Jeremiah 35-40

New International Version

The Rekabites

35 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord during the reign of Jehoiakim^(A) son of Josiah king of Judah: ² “Go to the Rekabite^(B) family and invite them to come to one of the side rooms^(C) of the house of the Lord and give them wine to drink.”

³ So I went to get Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons—the whole family of the Rekabites. ⁴ I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the room of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah the man of God.^(D) It was next to the room of the officials, which was over that of Maaseiah son of Shallum^(E) the doorkeeper.^{(F) 5} Then I set bowls full of wine and some cups before the Rekabites and said to them, “Drink some wine.”

⁶ But they replied, “We do not drink wine, because our forefather Jehonadab^[a](G) son of Rekab gave us this command: ‘Neither you nor your descendants must ever drink wine.^{(H) 7} Also you must never build houses, sow seed or plant vineyards; you must never have any of these things, but must always live in tents.^(I) Then you will live a long time in the land^(J) where you are nomads.’ ⁸ We have obeyed everything our forefather^(K) Jehonadab son of Rekab commanded us. Neither we nor our wives nor our sons and daughters have ever drunk wine ⁹ or built houses to live in or had vineyards, fields or crops.^{(L) 10} We have lived in tents and have fully obeyed everything our forefather Jehonadab commanded us. ¹¹ But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded^(M) this land, we said, ‘Come, we must go to Jerusalem^(N) to escape the Babylonian^[b] and Aramean armies.’ So we have remained in Jerusalem.”

¹² Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying: ¹³ “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go and tell^(O) the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘Will you not learn a lesson^(P) and obey my words?’ declares the Lord. ¹⁴ ‘Jehonadab son of Rekab ordered his descendants not to drink wine and this command has been kept. To this day they do not drink wine, because they obey their forefather’s command.^(Q) But I have spoken to you again and again,^(R) yet you have not obeyed^(S) me. ¹⁵ Again and again I sent all my servants the prophets^(T) to you. They said, “Each of you must turn^(U) from your wicked ways and reform^(V) your actions; do not follow other gods^(W) to serve them. Then you will live in the land^(X) I have given to you and your ancestors.” But you have not paid attention or listened^(Y) to me. ¹⁶ The descendants of Jehonadab son of Rekab have carried out the command their forefather^(Z) gave them, but these people have not obeyed me.’

¹⁷ “Therefore this is what the Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Listen! I am going to bring on Judah and on everyone living in Jerusalem every disaster^(AA) I pronounced against them. I spoke to them, but they did not listen;^(AB) I called to them, but they did not answer.’”^(AC)

¹⁸ Then Jeremiah said to the family of the Rekabites, “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘You have obeyed the command of your forefather^(AD) Jehonadab and have followed all his instructions and have done everything he ordered.’ ¹⁹ Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Jehonadab son of Rekab will never fail^(AE) to have a descendant to serve^(AF) me.’”

Jehoiakim Burns Jeremiah’s Scroll

36 In the fourth year of Jehoiakim^(AG) son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ² “Take a scroll^(AH) and write on it all the words^(AI) I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah and all the other nations from the time I began speaking to you in the reign of Josiah^(AJ) till now. ³ Perhaps^(AK) when the people of Judah hear^(AL) about every disaster I plan to inflict on them, they will each turn^(AM) from their wicked ways; then I will forgive^(AN) their wickedness and their sin.”

⁴ So Jeremiah called Baruch^(AO) son of Neriah,^(AP) and while Jeremiah dictated^(AQ) all the words the Lord had spoken to him, Baruch wrote them on the scroll.^{(AR) 5} Then Jeremiah told Baruch, “I am restricted; I am not allowed to go to the Lord’s temple. ⁶ So you go to the house of the Lord on a day of fasting^(AS) and read to the people from the scroll the words of the Lord that you wrote as I dictated.^(AT) Read them to all the people of Judah^(AU) who come in from their towns. ⁷ Perhaps they will bring their petition^(AV) before the Lord and will each turn^(AW) from their wicked ways, for the anger^(AX) and wrath pronounced against this people by the Lord are great.”

