Chapter 37 – Chapter 39

Chapter 37

CHAPTER 37

1 And king Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, reigned instead of Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, made king in the land of Judah:

2 But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, hearkened to the words of Jehovah, which he spake by the Prophet Jeremiah.

3 And king Zedekiah sent Jehucal, the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah the priest, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Pray now to Jehovah our God for us.

4 Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people, and they had not yet put him in the house of the prison;

5 And the army of Pharaoh had come forth from Egypt, and the Chaldeans besieging Jerusalem had heard of them and had gone from Jerusalem.

6 Then the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah the Prophet, saying, —

7 Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, who sent you to me to inquire of me, Behold, the army of Pharaoh, which has come forth for your aid, shall return to the land of Egypt;

8 And the Chaldeans shall return and fight against this city, and take it and burn it with fire.

9 Thus saith Jehovah, Deceive not yourselves, saying, Going the Chaldeans shall go away from us, for they shall not go away.

10 For were you to smite the whole army of the Chaldeans, who fight against you, and there remained of them wounded men, they would rise up, each from his tent, and burn this city with fire

11 And it was that after the army of the Chaldeans had gone up from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army,

12 Jeremiah went forth from Jerusalem, to go to the land of Benjamin, that he might withdraw himself there among the people.

13 When he was at the gate of Benjamin, the captain of the ward was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, who laid hold on Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Thou fallest away to the Chaldeans:

14 And Jeremiah said, It is false, I am not falling away to the Chaldeans; but he did not hearken to him. And Irijah laid hold on Jeremiah and brought him to the princes.

15 And the princes were incensed against Jeremiah, and smote him, and put him in the house of prison, in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for they made that the house of prison.

16 When Jeremiah came into the dungeon and into the cells, and had been there many days,

17 Then Zedekiah the king sent and took him out; and the king asked him privately and said, Is there a word from Jehovah? and Jeremiah said, There is: and he hath said, Into the hand of the king of Babylon shall thou be delivered.

18 And Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, What sin have I done against thee and thy servants and this people, that ye have delivered me into the house of prison?

19 And where are your prophets who have prophesied to you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you nor against this land?

20 And now hear, I pray thee, O lord my king; let my humble prayer be acceptable to thee, cause me not to return into the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I should die there.

21 And King Zedekiah commanded, and they put Jeremiah in the court of the prison, and gave him a crust of bread daily, from the street of the bakers, until all the bread of the city was consumed: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

Chapter 38

CHAPTER 38

1 And Shephatiah, the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah, the son of Pashur, and Jucal, the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur, the son Malchiah, heard the words which Jeremiah had spoken to all the people, saying, —

2 Thus saith Jehovah, He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, famine, or pestilence; but he who goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live; and his life shall be to him a prey, and he shall live.

3 Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, this city shall surely be delivered into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and they shall take it.

4 And the princes said to the king, Let this man, we pray thee, die; for he thus weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of the people, by speaking to them according to these words: for this man seeketh not the peace of this people but their ruin.

5 And King Zedekiah said to them, Behold, he is in your hands, for the king can do nothing against you.

6 And they took Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah, the son of Hammelech, which was in the court of the prison; and they let Jeremiah down with cords; and there was no water in the dungeon, but mire, and Jeremiah sunk in the mire.

7 Now Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, an eunuch, heard that they had east Jeremiah into the dungeon; and the king was sitting in the gate of Benjamin;

8 And Ebedmelech went forth from the king’s house and spake to the king, saying,

9 O lord my king, these men have acted wickedly, in all that they have done to Jeremiah the Prophet, in throwing him into the dungeon, where if left alone he must die with hunger; for there is no more bread in the city.

10 Then the king commanded Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Take with thee hence thirty men, and bring up Jeremiah the Prophet from the dungeon before he die.

11 And Ebedmelech took the men with him, and went into the king’s house, even to a place under the store-room, and took from thence rags torn and worn out, and let them down by cords to Jeremiah in the dungeon.

12 And Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, said to Jeremiah, Put now these torn and worn-out rags under thine arm-holes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so.

13 Then they drew up Jeremiah by the cords, and raised him up from the dungeon; and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

14 And King Zedekiah sent and took Jeremiah the Prophet with him to the third entrance, which is in the house of Jehovah; and the king said to Jeremiah, “I ask thee a word; hide not a word from me.”

