3 For because of the anger of the this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, till He finally cast them out from His presence. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. The contemporary religious situation in Judah is described in Ezekiel 8. Siege and fall of Jerusalem (52:4–30) Cross references: ; Jeremiah 39:1-10 The siege of Jerusalem lasted from January 587 BCE to August 586 BCE (cf. ). Verse 4 Now it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and encamped against it; and they built a siege wall against it all around. "Ninth year...tenth month on the tenth day": reckoned to be January 15, 588 BCE, based on the calendar that begins the year in the spring (Nisan = March/April). Verse 6 And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land. "In the fourth month, in the ninth day": by modern reckoning, on July 18, 586 BC, so the siege against Jerusalem had lasted almost a full eighteen months. Verse 7 Then the city wall was broken through, and all the men of war fled and went out of the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden, even though the Chaldeans were near the city all around. And they went by way of the plain. Cross references: 2 Kings 25:4; Jeremiah 39:4; Ezekiel 12:12 "The plain": or "Arabah; the Jordan valley." Verse 8 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him. Cross reference: Jeremiah 39:5 "Plain": from the plural form of the Hebrew word , ʿaravah, "rift valley") refers to the sloping plains of the rift valley basin north of the Dead Sea, here specifically in west of the Jordan in the vicinity of Jericho. Verse 11 He also put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in bronze fetters, took him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death. Cross references: 2 Kings 25:7; Jeremiah 39:7 "Bronze fetters": or "shackles". Huey