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commandment, he reproached the Jews for disobeying God and for not even trusting the Father who created them as these did. Jeremiah the prophet, having gone out to a city of Benjamin to buy a field, was arrested by a certain Irijah, was handed over to Zedekiah, and was cast into prison. There, while prophesying the things that would happen to the city and the nation, he was thrown into a pit. The Ethiopian Ebed-melech, a servant of Zedekiah, took him out of the pit, after persuading the king. Zedekiah, having been brought to him and having learned something from him for salvation, did not obey. And he was kept in the court until the city was taken. From the fourth book of Kings, concerning the complete captivity of Zedekiah and of the Jews left behind under Jehoiakim, and of the sacred house of the Lord and the desolation of Jerusalem. And it came to pass in the ninth year of the reign of Zedekiah, in the tenth month, on the eleventh day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and 267 all his force, to Jerusalem, and encamped against it, and built a wall against it round about. And the city was under siege until the eleventh year of king Zedekiah, on the ninth day of the month. And the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land. And the city was broken into, and the king and all the men of war went out by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which is by the king's garden, and the Chaldeans were against the city round about to the west toward Jericho, and they went the way of the Arabah. And the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the desert of Jericho. And all his army was scattered from him. And they captured the king and brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and he was judged with words against him. And he slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he blinded the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in fetters, and brought him to Babylon. And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month (this was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar), Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, who stood before the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem, and he burned the house of the Lord and the house of the king and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every house he burned with fire. And the army of the Chaldeans broke down the wall of Jerusalem round about. The captain of the guard and the remnant of the people that were left in the city and the deserters, who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the support he carried away, and from the poor of the land he left some for vinedressers and for farmers. And the bronze pillars that were in the house of the Lord and the bases and the bronze sea that was in the house of the Lord the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and they carried away their bronze, the pots and the lamps and the garments and the bowls and the incense pans and all the bronze vessels, in which they ministered, they took, and the firepans and the golden bowls and the silver bowls the captain of the guard took, two pillars, the one sea and the bases, which Solomon made for the house of the Lord. There was no weight of the bronze of the vessels; and so on.

268 These things are in the 4th book of Kings. But at the end of the 2nd book of Chronicles concerning the 70 years of captivity it says thus. And they were his and his sons' slaves until the reign of the Persians and Medes, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, until the land should enjoy its sabbaths, to keep sabbath for the completion of 70 years. Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, a servant of Nebuchadnezzar, having burned the temple in Jerusalem and the royal palace, and the dwellings of the powerful and of the rest, led away the notable men to Nebuchadnezzar, who were also killed by him. He left certain poor people in Judea for the purpose of agriculture, having appointed Gedaliah as their governor. But Jeremiah, although urged by him, if he wished to depart with him and be deemed worthy of honor,

