Jeremiah Thrown into the Cistern

38 Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, Jucal the ^(A)son of Shelemiah, and ^(B)Pashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people, saying, ² “This is what the Lord says: ‘Anyone who ^(C)stays in this city will die by the ^(D)sword, by famine, or by plague; but anyone who surrenders to the Chaldeans will live and have his own ^(E)life as plunder, and stay alive.’ ³ This is what the Lord says: ‘This city will certainly be ^(F)handed over to the army of the king of Babylon and he will capture it.’” ⁴ Then the ^(G)officials said to the king, “Please have this man put to death, since he is ^[a](H)discouraging the men of war who are left in this city and ^[b]all the people, by speaking words like these to them; for this man ^(I)is not seeking the well-being of this people, but rather their harm.” ⁵ And King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your ^[c]hands; for the king ^(J)can do nothing against you.” ⁶ So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the ^(K)cistern of Malchijah the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guardhouse; and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. Now in the cistern there was no water but only ^(L)mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud. ⁷ But ^(M)Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a ^[d](N)eunuch, while he was in the king’s palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the cistern. Now the king was sitting at the ^(O)Gate of Benjamin; ⁸ and Ebed-melech went out from the king’s palace and spoke to the king, saying, ⁹ “My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet whom they have thrown into the cistern; and he will die right where he is because of the famine, for there is ^(P)no more bread in the city.” ¹⁰ Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take thirty men from here ^[e]under your authority and bring Jeremiah the prophet up from the cistern before he dies.” ¹¹ So Ebed-melech took the men under his ^[f]authority and went into the king’s palace to a place beneath the storeroom, and took from there worn-out clothes and worn-out rags, and let them down by ropes into the cistern to Jeremiah. ¹² Then Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Now put these worn-out clothes and rags under your armpits under the ropes”; and Jeremiah did so. ¹³ So they pulled Jeremiah out with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern, and Jeremiah stayed in the ^(Q)courtyard of the guardhouse.

Zedekiah Seeks an Answer from God

¹⁴ Then King Zedekiah ^(R)sent word and ^[g]had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance that is in the house of the Lord; and the king said to Jeremiah, “I am going to ^(S)ask you something; do not hide anything from me.” ¹⁵ And Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “^(T)If I tell you, will you not certainly put me to death? Besides, if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.” ¹⁶ But King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah in ^(U)secret, saying, “As the Lord lives, who made this ^[h](V)life for us, I certainly will not put you to death, nor will I hand you over to ^(W)these men who are seeking your ^[i]life.”

¹⁷ So Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord ^(X)God of armies, the ^(Y)God of Israel says: ‘If you will indeed ^(Z)surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then ^[j]you will live, this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will ^[k]survive. ¹⁸ But if you do ^(AA)not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city ^(AB)will be handed over to the Chaldeans; and they will burn it with fire, and ^(AC)you yourself will not escape from their hands.’” ¹⁹ Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am ^(AD)in fear of the Jews who have ^(AE)deserted to the Chaldeans, for they may hand me over to them, and they will ^(AF)abuse me.” ²⁰ But Jeremiah said, “They will not turn you over. Please ^[l](AG)obey the Lord in what I am saying to you, so that it may go ^(AH)well for you and ^[m](AI)you may live. ²¹ But if you keep refusing to surrender, this is the word which the Lord has shown me: ²² ‘Behold, all of the ^(AJ)women who have been left in the palace of the king of Judah are going to be brought out to the officers of the king of Babylon; and those women will say,

²³ They are also going to bring out all your wives and your ^(AK)sons to the Chaldeans, and ^(AL)you yourself will not escape from their hand, but will be seized by the hand of the king of Babylon, and ^(AM)this city will be burned with fire.’”

²⁴ Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no one know about these words, and you will not die. ²⁵ But if the ^(AN)officials hear that I have talked with you and come to you and say to you, ‘Tell us now what you said to the king and what the king said to you; do not hide it from us and we will not put you to death,’ ²⁶ then you are to say to them, ‘I was ^(AO)presenting my plea before the king, not to make me return to the house of Jonathan to die there.’” ²⁷ Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him. So he reported to them in accordance with all these words which the king had commanded; and they stopped speaking with him, since the ^[o]conversation had not been overheard. ²⁸ So Jeremiah ^(AP)stayed in the courtyard of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was captured.

