Jeremiah Spared

¹¹ Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave orders regarding ^(A)Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, saying, ¹² “Take him and ^[a]look after him, and ^(B)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 ^[b]Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the ^[c]Rab-mag, and all the leading officers of the king of Babylon; ¹⁴ they even sent word and ^(C)took Jeremiah out of the courtyard of the guardhouse and entrusted him to ^(D)Gedaliah, the son of ^(E)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 ^(F)confined in the courtyard of the guardhouse, saying, ¹⁶ “Go and speak to ^(G)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 ^(H)for disaster and not for ^[d]prosperity; and they will ^(I)take place before you on that day. ¹⁷ But I will ^(J)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 ^(K)life as plunder, because you have ^(L)trusted in Me,” declares the Lord.’”

Jeremiah Remains in Judah

40 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord after ^(A)Nebuzaradan captain of the bodyguard had released him from ^(B)Ramah, when he had taken him bound in ^(C)chains among all the exiles of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon. ² Now the captain of the bodyguard had taken Jeremiah and said to him, “The ^(D)Lord your God promised this disaster against this place; ³ and the Lord has brought it and done just as He promised. Because you people ^(E)sinned against the Lord and did not listen to His voice, this thing has happened to you. ⁴ But now, behold, I am ^(F)setting you free today from the chains that are on your hands. If ^[a]you would prefer to come with me to Babylon, come along, and I will ^[b]look after you; but if ^[c]you would prefer not to come with me to Babylon, ^[d]do not come. Look, the ^(G)whole land is before you; go wherever it seems good and right for you to go.” ⁵ As ^[e]Jeremiah was still not going back, ^[f]he said, “Go on back then to ^(H)Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has ^(I)appointed over the cities of Judah, and stay with him among the people; or else go anywhere it seems right for you to go.” So the captain of the bodyguard gave him a ^(J)ration and a ^(K)gift, and let him go. ⁶ Then Jeremiah went to ^(L)Mizpah to ^(M)Gedaliah the son of Ahikam and stayed with him among the people who were left in the land.

Jerusalem Burned and Plundered

^8 (A)Now on the seventh day of the ^(B)fifth month, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguards, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. ⁹ And ^(C)he burned the house of the Lord, ^(D)the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every great house he burned with fire. ¹⁰ So all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the bodyguards ^(E)tore down the walls around Jerusalem. ¹¹ Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguards, led into exile ^(F)the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the ^[a]people. ¹² But the captain of the bodyguards left some of ^(G)the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and farmers.

^13 (H)Now the Chaldeans smashed to pieces the bronze pillars which were in the house of the Lord, and the stands and ^(I)the bronze ^[b]Sea which were in the house of the Lord, and carried the ^[c]bronze to Babylon. ^14 (J)And they took away the pots, the shovels, the ^[d]shears, the spoons, and all the bronze utensils ^[e]which were used in temple service. ¹⁵ The captain of the bodyguards also took away the firepans and the basins, what was fine gold and what was fine silver. ¹⁶ The two pillars, the one Sea, and the stands which Solomon had made for the house of the Lord—^[f](K)the bronze of all these articles was too heavy to weigh. ^17 (L)The height of the one pillar was ^[g]eighteen cubits, and a bronze capital was on it; the height of the capital was ^[h]three cubits, with latticework and pomegranates on the capital all around, all of bronze. And the second pillar was like these, same features with latticework.

¹⁸ Then the captain of the bodyguards took ^(M)Seraiah the chief priest and ^(N)Zephaniah the second priest, with the three ^[i]doorkeepers. ¹⁹ And from the city he took one official who was overseer of the men of war, and ^(O)five ^[j]of the king’s advisers who were found in the city; and the ^[k]scribe of the captain of the army who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the city. ²⁰ Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguards took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at ^(P)Riblah. ²¹ Then the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. ^(Q)So Judah went into exile from its land.

^12 (A)Now on the tenth day of the fifth month, which was the ^(B)nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, ^(C)Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, who ^[a]was in the service of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. ¹³ And he ^(D)burned the house of the Lord, the ^(E)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 ^(F)tore down all the walls around Jerusalem. ¹⁵ Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard ^(G)took into exile some of the poorest of the people, the rest of the people who were left in the city, the ^(H)deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen. ¹⁶ But ^(I)Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and farmers.

¹⁷ Now the bronze ^(J)pillars which belonged to the house of the Lord and the ^(K)stands and the bronze ^[b](L)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 ^(M)pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the basins, the ^[c]pans, and all the bronze vessels which were used in temple service. ¹⁹ The captain of the guard also took the ^(N)bowls, the firepans, the basins, the pots, the lampstands, the ^[d]pans, and the drink offering bowls, whatever was fine gold, and whatever was fine silver. ²⁰ The two pillars, the one ^[e]sea, and the twelve bronze bulls that were under ^[f]the sea, and the stands, which King Solomon had made for the house of the Lord—the bronze of all these vessels was ^(O)beyond weight. ²¹ As for the pillars, the ^(P)height of each pillar was ^[g]eighteen cubits, and ^[h]it was twelve cubits in ^(Q)circumference and four fingers in thickness, and hollow. ²² Also, a ^(R)capital of bronze was on top of it; and the height of each capital was ^[i]five cubits, with latticework and ^(S)pomegranates on the capital all around, all of bronze. And the second pillar was like these, including pomegranates. ²³ There were ninety-six ^[j]exposed pomegranates; all ^(T)the pomegranates numbered a hundred on the latticework all around.

²⁴ Then the captain of the guard took ^(U)Seraiah the chief priest and ^(V)Zephaniah the second priest, with the three ^[k](W)officers of the temple. ²⁵ He also took from the city one official who was overseer of the warriors, seven ^[l]of the ^(X)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 ^(Y)brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. ²⁷ Then the king of Babylon ^(Z)struck them and put them to death in Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was ^(AA)led into exile from its land.

¹⁵ Yet the Lord, the God of their fathers, ^(A)sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place; ¹⁶ but they continually ^(B)mocked the messengers of God, ^(C)despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, ^(D)until the wrath of the Lord rose against His people, until there was no remedy. ^17 (E)So He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or frail; He handed them all over to him. ^18 (F)He brought all the articles of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and his officers, to Babylon. ¹⁹ Then ^(G)they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its fortified buildings with fire and destroyed all its valuable articles. ²⁰ He ^(H)took into exile those who had escaped from the sword to Babylon; and ^(I)they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, ^21 (J)to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until ^(K)the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. ^(L)All the days of its desolation it kept the Sabbath ^[a](M)until seventy years were complete.

The Sorrows of Zion