Hope for Israel’s Royal Line

27In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, Evil-merodach ascended to the Babylonian throne. He was kind to*25:27a Hebrew He raised the head of. Jehoiachin and released him*25:27b As in some Hebrew manuscripts and Greek and Syriac versions (see also Jer 52:31); Masoretic Text lacks released him. from prison on April 2 of that year.*25:27c Hebrew on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This day was April 2, 561 b.c.; also see note on 25:1. 28He spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and gave him a higher place than all the other exiled kings in Babylon. 29He supplied Jehoiachin with new clothes to replace his prison garb and allowed him to dine in the king’s presence for the rest of his life. 30So the king gave him a regular food allowance as long as he lived.