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Jeremiah 52

Jeremiah 52 Summary, Context, and Full Chapter

Jeremiah 52 gives a final record of Jerusalem's collapse under Babylon. It describes Zedekiah's last days, the burning of the temple, the carrying away of Judah's people, and the later kindness shown to Jehoiachin in Babylon.

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What happens in Jeremiah 52?

This chapter recounts the end of Judah's kingdom under Zedekiah. Jerusalem is besieged, famine spreads, the city wall is broken, and Zedekiah is captured after trying to flee. His sons are killed, his eyes are put out, and he is taken to Babylon. The chapter then describes the destruction of the temple and royal buildings, the removal of sacred objects, and the exile of many leaders and people. It closes with a note of mercy: Jehoiachin is released from prison and given a place of honor at the Babylonian king's table.

Jeremiah 52 stands at the end of the book as a historical conclusion. It gathers the final events that fulfilled Jeremiah's warnings about judgment on Judah and Jerusalem. The chapter parallels material found in Kings and shows how the prophet's message came to pass in national disaster, exile, and the loss of temple life.

Themes to notice

  • Judgment fulfilledJerusalem's fall shows the warning of God through Jeremiah becoming history.
  • Temple lossThe destruction and plundering of the temple mark the collapse of Judah's center of worship.
  • Mercy after exileJehoiachin's release hints that even after judgment, God has not closed the future completely.

Questions for Jeremiah 52

  • What details in this chapter show the seriousness of Judah's rebellion and judgment?
  • Why does the chapter spend so much time describing the destruction and removal of temple items?
  • How does Jehoiachin's release at the end affect the overall tone of the chapter?

Read the full text of Jeremiah 52 below, then open it in the reader to highlight, take notes, or ask follow-up Bible questions. No account is required to read.

Jeremiah 52

The Fall of Jerusalem Recounted

1Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah.2And Zedekiah did evil in the sight of the LORD, just as Jehoiakim had done.3For because of the anger of the LORD, all this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until He finally banished them from His presence. And Zedekiah also rebelled against the king of Babylon.4So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army. They encamped outside the city and built a siege wall all around it.5And the city was kept under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year.

6By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so severe that the people of the land had no food.7Then the city was breached; and though the Chaldeans had surrounded the city, all the men of war fled the city by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden. They headed toward the Arabah,8but the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was separated from him.9The Chaldeans seized the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced judgment on Zedekiah.10There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also killed all the officials of Judah.11Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon, where he kept him in custody until his dying day.

The Temple Destroyed

12On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign over Babylon, Nebuzaradan captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem.13He burned down the house of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem—every significant building.14And the whole army of the Chaldeans under the captain of the guard broke down all the walls around Jerusalem.15Then Nebuzaradan captain of the guard carried into exile some of the poorest people and those who remained in the city, along with the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon and the rest of the craftsmen.16But Nebuzaradan captain of the guard left behind some of the poorest of the land to tend the vineyards and fields.

17Moreover, the Chaldeans broke up the bronze pillars and stands and the bronze Sea in the house of the LORD, and they carried all the bronze to Babylon.18They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes, and all the articles of bronze used in the temple service.19The captain of the guard also took away the basins, censers, sprinkling bowls, pots, lampstands, pans, and drink offering bowls—anything made of pure gold or fine silver.

20As for the two pillars, the Sea, the twelve bronze bulls under it, and the movable stands that King Solomon had made for the house of the LORD, the weight of the bronze from all these articles was beyond measure.21Each pillar was eighteen cubits tall and twelve cubits in circumference; each was hollow, four fingers thick.22The bronze capital atop one pillar was five cubits high, with a network of bronze pomegranates all around. The second pillar, with its pomegranates, was similar.23Each capital had ninety-six pomegranates on the sides, and a total of a hundred pomegranates were above the surrounding network.

Captives Carried to Babylon

24The captain of the guard also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of second rank, and the three doorkeepers.25Of those still in the city, he took a court official who had been appointed over the men of war, as well as seven trusted royal advisers. He also took the scribe of the captain of the army, who had enlisted the people of the land, and sixty men who were found in the city.26Nebuzaradan captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.27There at Riblah in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death. So Judah was taken into exile, away from its own land.

28These are the people Nebuchadnezzar carried away:

in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews;

29in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year, 832 people from Jerusalem;

30in Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty-third year, Nebuzaradan captain of the guard carried away 745 Jews.

So in all, 4,600 people were taken away.

Jehoiachin Released from Prison

31On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the first year of the reign of Evil-merodach king of Babylon, he pardoned Jehoiachin king of Judah and released him from prison.32And he spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and set his throne above the thrones of the other kings who were with him in Babylon.33So Jehoiachin changed out of his prison clothes, and he dined regularly at the king’s table for the rest of his life.34And the king of Babylon provided Jehoiachin a daily portion for the rest of his life, until the day of his death.

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