Jeremiah 39

Chapter 39

Jerusalem Captured

¹¹Now when Jerusalem was captured ^2ain the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it;

²in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the city wall was ^abreached.

³Then all the ^aofficials of the king of Babylon came in and sat down at the ^bMiddle Gate: Nergal-sar-ezer, Samgar-nebu, Sar-sekim the ¹Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the ²Rab-mag, and all the rest of the officials of the king of Babylon.

⁴When Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, they ^afled and went out of the city at night by way of the king’s garden through the gate ^bbetween the two walls; and he went out toward the ¹Arabah.

⁵But the army of the ^aChaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the ^bplains of Jericho; and they seized him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at ^cRiblah in the land of Hamath, and he passed sentence on him.

⁶Then the ^aking of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah ^bbefore his eyes at Riblah; the king of Babylon also slew all the ^cnobles of Judah.

⁷He then ^ablinded Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him in ^bfetters of bronze to bring him to ^cBabylon.

⁸The Chaldeans also ^aburned with fire the king’s palace and the houses of the people, and they ^bbroke down the walls of Jerusalem.

⁹As for the rest of the people who were left in the city, the ^1adeserters who had gone over to him and ^bthe rest of the people who remained, ^cNebuzaradan the ^dcaptain of the bodyguard carried them into exile in Babylon.

¹⁰But some of the ^apoorest people who had nothing, Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard left behind in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields ¹at that time.

Jeremiah Spared

¹¹Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave orders about ^aJeremiah through Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, saying,

¹²“Take him and ¹look after him, and ^ado nothing harmful to him, but rather deal with him just as he tells you.”

¹³So Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard sent word, along with Nebushazban the ¹Rab-saris, and Nergal-sar-ezer the ²Rab-mag, and all the leading officers of the king of Babylon;

¹⁴they even sent and ^atook Jeremiah out of the court of the guardhouse and entrusted him to ^bGedaliah, the son of ^cAhikam, the son of Shaphan, to take him home. So he stayed among the people.

¹⁵Now the word of the Lord had come to Jeremiah while he was ^aconfined in the court of the guardhouse, saying,

¹⁶“Go and speak to ^aEbed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Behold, I am about to bring My words on this city ^bfor disaster and not for ¹prosperity; and they will ^ctake place before you on that day.

¹⁷“But I will ^adeliver you on that day,” declares the Lord, “and you will not be given into the hand of the men whom you dread.

¹⁸“For I will certainly rescue you, and you will not fall by the sword; but you will have your own ^alife as booty, because you have ^btrusted in Me,” declares the Lord.’ ”