⁸ Baruch son of Neriah did everything Jeremiah the prophet told him to do; at the Lord’s temple he read the words of the Lord from the scroll. ⁹ In the ninth month^(AY) of the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, a time of fasting^(AZ) before the Lord was proclaimed for all the people in Jerusalem and those who had come from the towns of Judah. ¹⁰ From the room of Gemariah^(BA) son of Shaphan^(BB) the secretary,^(BC) which was in the upper courtyard at the entrance of the New Gate^(BD) of the temple, Baruch read to all the people at the Lord’s temple the words of Jeremiah from the scroll.

¹¹ When Micaiah son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the Lord from the scroll, ¹² he went down to the secretary’s^(BE) room in the royal palace, where all the officials were sitting: Elishama the secretary, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan^(BF) son of Akbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other officials.^{(BG) 13} After Micaiah told them everything he had heard Baruch read to the people from the scroll, ¹⁴ all the officials sent Jehudi^(BH) son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to say to Baruch, “Bring the scroll^(BI) from which you have read to the people and come.” So Baruch son of Neriah went to them with the scroll in his hand. ¹⁵ They said to him, “Sit down, please, and read it to us.”

So Baruch read it to them. ¹⁶ When they heard all these words, they looked at each other in fear^(BJ) and said to Baruch, “We must report all these words to the king.” ¹⁷ Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us, how did you come to write^(BK) all this? Did Jeremiah dictate it?”

¹⁸ “Yes,” Baruch replied, “he dictated^(BL) all these words to me, and I wrote them in ink on the scroll.”

¹⁹ Then the officials^(BM) said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah, go and hide.^(BN) Don’t let anyone know where you are.”

²⁰ After they put the scroll in the room of Elishama the secretary, they went to the king in the courtyard and reported everything to him. ²¹ The king sent Jehudi^(BO) to get the scroll, and Jehudi brought it from the room of Elishama the secretary and read it to the king^(BP) and all the officials standing beside him. ²² It was the ninth month and the king was sitting in the winter apartment,^(BQ) with a fire burning in the firepot in front of him. ²³ Whenever Jehudi had read three or four columns of the scroll,^(BR) the king cut them off with a scribe’s knife and threw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll was burned in the fire.^{(BS) 24} The king and all his attendants who heard all these words showed no fear,^(BT) nor did they tear their clothes.^{(BU) 25} Even though Elnathan, Delaiah^(BV) and Gemariah^(BW) urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. ²⁶ Instead, the king commanded Jerahmeel, a son of the king, Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest^(BX) Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the Lord had hidden^(BY) them.

²⁷ After the king burned the scroll containing the words that Baruch had written at Jeremiah’s dictation,^(BZ) the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ²⁸ “Take another scroll^(CA) and write on it all the words that were on the first scroll, which Jehoiakim king of Judah burned up. ²⁹ Also tell Jehoiakim king of Judah, ‘This is what the Lord says: You burned that scroll and said, “Why did you write on it that the king of Babylon would certainly come and destroy this land and wipe from it^(CB) both man and beast?”^{(CC) 30} Therefore this is what the Lord says about Jehoiakim^(CD) king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on the throne of David; his body will be thrown out^(CE) and exposed^(CF) to the heat by day and the frost by night.^{(CG) 31} I will punish him and his children^(CH) and his attendants for their wickedness; I will bring on them and those living in Jerusalem and the people of Judah every disaster^(CI) I pronounced against them, because they have not listened.^(CJ)’”

³² So Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah, and as Jeremiah dictated,^(CK) Baruch wrote^(CL) on it all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned^(CM) in the fire. And many similar words were added to them.

Jeremiah in Prison

37 Zedekiah^(CN) son of Josiah was made king^(CO) of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he reigned in place of Jehoiachin^[c](CP) son of Jehoiakim. ² Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention^(CQ) to the words the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.

³ King Zedekiah, however, sent^(CR) Jehukal^(CS) son of Shelemiah with the priest Zephaniah^(CT) son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah the prophet with this message: “Please pray^(CU) to the Lord our God for us.”

⁴ Now Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison.^{(CV) 5} Pharaoh’s army had marched out of Egypt,^(CW) and when the Babylonians^[d] who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they withdrew^(CX) from Jerusalem.^(CY)

⁶ Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet: ⁷ “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire^(CZ) of me, ‘Pharaoh’s army, which has marched^(DA) out to support you, will go back to its own land, to Egypt.^{(DB) 8} Then the Babylonians will return and attack this city; they will capture^(DC) it and burn^(DD) it down.’

