📍 Distance: ~1,500 km (930 miles)
📜 Route: Jerusalem → Babylon (modern Iraq) & Return to Jerusalem
⚖️ Details: The Babylonian Exile took the Israelites from Jerusalem to Babylon, but after 70 years, they returned under Persian rule to rebuild their homeland.
Jerusalem (Before Exile)
The people of Judah were warned by prophets but continued in disobedience.
2 Kings 24:10-11 - "At that time the officers of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon advanced on Jerusalem and laid siege to it."
Riblah
King Zedekiah was captured, blinded, and taken as a prisoner.
2 Kings 25:6-7 - "They took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where they pronounced sentence on him."
Babylon (Exile Begins)
The Jews were taken into exile, leaving Jerusalem in ruins.
2 Kings 25:11 - "Nebuzaradan carried into exile the people who remained in the city."
Susa (Persian Empire)
Esther and Nehemiah later lived here under Persian rule.
Nehemiah 1:1 - "The words of Nehemiah... in the citadel of Susa."
Return to Jerusalem
Under King Cyrus, the Jews were allowed to return and rebuild the Temple.
Ezra 1:3 - "Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem... and build the temple of the Lord."