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Jeremiah 37
And Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned as king, instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah. 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.
3 And 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 Elohim for us. 4 Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people; for they had not put him into prison. 5 And Pharaoh’s army had come forth out of Egypt; and when the Chaldeans that were besieging Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they broke up from Jerusalem.
6 Then came the word of Yahweh to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, 7 In this manner says Yahweh, the Elohim of Israel, In this manner shall you say to the king of Judah, that sent you to me to inquire of me: Behold, Pharaoh’s army, which has come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land. 8 And the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city; and they shall take it, and burn it with fire. 9 In. this manner says Yahweh, Deceive not yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us; for they shall not depart. 10 For though you had struck the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet would they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire.
11 And it came to pass that, when 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 into the land of Benjamin, to receive his portion there, in the middle of the people. 13 And when he was in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the ward 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. 14 Then said Jeremiah, It is false; I am not falling away to the Chaldeans. But he listened not to him; so Irijah laid hold on Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes. 15 And 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.
16 When Jeremiah had come into the dungeon-house, and into the cells, and Jeremiah had remained there many days; 17 then Zedekiah the king sent, and brought him: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from Yahweh? And Jeremiah said, There is. He said also, You shall be delivered into the land of the king of Babylon. 18 Moreover Jeremiah said to king Zedekiah, In what have I sinned against you, or against your servants, or against this people, that you have put me in prison? 19 Where now are your prophets that prophesied to you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land? 20 And now hear, I pray you, O my Sovereign the king: let my supplication, I pray you, be presented before you, that you cause me not to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there. 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. In this manner Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.
Jeremiah 38
And 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, 2 In this manner says Yahweh, He that remains in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; but he that goes forth to the Chaldeans shall live, and his life shall be to him for a prey, and he shall live. 3 In this manner says Yahweh, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it. 4 Then the princes said to the king, Let this man, we pray you, be put to death; since he weakens the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words to them: for this man seeks not the welfare of this people, but the hurt. 5 And Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand; for the king is not he that can do anythingagainst you. 6 Then they took 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. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire.
7 Now when Ebed-melech 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,) 8 Ebed-melech went forth out of the king’s house, and spoke to the king, saying, 9 My Sovereign 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 sure to die in the place where he is, because of the famine; for there is no more bread in the city. 10 Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from here thirty men with you, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he dies. 11 So Ebedmelech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took front there rags and worn-out garments, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah. 12 And Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, Put now these rags and worn-out garments under your armholes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so. 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.
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 a thing; hide nothing from me. 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. 16 So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, As Yahweh lives, that made us this soul, I will not put you to death, neither will I give you into the hand of these men that seek your life.
17 Then said Jeremiah to Zedekiah, In this manner says Yahweh, the Elohim of hosts, the Elohim 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: 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. 19 And Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews that have fallen away to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me. 20 But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver you. Obey, I plead you, the voice of Yahweh, in that which I speak to you: so it shall be well with you, and your soul shall live. 21 But if you refuse to go forth, this is the word that Yahweh has shown me: 22 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, 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. 23 And 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.
24 Then said Zedekiah to Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words, and you shall not die. 25 But if the princes hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you, and say to you, Declare to us now what you have said to the king; hide it not from us, and we will not put you to death; also what the king said to you: 26 then you shall say to them, I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan’s house, to die there. 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. 28 So Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.
Jeremiah 39
And it came to pass when Jerusalem was taken, (in the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and besieged it; 2 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city,) 3 that all the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate, namely, Nergal-sharezer, Samgar-nebo, Sarsechim, Rab-saris, Nergal-sharezer, Rabmag, with all the rest of the princes of the king of Babylon.
4 And it came to pass 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. 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 Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; and he gave judgment upon him. 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. 7 Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon. 8 And the Chaldeans burned the king’s house, and the houses of the people, with fire, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem. 9 Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive into Babylon the residue of the people that remained in the city, the deserters also that fell away to him, and the residue of the people that remained. 10 But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the people, that had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.
11 Now Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, saying, 12 Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do to him even as he shall say to you. 13 So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard sent, and Nebushazban, Rab-saris and Nergal-sharezer, Rab-mag, and all the chief officers of the king of Babylon; 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 dwelt among the people.
15 Now the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the guard, saying, 16 Go, and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, In this manner says Yahweh of hosts, the Elohim of Israel: Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished before you in that day. 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. 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.
Jeremiah 40
The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, after that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah, that were carried away captive to Babylon. 2 And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said to him, Yahweh your Elohim pronounced this evil upon this place; 3 and Yahweh has brought it, and done according as he spoke: because you have sinned against Yahweh, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing has come upon you. 4 And now, behold, I loose you this day from the chains which are upon your hand. If it seems good to you to come with me into Babylon, come, and I will look well to you; but if it seems ill to you to come with me into Babylon, refuse: behold, all the land is before you; where it seems good and right to you to go, there go. 5 Now while he had not yet gone back, Go back then, said he, to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people; or go wherever it seems right to you to go. So the captain of the guard gave him food and a present, and let him go. 6 Then Jeremiah went to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah, and dwelt with him among the people that were left in the land.
7 Now when all the captains of the forces that were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed to him men, and women, and children, and of the poorest of the land, of them that were not carried away captive to Babylon; 8 then they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, namely, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men. 9 And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan swore to them and to their men, saying, Fear not to serve the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you. 10 As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah, to stand before the Chaldeans that shall come to us: but you, gather wine and summer fruits and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that you have taken. 11 Likewise when all the Jews that were in Moab, and among the children of Ammon, and in Edom, and that were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan; 12 then all the Jews returned out of all places where they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, to Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruits very much.
13 Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, 14 and said to him, Do you know that Baalis the king of the children of Ammon has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take your life? But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam believed them not. 15 Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying. Let me go, I pray you, and I will kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it: why should he take your life, that all the Jews that are gathered to you should be scattered, and the remnant of Judah perish? 16 But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, You shall not do this thing; for you speak falsely of Ishmael.
