Jeremiah 38–39

Then Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and ^aJucal the son of Shelemiah, and ^bPashur the son of Malchiah, heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken ^cunto all the people, saying, ²Thus saith the Lord, ^dHe that remaineth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: ^dbut he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life for a prey, and shall live. ³Thus saith the Lord, ^eThis city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, ^fwhich shall take it. ⁴Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, ^glet this man be put to death: for thus ^hhe weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt. ⁵Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand: for ⁱthe king is not he that can do any thing against you. ⁶Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into ^kthe dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was ^lin the court of the prison: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And ^min the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah ⁿsunk in the mire.

⁷Now when ^oEbed-melech ^pthe Ethiopian, one of ^qthe eunuchs which was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon; the king then sitting ^rin the gate of Benjamin; ^8oEbed-melech went forth out of the king’s house, and spake to the king, saying, ⁹My 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 like to die for hunger ^sin the place where he is: for ^tthere is no more bread in the city. ¹⁰Then the king commanded ^oEbed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from hence thirty men with thee, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die. ¹¹So ^oEbed-melech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took thence old cast ^uclouts and old rotten rags, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah. ¹²And ^oEbed-melech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, Put now these old cast clouts and rotten rags under thine ^varmholes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so. ¹³So they drew up Jeremiah ^wwith cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

¹⁴Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him into the third entry that is in the house of the Lord: and the king said unto Jeremiah, I will ask thee a thing; hide nothing from me. ¹⁵Then Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, If I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death? and if I give thee counsel, wilt thou not hearken unto me? ¹⁶So Zedekiah the king sware ^xsecretly unto Jeremiah, saying, ^yAs the Lord liveth, ^zthat made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee into the hand of ^athese men that seek thy life. ¹⁷Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; If thou wilt assuredly ^bgo forth ^cunto the king of Babylon’s princes, then ^dthy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burnt with fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house: ¹⁸but ^bif thou wilt not go forth ^cto the king of Babylon’s princes, then ^eshall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, ^eand they shall burn it with fire, and ^fthou shalt not escape out of their hand. ¹⁹And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews ^gthat are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they ^hmock me. ²⁰But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver thee. ^dObey, I beseech thee, the voice of the Lord, which I speak unto thee: so ⁱit shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live. ²¹But if thou refuse ^bto go forth, this is the word that the Lord hath shewed me: ²²and, behold, all the women that 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, Thy friends ^khave set thee on, and ^lhave prevailed against thee: thy feet ^mare sunk in the mire, and ⁿthey are turned away back. ²³So they shall bring out all thy wives and ^othy children to the Chaldeans: and ^fthou shalt not escape out of their hand, but shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon: and ^ethou shalt cause this city to be burnt with fire.

²⁴Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words, and thou shalt not die. ²⁵But ^pif the princes hear that I have talked with thee, and they come unto thee, and say unto thee, Declare unto us now what thou hast said unto the king, hide it not from us, and we will not put thee to death; also what the king said unto thee: ²⁶then thou shalt say unto them, ^qI presented my supplication before the king, that ^rhe would not cause me to return to Jonathan’s house, to die there. ²⁷Then came all the princes unto 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. ^28sSo Jeremiah abode ^tin the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken: and he was there when Jerusalem was taken.

XXXIX.^aIn the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and they besieged it. ²And in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, the city was broken up. ³And ^ball the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and ^csat in the middle gate, even Nergal-sharezer, Samgar-nebo, Sarsechim, ^dRab-saris, Nergal-sharezer, ^eRab-mag, with all the residue of the princes of the king of Babylon. ⁴And it came to pass, that ^fwhen Zedekiah the king of Judah saw them, and all the men of war, then they fled, and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the king’s garden, by the gate betwixt the two walls: and he went out the way of the plain. ⁵But the Chaldeans’ army 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 ^gRiblah in the land of Hamath, where ^hhe gave judgment upon him. ⁶Then the king of Babylon slew ⁱthe sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes: ^kalso the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah. ⁷Moreover he ^lput out Zedekiah’s eyes, and bound him with chains to carry him to Babylon.

⁸And ^mthe Chaldeans burnt the king’s house, and the houses of the people, with fire, and brake down the walls of Jerusalem. ⁹Then Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carried away captive into Babylon the remnant of the people that remained in the city, and ⁿthose that fell away, that fell to him, with the rest of the people that remained. ¹⁰But Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard left ^oof the poor of the people, which had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.

¹¹Now Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard, saying, ¹²Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee. ¹³So Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard sent, and Nebushasban, ^dRab-saris, and Nergal-sharezer, ^eRab-mag, and all the king of Babylon’s princes; ¹⁴even they sent, and ^ptook Jeremiah out of the court of the prison, and ^qcommitted him unto ^rGedaliah the son of ^sAhikam the son of Shaphan, that he should carry him home: so he dwelt ^tamong the people.

¹⁵Now the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, ^pwhile he was ^ushut up in the court of the prison, saying, ¹⁶Go and speak to ^vEbed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, ^wI will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not ^xfor good; and they shall be accomplished in that day before thee. ¹⁷But I will deliver thee in that day, saith the Lord: and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men ^yof whom thou art afraid. ¹⁸For I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but ^zthy life shall be for a prey unto thee: ^abecause thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the Lord.

XL.