Jeremiah, starting at chapter 37
{37:1} Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned as king, instead of Coniah
the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in
the land of Judah. {37:2} But neither he, nor his servants, nor the
people of the land, did listen to the words of Yahweh, which he spoke
by the prophet Jeremiah. {37:3} Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son
of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to the
prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now to Yahweh our God for us. {37:4}
Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people; for they had not
put him into prison. {37:5} Pharaoh's army was come forth out of
Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news
of them, they broke up from Jerusalem. {37:6} Then came the word of
Yahweh to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, {37:7} Thus says Yahweh, the
God of Israel, You shall tell the king of Judah, who sent you to me to
inquire of me: Behold, Pharaoh's army, which is come forth to help
you, shall return to Egypt into their own land. {37:8} The Chaldeans
shall come again, and fight against this city; and they shall take it,
and burn it with fire. {37:9} Thus says Yahweh, Don't deceive
yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us; for
they shall not depart. {37:10} For though you had struck the whole
army of the Chaldeans who fight against you, and there remained but
wounded men among them, yes would they rise up every man in his tent,
and burn this city with fire. {37:11} It happened that, when the army
of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh's
army, {37:12} then Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go into the
land of Benjamin, to receive his portion there, in the midst of the
people. {37:13} When he was in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the
guard was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son
of Hananiah; and he laid hold on Jeremiah the prophet, saying, You are
falling away to the Chaldeans. {37:14} Then said Jeremiah, It is
false; I am not falling away to the Chaldeans. But he didn't listen to
him; so Irijah laid hold on Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes.
{37:15} The princes were angry with Jeremiah, and struck him, and put
him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe; for they had made
that the prison. {37:16} When Jeremiah was come into the dungeon
house, and into the cells, and Jeremiah had remained there many days;
{37:17} Then Zedekiah the king sent, and fetched him: and the king
asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from
Yahweh? Jeremiah said, There is. He said also, You shall be delivered
into the hand of the king of Babylon. {37:18} Moreover Jeremiah said
to king Zedekiah, Wherein have I sinned against you, or against your
servants, or against this people, that you have put me in prison?
{37:19} Where now are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, The
king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land?
{37:20} Now please hear, my lord the king: please let my supplication
be presented before you, that you not cause me to return to the house
of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there. {37:21} Then Zedekiah the
king commanded, and they committed Jeremiah into the court of the
guard; and they gave him daily a loaf of bread out of the bakers'
street, until all the bread in the city was spent. Thus Jeremiah
remained in the court of the guard.
{38:1} Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of
Pashhur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of
Malchijah, heard the words that Jeremiah spoke to all the people,
saying, {38:2} Thus says Yahweh, He who remains in this city shall die
by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; but he who goes
forth to the Chaldeans shall live, and his life shall be to him for a
prey, and he shall live. {38:3} Thus says Yahweh, This city shall
surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and
he shall take it. {38:4} Then the princes said to the king, Let this
man, we pray you, be put to death; because he weakens the hands of the
men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people,
in speaking such words to them: for this man doesn't seek the welfare
of this people, but the hurt. {38:5} Zedekiah the king said, Behold,
he is in your hand; for the king is not he who can do anything against
you. {38:6} Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of
Malchijah the king's son, that was in the court of the guard: and they
let down Jeremiah with cords. In the dungeon there was no water, but
mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire. {38:7} Now when Ebedmelech the
Ethiopian, a eunuch, who was in the king's house, heard that they had
put Jeremiah in the dungeon (the king then sitting in the gate of
Benjamin), {38:8} Ebedmelech went forth out of the king's house, and
spoke to the king, saying, {38:9} My lord the king, these men have
done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom
they have cast into the dungeon; and he is likely to die in the place
where he is, because of the famine; for there is no more bread in the
city. {38:10} Then the king commanded Ebedmelech the Ethiopian,
saying, Take from hence thirty men with you, and take up Jeremiah the
prophet out of the dungeon, before he dies. {38:11} So Ebedmelech took
the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the
treasury, and took there rags and worn-out garments, and let them down
by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah. {38:12} Ebedmelech the
Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, Put now these rags and worn-out garments
under your armpits under the cords. Jeremiah did so. {38:13} So they
drew up Jeremiah with the cords, and took him up out of the dungeon:
and Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard. {38:14} Then Zedekiah
the king sent, and took Jeremiah the prophet to him into the third
entry that is in the house of Yahweh: and the king said to Jeremiah, I
will ask you something. Hide nothing from me. {38:15} Then Jeremiah
said to Zedekiah, If I declare it to you, will you not surely put me
to death? and if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me.
