¹⁰ At that time the officers of Nebuchadnezzar^(A) king of Babylon advanced on Jerusalem and laid siege to it, ¹¹ and Nebuchadnezzar himself came up to the city while his officers were besieging it. ¹² Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his attendants, his nobles and his officials all surrendered^(B) to him.

In the eighth year of the reign of the king of Babylon, he took Jehoiachin prisoner. ¹³ As the Lord had declared,^(C) Nebuchadnezzar removed the treasures^(D) from the temple of the Lord and from the royal palace, and cut up the gold articles^(E) that Solomon^(F) king of Israel had made for the temple of the Lord. ¹⁴ He carried all Jerusalem into exile:^(G) all the officers and fighting men,^(H) and all the skilled workers and artisans—a total of ten thousand. Only the poorest^(I) people of the land were left.

¹⁵ Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin^(J) captive to Babylon. He also took from Jerusalem to Babylon the king’s mother,^(K) his wives, his officials and the prominent people^(L) of the land.

¹⁰ In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and brought him to Babylon,^(A) together with articles of value from the temple of the Lord, and he made Jehoiachin’s uncle,^[a] Zedekiah, king over Judah and Jerusalem.

Two Baskets of Figs

24 After Jehoiachin^[a](A) son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and the officials, the skilled workers and the artisans of Judah were carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Lord showed me two baskets of figs^(B) placed in front of the temple of the Lord.

A Letter to the Exiles

29 This is the text of the letter^(A) that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.^{(B) 2} (This was after King Jehoiachin^[a](C) and the queen mother,^(D) the court officials and the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the skilled workers and the artisans had gone into exile from Jerusalem.)