⁹ “This is what the Lord says: Do not deceive^(DE) yourselves, thinking, ‘The Babylonians will surely leave us.’ They will not! ¹⁰ Even if you were to defeat the entire Babylonian^[e] army that is attacking you and only wounded men were left in their tents, they would come out and burn^(DF) this city down.”

¹¹ After the Babylonian army had withdrawn^(DG) from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army, ¹² Jeremiah started to leave the city to go to the territory of Benjamin to get his share of the property^(DH) among the people there. ¹³ But when he reached the Benjamin Gate,^(DI) the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, arrested him and said, “You are deserting to the Babylonians!”^(DJ)

¹⁴ “That’s not true!” Jeremiah said. “I am not deserting to the Babylonians.” But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested^(DK) Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. ¹⁵ They were angry with Jeremiah and had him beaten^(DL) and imprisoned^(DM) in the house^(DN) of Jonathan the secretary, which they had made into a prison.

¹⁶ Jeremiah was put into a vaulted cell in a dungeon, where he remained a long time. ¹⁷ Then King Zedekiah sent^(DO) for him and had him brought to the palace, where he asked^(DP) him privately,^(DQ) “Is there any word from the Lord?”

“Yes,” Jeremiah replied, “you will be delivered^(DR) into the hands of the king of Babylon.”

¹⁸ Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “What crime^(DS) have I committed against you or your attendants or this people, that you have put me in prison? ¹⁹ Where are your prophets^(DT) who prophesied to you, ‘The king of Babylon will not attack you or this land’? ²⁰ But now, my lord the king, please listen. Let me bring my petition before you: Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, or I will die there.”^(DU)

²¹ King Zedekiah then gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and given a loaf of bread from the street of the bakers each day until all the bread^(DV) in the city was gone.^(DW) So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.^(DX)

Jeremiah Thrown Into a Cistern

38 Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur^(DY), Jehukal^[f](DZ) son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malkijah heard what Jeremiah was telling all the people when he said, ² “This is what the Lord says: ‘Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague,^(EA) but whoever goes over to the Babylonians^[g] will live. They will escape with their lives; they will live.’^{(EB) 3} And this is what the Lord says: ‘This city will certainly be given into the hands of the army of the king of Babylon, who will capture it.’”^(EC)

⁴ Then the officials^(ED) said to the king, “This man should be put to death.^(EE) He is discouraging^(EF) the soldiers who are left in this city, as well as all the people, by the things he is saying to them. This man is not seeking the good of these people but their ruin.”

⁵ “He is in your hands,”^(EG) King Zedekiah answered. “The king can do nothing^(EH) to oppose you.”

⁶ So they took Jeremiah and put him into the cistern of Malkijah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard.^(EI) They lowered Jeremiah by ropes^(EJ) into the cistern; it had no water in it,^(EK) only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.^(EL)

⁷ But Ebed-Melek,^(EM) a Cushite,^[h] an official^[i](EN) in the royal palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. While the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate,^{(EO) 8} Ebed-Melek went out of the palace and said to him, ⁹ “My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. They have thrown him into a cistern,^(EP) where he will starve to death when there is no longer any bread^(EQ) in the city.”

¹⁰ Then the king commanded Ebed-Melek the Cushite, “Take thirty men from here with you and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.”

¹¹ So Ebed-Melek took the men with him and went to a room under the treasury in the palace. He took some old rags and worn-out clothes from there and let them down with ropes^(ER) to Jeremiah in the cistern. ¹² Ebed-Melek the Cushite said to Jeremiah, “Put these old rags and worn-out clothes under your arms to pad the ropes.” Jeremiah did so, ¹³ and they pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.^(ES)

Zedekiah Questions Jeremiah Again

¹⁴ Then King Zedekiah sent^(ET) for Jeremiah the prophet and had him brought to the third entrance to the temple of the Lord. “I am going to ask you something,” the king said to Jeremiah. “Do not hide^(EU) anything from me.”

¹⁵ Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I give you an answer, will you not kill me? Even if I did give you counsel, you would not listen to me.”

