*And aking Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of bConiah the son of Jehoiakim, acwhom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah. 2 dBut neither he, dnor his servants, nor the people of the land, did hearken unto the words of the Lord, which he spake †by the prophet Jeremiah. 3 And Zedekiah the king sent eJehucal the son of efShelemiah and gZephaniah the son of hMaaseiah the priest to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now unto the Lord our God for us. 4 Now Jeremiah icame in and went out among the people: kfor they had not put him into prison. 5 Then lPharaoh’s army was come forth out of Egypt: and when the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of them, mthey departed from Jerusalem.

6 Then came the word of the Lord unto the prophet Jeremiah, saying, 7 Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, nthat sent you unto me to inquire of me; Behold, oPharaoh’s army, which is come forth to help you, oshall return to Egypt into their own land. 8 And pthe Chaldeans shall come again, and pfight against this city, and ptake it, and prburn it with fire. 9 Thus saith the Lord; Deceive not †yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us: for they shall not depart. 10 qFor though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but †wounded men among them, yet should they rise up every man in his tent, and rburn this city with fire.

11 And it came to pass, that swhen the army of the Chaldeans was †broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh’s army, 12 Then Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go tinto the land of Benjamin, ||to separate himself thence uin the midst of the people. 13 And when he was vin the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the ward was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of fShelemiah, the son of wHananiah; and he took Jeremiah the prophet, saying, xThou fallest away to the Chaldeans. 14 Then said Jeremiah, It is †false; I fall not away to the Chaldeans. But he hearkened not to him: so Irijah took Jeremiah, and brought him to ythe princes. 15 Wherefore the princes were wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him, and zput him in prison in athe house of Jonathan the scribe: for they had made that the prison.

16 *When Jeremiah was entered into bthe dungeon, and into the ||cabins, and Jeremiah had remained there many days; 17 Then Zedekiah the king sent, and ctook him out: and the king asked him dsecretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from the Lord? And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said he, ethou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon. 18 Moreover Jeremiah said unto king Zedekiah, What have I offended against thee, or against thy servants, or against this people, that ye have put me in prison? 19 fWhere are now your prophets which prophesied unto you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land? 20 Therefore hear now, I pray thee, O my lord the king: †glet my supplication, I pray thee, be accepted before thee; gthat thou cause me not to return to athe house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there. 21 Then Zedekiah the king commanded that they should commit Jeremiah hinto the court of the prison, and that they should give him daily ia piece of bread out of the bakers’ street, kuntil all the bread in the city were spent. Thus Jeremiah remained hin the court of the prison.

38 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, 2 Thus 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. 3 Thus saith the Lord, eThis city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, fwhich shall take it. 4 Therefore 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. 5 Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand: for ithe king is not he that can do any thing against you. 6 Then 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.

7 Now 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; 8 oEbed-melech went forth out of the king’s house, and spake to the king, saying, 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 like to die for hunger sin the place where he is: for tthere is no more bread in the city. 10 Then 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. 11 So 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. 12 And 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. 13 So they drew up Jeremiah wwith cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

14 Then 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. 15 Then 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? 16 So 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. 17 Then 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 burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house: 18 But 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. 19 And 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. 20 But 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. 21 But if thou refuse bto go forth, this is the word that the Lord hath shewed me: 22 And, 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. 23 So 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 burned with fire.

24 Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words, and thou shalt not die. 25 But 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: 26 Then 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. 27 Then 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. 28 sSo Jeremiah abode tin the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken: and he was there when Jerusalem was taken.

39 *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. 2 *And in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, the city was broken up. 3 And 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. 4 And 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. 5 But 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. 6 Then 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. 7 Moreover he lput out Zedekiah’s eyes, and bound him †with chains, to carry him to Babylon.

8 And mthe Chaldeans burned the king’s house, and the houses of the people, with fire, and brake down