15 And Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, If I tell thee, slaying, wilt thou not slay me? and if I give thee counsel thou wilt not hearken to me.

16 And Zedekiah the king swear to Jeremiah in secret, saying, Live doth Jehovah, who made us this soul, I will not slay thee, and I will not deliver thee unto the hand of those who seek thy life.

17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, If going thou wilt go forth unto the chiefs of the king of Babylon, live shall thy life, and this city shall not be burned with fire, but live shalt thou and thy house:

18 But if thou wilt not go forth to the chiefs of the king of Babylon, delivered shall be this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and burn it shall they with fire, and thou shalt not escape from their hand.

19 And King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, I fear the Jews who have gone over to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hands and reproach me.

20 Then Jeremiah said, They will not deliver thee: hearken, I pray thee, to the voice of Jehovah which I announce to thee, and it shall be well with thee, and live shall thy soul:

21 But if thou refuse to go forth, this is the word which Jehovah has shewn to me, —

22 Behold, even all the women who remain in the house of the king of Judah, shall go forth to the chiefs of the king of Babylon; and behold, they shall say, “Persuaded thee and prevailed over thee have thy familiar friends; fixed are thy feet in the mire, turned backward.”

23 And all thy wives and thy children shall they bring out to the Chaldeans, and thou shalt not escape from their hand, for by the hand of the king of Babylon shalt thou be taken, and this city wilt thou burn with fire.

24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words, and thou shalt not die:

25 But if the princes hear that I have spoken with thee, and come to thee and say to thee, Tell us now what thou hast spoken to the king, hide nothing from us, and we will not kill thee, and what the king hath said to thee;

26 Then shalt thou say to them, I humbly prayed the king that he would not make me to return to the house of Jonathan to die there.

27 And all the princes came to Jeremiah and asked him; and he told them according to those words which the king had commanded; and they said no more, for the conversation had not been heard.

28 And Jeremiah dwelt in the court of the prison to the day when Jerusalem was taken: and it happened according to what he had said that Jerusalem was taken.

Chapter 39

CHAPTER 39

1 In the ninth year of Zedekiah, the king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon and

2 All his army to Jerusalem, and besieged it; in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth of the month, the city was broken into;

3 And all the chiefs of the king of Babylon entered and sat in the middle gate, even Nergal-sharezar, Samgar-nebo, Sarsechim, Rab-saris, Nergal-sharezer, Rab-mag, and the rest of the chiefs of the king of Babylon.

4 And it was that when Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and all the men of war, saw them, they fled and went forth from the city by night, by the way of the king’s garden, through the gate between the two walls, and went forth by the way of the desert.

5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them, and took Zedekiah in the desert of Jericho; and they took him and brought him to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, to Riblah, in the land of Hamath, and he dealt judicially with him.

6 And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah at Riblah before his eyes; and all the nobles of Judah did the king of Babylon slay:

7 And he blinded the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with chains, to bring him to Babylon.

8 And the house of the king, and the houses of the people, the Chaldeans burned with fire, and the walls of Jerusalem they pulled down:

9 But the residue of the people who had remained in the city, and the deserters who had gone over to him, even the residue of the people who had been left, Nebuzar-adan, the prince of the executioners, removed to Babylon.

10 But the poor of the people, who had nothing, Nebuzar-adan, the prince of the executioners, left in the land of Judah, and gave them in that day vineyards and fields.

11 Now Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had given a charge respecting Jeremiah by Nebuzar-adan, the prince of the executioners, saying,

12 Take him, and set thine eyes on him, and do him no harm; but as he shall say to thee do thou to him.

13 And Nebuzar-adan, the prince of the executioners, sent, and Nebushasban, Rab-saris and Nergal-sharezar, Rab-mag, and all the chiefs of the king of Babylon,

14 Yea, they sent and took Jeremiah from the court of the prison, and delivered him to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to lead him home; and so he dwelt among the people.

15 But the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah when he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying,

16 Go and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold I bring my words on this city for evil and not for good; and they shall be before thy face that day:

17 But I will deliver thee in that day, saith Jehovah, and thou shalt not be delivered into the hand of the men, the face of whom thou fearest;

18 For I will surely rescue thee, by the sword thou shalt not fall, and thy life shall be for a prey to thee, because thou hast trusted in me, saith Jehovah.