Jerusalem Captured

39 ^[a]Now when Jerusalem was captured ^[b](A)in 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; ² in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the city wall was ^(B)breached. ³ Then all the ^(C)officials of the king of Babylon came in and sat down at the ^(D)Middle Gate: Nergal-sar-ezer, Samgar-nebu, Sar-sekim the ^[c]Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the ^[d]Rab-mag, and all the rest of the officials of the king of Babylon. ⁴ And when Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, they ^(E)fled and left the city at night by way of the king’s garden through the gate ^(F)between the two walls; and he went out toward the ^[e]Arabah. ⁵ But the army of the ^(G)Chaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the ^(H)plains of Jericho; and they took him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at ^(I)Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he ^[f]passed sentence on him. ⁶ Then the ^(J)king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah ^(K)before his eyes at Riblah; the king of Babylon also slaughtered all the ^(L)nobles of Judah. ⁷ He then ^(M)blinded Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him in ^(N)shackles of bronze to bring him to ^(O)Babylon. ⁸ The Chaldeans also ^(P)burned the king’s palace and the houses of the people with fire, and they ^(Q)tore down the walls of Jerusalem. ⁹ And as for the rest of the people who were left in the city, the ^(R)deserters who had deserted to him and ^(S)the rest of the people who remained, ^(T)Nebuzaradan the ^(U)captain of the bodyguard took them into exile in Babylon. ¹⁰ But some of the ^(V)poorest people, who had nothing, ^(W)Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard left behind in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields ^[g]at that time.

Jeremiah Spared

¹¹ Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave orders regarding ^(X)Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, saying, ¹² “Take him and ^[h]look after him, and ^(Y)do not do anything harmful to him, but rather deal with him just as he tells you.” ¹³ So Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard sent word, along with Nebushazban the ^[i]Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the ^[j]Rab-mag, and all the leading officers of the king of Babylon; ¹⁴ they even sent word and ^(Z)took Jeremiah out of the courtyard of the guardhouse and entrusted him to ^(AA)Gedaliah, the son of ^(AB)Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to take him home. So he stayed among the people.

¹⁵ Now the word of the Lord had come to Jeremiah while he was ^(AC)confined in the courtyard of the guardhouse, saying, ¹⁶ “Go and speak to ^(AD)Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, ‘This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Behold, I am going to bring My words on this city ^(AE)for disaster and not for ^[k]prosperity; and they will ^(AF)take place before you on that day. ¹⁷ But I will ^(AG)save you on that day,” declares the Lord, “and you will not be handed over to the men of whom you are afraid. ¹⁸ For I will assuredly rescue you, and you will not fall by the sword; but you will have your own ^(AH)life as plunder, because you have ^(AI)trusted in Me,” declares the Lord.’”

The Fall of Jerusalem

52 ^(A)Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was ^[a](B)Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of ^(C)Libnah. ² He did ^(D)evil in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with everything that ^(E)Jehoiakim had done. ³ For because of the ^(F)anger of the Lord this came about in Jerusalem and Judah, until He drove them out from His presence. And Zedekiah ^(G)revolted against the king of Babylon. ^4 (H)Now it came about in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, camped against it, and built a ^[b](I)bulwark all around ^[c]it. ^5 (J)So the city was under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. ⁶ On the ninth day of the ^(K)fourth month the ^(L)famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. ⁷ Then the city was ^(M)breached, and all the ^(N)warriors fled and left the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls which was by the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were ^[d](O)all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah. ⁸ But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and ^(P)overtook Zedekiah in the ^[e]desert plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. ⁹ Then they captured the king and ^(Q)brought him up to the king of Babylon at ^(R)Riblah in the land of ^(S)Hamath, and he ^[f]passed sentence on him. ¹⁰ And the king of Babylon ^(T)slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also slaughtered all the commanders of Judah in Riblah. ¹¹ Then he ^(U)blinded the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him with bronze shackles and brought him to Babylon and put him in prison until the day of his death.

^12 (V)Now on the tenth day of the fifth month, which was the ^(W)nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, ^(X)Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, who ^[g]was in the service of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. ¹³ And he ^(Y)burned the house of the Lord, the ^(Z)king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every large house he burned with fire. ¹⁴ So the entire army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard ^(AA)tore down all the walls around Jerusalem. ¹⁵ Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard ^(AB)took into exile some of the poorest of the people, the rest of the people who were left in the city, the ^(AC)deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen. ¹⁶ But ^(AD)Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and farmers.

¹⁷ Now the bronze ^(AE)pillars which belonged to the house of the Lord and the ^(AF)stands and the bronze ^[h](AG)sea, which were in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans smashed to pieces and carried all their bronze to Babylon. ¹⁸ They also took the ^(AH)pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the basins, the ^[i]pans, and all the bronze vessels which were used in temple service. ¹⁹ The captain of the guard also took the ^(AI)bowls, the firepans, the basins, the pots, the lampstands, the ^[j]pans, and the drink offering bowls, whatever was fine gold, and whatever was fine silver. ²⁰ The two pillars, the one ^[k]sea, and the twelve bronze bulls that were under ^[l]the sea, and the stands, which King Solomon had made for the house of the Lord—the bronze of all these vessels was ^(AJ)beyond weight. ²¹ As for the pillars, the ^(AK)height of each pillar was ^[m]eighteen cubits, and ^[n]it was twelve cubits in ^(AL)circumference and four fingers in thickness, and hollow. ²² Also, a ^(AM)capital of bronze was on top of it; and the height of each capital was ^[o]five cubits, with latticework and ^(AN)pomegranates on the capital all around, all of bronze. And the second pillar was like these, including pomegranates. ²³ There were ninety-six ^[p]exposed pomegranates; all ^(AO)the pomegranates numbered a hundred on the latticework all around.

