; and the secounde piler hadde lijk ournyng.
Each of the pillars was (27 feet/8 meters) tall. The bronze capital/top of each pillar was (7-1/2 feet/2.3 meters) high. They were each decorated all around with something that looked like a net made of bronze chains connecting bronze pomegranates.
18 Also the prince of the chyualrie took Saraie, the firste preest, and Sophony, the secunde prest,
Nebuzaradan took with him to Babylon Seraiah the Supreme Priest, Zephaniah his assistant, and the three men who guarded the entrance [to the temple].
19 and thre porteris, and oon onest seruaunt of the citee, that was a souereyn ouer men werriours, and fyue men `of hem that stoden bifor the king, whiche he foond in the citee; and he took Sopher, the prince of the oost, that preuide yonge knyytis, `ether men able to batel, of the puple of the lond, and sixe men of the comyns, that weren foundyn in the citee;
And they found people who were still hiding in Jerusalem. From those people he took one officer from the Judean army, five of the king’s advisors, the chief secretary of the army commander who was in charge of recruiting men to join the army, and 60 other important Judean men.
20 whiche Nabuzardan, prince of the chyualrie, took, and ledde to the king of Babiloyne, in to Reblatha.
Nebuzaradan took them all to the king of Babylon at Riblah [city].
21 And the kyng of Babiloyne smoot hem, and killide hem in Reblatha, in the lond of Emath; and Juda was translatid fro his lond.
There at Riblah, in Hamath province, the king of Babylon commanded that they all be executed. That is what happened when the people of Judah were (taken forcefully/exiled) from their land [to Babylon].
22 Sotheli he made souereyn Godolie, sone of Aicham, sone of Saphan, to the puple that was left in the lond of Juda; which puple Nabugodonosor, king of Babiloyne, hadde left.
Then King Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah, who was the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, to be the governor of the people who were still living in Judah.
23 And whanne alle the duykis of knyytis hadde herd these thingis, thei, and the men that weren with hem, that is, that the king of Babiloyne hadde ordeyned Godolie, thei camen `to Godolie, in Maspha, Ismael, sone of Nathanye, and Johannan, sone of Charee, and Saraie, sone of Thenameth of Nechophat, and Jeconye, sone of Machati, thei, and Machat, and the felowis of hem.
When all the army captains of Judah and their soldiers who had not surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar found out that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah to be the governor, they met with him at Mizpah [town]. These army captains were Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Johanan the son of Kareah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth from Netophah [town], and Jaazaniah from the Maacah region.
24 And Godolie swoor to hem, and to the felowis of hem, and seide, Nyle ye drede to serue the Caldeis; dwelle ye in the lond, and serue ye the king of Babiloyne, and it schal be wel to you.
Gedaliah solemnly promised them [that the officials from Babylon were not planning to harm them]. He said, “You may live in this land [without being afraid] and serve the king of Babylon, and [if you do], everything will go well for you.”
25 Forsothe it was don in the seuenthe monethe, `that is, sithen Godolie was maad souereyn, Hismael, the sone of Nathanye, sone of Elysama, of the `kyngis seed, cam, and ten men with hym, and thei smytiden Godolie, which diede; but also thei smytiden Jewis and Caldeis, that weren with hym in Maspha.
But in October of that year, Ishmael, whose grandfather Elishama was one of the relatives of the descendants of King David, went to Mizpah along with ten other men and assassinated/killed Gedaliah and all the men who were with him. There were also men from Judah and men from Babylon whom they assassinated.
26 And al the puple roos fro litil `til to greet, and the prynces of knyytis, and camen in to Egipt, and dredden Caldeis.
Then many [HYP] of the people from Judah, important people and unimportant ones, and the army captains, were very afraid of [what] the Babylonians [would do to them], so they fled to Egypt.
27 Therfor it was doon in the seuenthe and threttithe yeer of transmigracioun, `ether passyng ouer, of Joakyn, kyng of Juda, in the tweluethe monethe, in the seuene and twentithe dai of the monethe, Euylmeradach, kyng of Babiloyne, in the yeer in which he bigan to regne, reiside the heed of Joakyn, kyng of Juda,
Thirty-seven years after King Jehoiachin of Judah was taken to Babylon, [Nebuchadnezzar’s son] Evil-Merodach became the king of Babylon. He was kind to Jehoiachin, and on April 2 of that year, he released/freed Jehoiachin from prison.
28 fro prisoun, and spak to hym benygneli; and he settide the trone of Joakyn aboue the trone of kyngis, that weren with hym in Babilonye.
He always spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and honored him more than the other kings who had been taken/exiled to Babylon.
29 And he chaungide `hise clothis, whiche he hadde in prisoun; and he eet breed euer in the siyt of Euylmeradach, in alle the daies of his lijf.
He gave Jehoiachin new clothes to replace the clothes that he had been wearing in prison, and he allowed Jehoiachin to eat at the king’s table every day for the rest of his life.
30 Also Euylmeradach ordeynede sustenaunce `to hym with out ceessyng; which sustenaunce also was youun of the kyng to hym bi alle daies, and in alle the daies of his lijf.
The king of Babylon also gave him money every day, so that he could buy the things that he needed. The king continued to do that until Jehoiachin died.
