5. The Babylonian army pursued them and caught up with Zedekiah in the plain of Jericho. They arrested him and brought him to Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah in the territory of Hamath. The king of Babylon passed sentence on him.
6. The king of Babylon slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons as Zedekiah watched at Riblah. He also slaughtered all the leaders of Judah.
7. Then he blinded Zedekiah, put him in bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon.
8. The Babylonians burned down the royal palace and the people’s homes, and they tore down the walls of Jerusalem.
9. Nebuzaradan, Babylon’s captain of the guard, captured the few people left in the city, those who surrendered to him, and the rest of the people.
10. But Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, left some poor people who had nothing in the land of Judah. At that time he gave them vineyards and farms.
11. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon gave Nebuzaradan an order concerning Jeremiah. He said,