²⁴ Then the captain of the guard took ^(AP)Seraiah the chief priest and ^(AQ)Zephaniah the second priest, with the three ^[q](AR)officers of the temple. ²⁵ He also took from the city one official who was overseer of the warriors, seven ^[r]of the ^(AS)king’s advisers who were found in the city, the scribe of the commander of the army who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men from the people of the land who were found inside the city. ²⁶ Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguards took them and ^(AT)brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. ²⁷ Then the king of Babylon ^(AU)struck them and put them to death in Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was ^(AV)led into exile from its land.

²⁸ These are the people whom ^(AW)Nebuchadnezzar took into exile: in the ^[s]seventh year 3,023 Jews; ²⁹ in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar 832 persons from Jerusalem; ³⁰ in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, ^(AX)Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took into exile 745 Jewish people; there were 4,600 people in all.

^31 (AY)Now it came about in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth of the month, that ^[t]Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, ^[u](AZ)showed favor to Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison. ^32 (BA)Then he spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the thrones of the kings who were with him in Babylon. ³³ So ^[v]Jehoiachin ^(BB)changed his prison clothes, and ^[w](BC)had his meals in ^[x]the king’s presence regularly all the days of his life. ³⁴ And as his allowance, a ^(BD)regular allowance was given to him by the king of Babylon, a portion for each day, all the days of his life until the day of his death.

As Newborn Babes

2 Therefore, ^(A)rid yourselves of all ^[a]malice and all deceit and ^[b]hypocrisy and ^[c]envy and all ^[d](B)slander, ^2 (C)and like newborn babies, long for the ^[e](D)pure ^[f]milk of the word, so that by it you may ^(E)grow ^[g]in respect to salvation, ³ if you have ^(F)tasted ^[h](G)the kindness of the Lord.

As Living Stones

⁴ And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been ^(H)rejected by people, but is ^[i]choice and precious in the sight of God, ^5 (I)you also, as living stones, ^[j]are being built up as a ^(J)spiritual house for a holy ^(K)priesthood, to ^(L)offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ For this is contained in ^[k]Scripture:

^7 (O)This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for unbelievers,

⁸ and,

^(S)for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, ^(T)and to this they were also appointed.

⁹ But you are ^(U)a chosen people, a royal ^(V)priesthood, a ^(W)holy nation, ^(X)a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you ^(Y)out of darkness into His marvelous light; ^10 (Z)for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

^11 (AA)Beloved, ^(AB)I urge you as ^(AC)foreigners and strangers to abstain from ^(AD)fleshly lusts, which wage ^(AE)war against the soul. ^12 (AF)Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they ^(AG)slander you as evildoers, they may ^[o]because of your good deeds, as they observe them, ^(AH)glorify God ^(AI)on the day of ^[p]visitation.

Honor Authority

^13 (AJ)Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, ¹⁴ or to governors as sent ^[q]by him ^(AK)for the punishment of evildoers and the ^(AL)praise of those who do right. ¹⁵ For ^[r](AM)such is the will of God, that by doing right you ^(AN)silence the ignorance of foolish people. ¹⁶ Act as ^(AO)free people, and ^[s]do not use your freedom as a ^[t]covering for evil, but use it as ^(AP)bond-servants of God. ^17 (AQ)Honor all people, ^(AR)love the brotherhood, ^(AS)fear God, ^(AT)honor the ^[u]king.

^18 (AU)Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and ^(AV)gentle, but also to those who are ^[v]harsh. ¹⁹ For this finds favor, if for the sake of ^(AW)conscience toward God a person endures ^[w]grief when suffering unjustly. ²⁰ For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if ^(AX)when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.

Christ Is Our Example

²¹ For ^(AY)you have been called for this purpose, ^(AZ)because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you ^(BA)an example, so that you would follow in His steps, ²² He who ^(BB)committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; ^23 [x]and while being ^(BC)abusively insulted, He did not insult in return; while suffering, He did not threaten, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; ²⁴ and He Himself ^[y](BD)brought our sins in His body up on the ^[z](BE)cross, so that we ^(BF)might die to ^[aa]sin and live for righteousness; ^(BG)by His ^[ab]wounds you were ^(BH)healed. ²⁵ For you were ^(BI)continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the ^(BJ)Shepherd and ^[ac]Guardian of your souls.