{38:16} So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, As
Yahweh lives, who made us this soul, I will not put you to death,
neither will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life.
{38:17} Then said Jeremiah to Zedekiah, Thus says Yahweh, the God of
Armies, the God of Israel: If you will go forth to the king of
Babylon's princes, then your soul shall live, and this city shall not
be burned with fire; and you shall live, and your house. {38:18} But
if you will not go forth to the king of Babylon's princes, then shall
this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn
it with fire, and you shall not escape out of their hand. {38:19}
Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews who are
fallen away to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand,
and they mock me. {38:20} But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver
you. Obey, I beg you, the voice of Yahweh, in that which I speak to
you: so it shall be well with you, and your soul shall live. {38:21}
But if you refuse to go forth, this is the word that Yahweh has shown
me: {38:22} behold, all the women who are left in the king of Judah's
house shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon's princes, and
those women shall say, Your familiar friends have set you on, and have
prevailed over you: [now that] your feet are sunk in the mire, they
are turned away back. {38:23} They shall bring out all your wives and
your children to the Chaldeans; and you shall not escape out of their
hand, but shall be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon: and you
shall cause this city to be burned with fire. {38:24} Then said
Zedekiah to Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words, and you shall
not die. {38:25} But if the princes hear that I have talked with you,
and they come to you, and tell you, Declare to us now what you have
said to the king; don't hide it from us, and we will not put you to
death; also what the king said to you: {38:26} then you shall tell
them, I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not
cause me to return to Jonathan's house, to die there. {38:27} Then
came all the princes to Jeremiah, and asked him; and he told them
according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they left
off speaking with him; for the matter was not perceived. {38:28} So
Jeremiah abode in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem
was taken.
{39:1} It happened when Jerusalem was taken, (in the ninth year of
Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadnezzar king
of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and besieged it; {39:2}
in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day
of the month, a breach was made in the city), {39:3} that all the
princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate,
[to wit], Nergal Sharezer, Samgarnebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris, Nergal
Sharezer, Rabmag, with all the rest of the princes of the king of
Babylon. {39:4} It happened that, when Zedekiah the king of Judah and
all the men of war saw them, then they fled, and went forth out of the
city by night, by the way of the king's garden, through the gate
between the two walls; and he went out toward the Arabah. {39:5} But
the army of the Chaldeans pursued after them, and overtook Zedekiah in
the plains of Jericho: and when they had taken him, they brought him
up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath;
and he gave judgment on him. {39:6} Then the king of Babylon killed
the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes: also the king of
Babylon killed all the nobles of Judah. {39:7} Moreover he put out
Zedekiah's eyes, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon.
{39:8} The Chaldeans burned the king's house, and the houses of the
people, with fire, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem. {39:9} Then
Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive into Babylon
the residue of the people who remained in the city, the deserters also
who fell away to him, and the residue of the people who remained.
{39:10} But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poor of
the people, who had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them
vineyards and fields at the same time. {39:11} Now Nebuchadnezzar king
of Babylon commanded Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard concerning
Jeremiah, saying, {39:12} Take him, and look well to him, and do him
no harm; but do to him even as he shall tell you. {39:13} So
Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard sent, and Nebushazban, Rabsaris,
and Nergal Sharezer, Rabmag, and all the chief officers of the king of
Babylon; {39:14} they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the
guard, and committed him to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of
Shaphan, that he should carry him home: so he lived among the people.
{39:15} Now the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, while he was shut up
in the court of the guard, saying, {39:16} Go, and speak to Ebedmelech
the Ethiopian, saying, Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel:
Behold, I will bring my words on this city for evil, and not for good;
and they shall be accomplished before you in that day. {39:17} But I
will deliver you in that day, says Yahweh; and you shall not be given
into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid. {39:18} For I will
surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but your life
shall be for a prey to you; because you have put your trust in me,
says Yahweh.
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