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ἐντολήν, τοὺς Ἰουδαίους ὠνείδιζεν ἀπειθοῦντας τῷ θεῷ καὶ μηδὲ κἂν ὡς οὗτοι τῷ πατρὶ πεποιθομένους τῷ κτίσαντι. Ἱερεμίας ὁ προφήτης ἐξελθὼν εἰς πόλιν Βενιαμὶν ὠνήσασθαι ἀγρὸν συνελήφθη ὑπό τινος Ἱερούα, τῷ Σεδεκίᾳ τε παρεδόθη καὶ εἰς τὴν φυλακὴν καθείρχθη. ἔνθα προφητεύων τὰ τῇ πόλει καὶ τῷ ἔθνει συμβησό μενα εἰς λάκκον ἐνεβλήθη. τοῦτον ὁ Αἰθίοψ Ἀβδεμέλεχ οἰκεῖος Σεδεκίου ἀνείλατο τοῦ λάκκου, δυσωπήσας τὸν βασιλέα. τούτῳ προσαχθεὶς Σεδεκίας καί τινα μαθὼν παρ' αὐτοῦ πρὸς σωτηρίαν οὐχ ὑπήκουσεν. ἦν δὲ φυλαττόμενος ἐν τῇ αὐλῇ ἕως ὅταν ἡ πόλις ἥλω. Τὰ τῆς τετάρτης τῶν βασιλειῶν περὶ τῆς τελείας αἰχμαλωσίας Σεδεκίου καὶ τῶν καταλειφθέντων ἐπὶ Ἰωακεὶμ Ἰουδαίων καὶ ἱερῶν οἴκου κυρίου καὶ ἐρημώσεως Ἱερουσαλήμ. Καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ ἔτει τῷ θʹ τῆς βασιλείας Σεδεκίου ἐν τῷ μηνὶ τῷ ιʹ, ιαʹ τοῦ μηνὸς, ἦλθε Ναβουχοδονόσωρ ὁ βασιλεὺς Βαβυλῶνος, αὐτὸς καὶ 267 πᾶσα ἡ δύναμις αὐτοῦ εἰς Ἱερουσαλήμ, καὶ παρενέβαλεν ἐπ' αὐτήν, καὶ ᾠκοδόμησεν ἐπ' αὐτὴν περίτειχος κύκλῳ. καὶ ἦλθεν ἡ πόλις εἰς περιοχὴν ἕως τοῦ ιαʹ ἔτους βασιλέως Σεδεκίου, θʹ τοῦ μηνός. καὶ ἐνίσχυσεν ὁ λιμὸς ἐν τῇ πόλει καὶ οὐκ ἦσαν ἄρτοι τῷ λαῷ τῆς γῆς. καὶ ἐρράγη ἡ πόλις καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ πάντες οἱ ἄνδρες τοῦ πολέμου νυκτὸς ἐξῆλθον ὁδὸν πύλης τῆς ἀνὰ μέσον δύο τειχέων, αὕτη ἐστὶ τοῦ κήπου τοῦ βασιλέως, καὶ οἱ Χαλδαῖοι ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν κύκλῳ κατὰ δυσμὰς κατὰ Ἱεριχῶ, καὶ ἐπορεύθησαν ὁδὸν τὴν Ἀραβά. καὶ ἐδίωξεν ἡ δύναμις τῶν Χαλδαίων ὁπίσω τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ κατέλαβον αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ Ἱεριχῶ. καὶ πᾶσα ἡ δύναμις αὐτοῦ διεσπάρη ἐπάνωθεν αὐτοῦ. καὶ συνέλαβον τὸν βασιλέα καὶ ἤγαγον αὐτὸν πρὸς βασιλέα Βαβυλῶνος εἰς Ὀβλαθά, καὶ ἐκρίθη πρὸς αὐτὸν λόγοις. καὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς Σεδεκίου ἔσφαξε κατ' ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτοῦ, καὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς Σεδεκίου ἐξετύφλωσε, καὶ ἔδησεν αὐτὸν ἐν πέδαις, καὶ ἤγαγεν αὐτὸν εἰς Βαβυλῶνα. καὶ ἐν τῷ μηνὶ τῷ εʹ ἑβδόμῃ τοῦ μηνὸς (αὐτὸς ἐνιαυτὸς ιθʹ τοῦ Ναβουχοδονόσωρ) ἦλθε Ναβουζαρδὰν ἀρχιμάγειρος ἑστὼς ἐνώπιον βασιλέως Βαβυλῶνος εἰς Ἱερουσαλήμ, καὶ ἐνέπρησε τὸν οἶκον κυρίου καὶ τὸν οἶκον τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ πάντας τοὺς οἴκους Ἱερουσαλήμ, καὶ πάντα οἶκον ἐνέπρησεν ἐν πυρί. καὶ τὸ τεῖχος Ἱερουσαλὴμ κατέλυσε κύκλῳ ἡ δύναμις Χαλδαίων. ὁ ἀρχιμάγειρος καὶ τὸ περισσὸν τοῦ λαοῦ τὸ καταλειφθὲν ἐν τῇ πόλει καὶ τοὺς ἐμπεπτωκότας, οἳ ηὐτομόλησαν πρὸς βασιλέα Βαβυλῶνος, καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν τοῦ στηρίγματος μετῆρεν, καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν πτωχῶν τῆς γῆς ὑπέλιπεν εἰς ἀμπελουργοὺς καὶ εἰς γεωργούς. καὶ τοὺς στύλους τοὺς χαλκοῦς τοὺς ἐν οἴκῳ κυρίου καὶ τοὺς μεχωνὼθ καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν τὴν χαλκῆν τὴν ἐν οἴκῳ κυρίου συνέτριψαν οἱ Χαλδαῖοι, καὶ ἦραν τὸν χαλκὸν αὐτῶν, τοὺς λέβητας καὶ τοὺς λαμπτῆρας καὶ τὰ ἱμάτια καὶ τὰς φιάλας καὶ τὰς θυΐσκας καὶ πάντα τὰ σκεύη τὰ χαλκᾶ, ἐν οἷς λειτουργοῦσιν ἐν αὐτοῖς, ἔλαβον, καὶ τὰ πυρία καὶ τὰς φιάλας τὰς χρυσᾶς καὶ τὰς ἀργυρᾶς ἔλαβεν ὁ ἀρχιμάγειρος, στύλους δύο, τὴν θάλασσαν τὴν μίαν καὶ τὰς βάσεις, ἃς ἐποίησε Σαλομὼν τῷ οἴκῳ κυρίου. οὐκ ἦν σταθμὸς τοῦ χαλκοῦ τῶν σκευῶν· καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς.

268 Ταῦτα μὲν ἐν τῇ δʹ τῶν βασιλειῶν. ἐν δὲ τῷ τέλει τῆς βʹ τῶν Παρα λειπομένων περὶ τῶν οʹ ἐτῶν τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας οὕτως φησί. Καὶ ἦσαν αὐτῷ καὶ τοῖς υἱοῖς αὐτοῦ εἰς δούλους ἕως βασιλείας Περσῶν καὶ Μήδων τοῦ πληρωθῆναι λόγον κυρίου διὰ στόματος τοῦ Ἱερεμίου ἕως τοῦ προσδέξασθαι τὴν γῆν τὰ σάββατα αὐτῆς σαββατίσαι εἰς συμπλή ρωσιν ἐτῶν οʹ. Ναβουζαρδὰν ὁ ἀρχιμάγειρος δοῦλος τοῦ Ναβουχοδονόσωρ ἐμπρήσας τὸν ἐν Ἱερουσαλὴμ ναὸν καὶ τὰ βασίλεια, τὰ σκηνώματά τε τῶν δυναστῶν καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν, τοὺς ἐπισήμους ἀπήγαγε πρὸς Ναβουχοδονόσωρ, οἳ καὶ ἀνῃρέθησαν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ. οὗτος πένητάς τινας κατέλιπεν ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ προφάσει γεωργίας ἡγεμόνα αὐτοῖς καταστήσας τὸν Γοδολίαν. Ἱερεμίας δὲ καίτοι προτραπεὶς ὑπ' αὐτοῦ, εἰ βούλοιτο συναπελθεῖν καὶ τιμῆς ἀξιωθῆναι,