¹⁶ But King Zedekiah swore this oath secretly^(EV) to Jeremiah: “As surely as the Lord lives, who has given us breath,^(EW) I will neither kill you nor hand you over to those who want to kill you.”^(EX)

¹⁷ Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you surrender^(EY) to the officers of the king of Babylon, your life will be spared and this city will not be burned down; you and your family will live.^{(EZ) 18} But if you will not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be given into the hands^(FA) of the Babylonians and they will burn^(FB) it down; you yourself will not escape^(FC) from them.’”

¹⁹ King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid^(FD) of the Jews who have gone over^(FE) to the Babylonians, for the Babylonians may hand me over to them and they will mistreat me.”

²⁰ “They will not hand you over,” Jeremiah replied. “Obey^(FF) the Lord by doing what I tell you. Then it will go well^(FG) with you, and your life^(FH) will be spared. ²¹ But if you refuse to surrender, this is what the Lord has revealed to me: ²² All the women^(FI) left in the palace of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon. Those women will say to you:

²³ “All your wives and children^(FL) will be brought out to the Babylonians. You yourself will not escape^(FM) from their hands but will be captured^(FN) by the king of Babylon; and this city will^[j] be burned down.”^(FO)

²⁴ Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Do not let anyone know^(FP) about this conversation, or you may die. ²⁵ If the officials hear that I talked with you, and they come to you and say, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you; do not hide it from us or we will kill you,’ ²⁶ then tell^(FQ) them, ‘I was pleading with the king not to send me back to Jonathan’s house^(FR) to die there.’”

²⁷ All the officials did come to Jeremiah and question him, and he told them everything the king had ordered him to say. So they said no more to him, for no one had heard his conversation with the king.

²⁸ And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard^(FS) until the day Jerusalem was captured.

The Fall of Jerusalem^(FT)

This is how Jerusalem^(FU) was taken: 39 ¹ In the ninth year of Zedekiah^(FV) king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar^(FW) king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army and laid siege^(FX) to it. ² And on the ninth day of the fourth^(FY) month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year, the city wall^(FZ) was broken through.^{(GA) 3} Then all the officials^(GB) of the king of Babylon came and took seats in the Middle Gate: Nergal-Sharezer of Samgar, Nebo-Sarsekim a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer a high official and all the other officials of the king of Babylon. ⁴ When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled; they left the city at night by way of the king’s garden, through the gate between the two walls,^(GC) and headed toward the Arabah.^[k](GD)

⁵ But the Babylonian^[l] army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah^(GE) in the plains of Jericho. They captured^(GF) him and took him to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah^(GG) in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced sentence on him. ⁶ There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes and also killed all the nobles^(GH) of Judah. ⁷ Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes^(GI) and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon.^(GJ)

⁸ The Babylonians^[m] set fire^(GK) to the royal palace and the houses of the people and broke down the walls^(GL) of Jerusalem. ⁹ Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard carried into exile to Babylon the people who remained in the city, along with those who had gone over to him,^(GM) and the rest of the people.^{(GN) 10} But Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people, who owned nothing; and at that time he gave them vineyards and fields.

¹¹ Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had given these orders about Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard: ¹² “Take him and look after him; don’t harm^(GO) him but do for him whatever he asks.” ¹³ So Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard, Nebushazban a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer a high official and all the other officers^(GP) of the king of Babylon ¹⁴ sent and had Jeremiah taken out of the courtyard of the guard.^(GQ) They turned him over to Gedaliah^(GR) son of Ahikam,^(GS) the son of Shaphan,^(GT) to take him back to his home. So he remained among his own people.^(GU)

¹⁵ While Jeremiah had been confined in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the Lord came to him: ¹⁶ “Go and tell Ebed-Melek^(GV) the Cushite, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I am about to fulfill my words^(GW) against this city—words concerning disaster,^(GX) not prosperity. At that time they will be fulfilled before your eyes. ¹⁷ But I will rescue^(GY) you on that day, declares the Lord; you will not be given into the hands of those you fear. ¹⁸ I will save^(GZ) you; you will not fall by the sword^(HA) but will escape with your life,^(HB) because you trust^(HC) in me, declares the Lord.’”

Jeremiah Freed

40 The word came to Jeremiah from the Lord after Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had released him at Ramah.^(HD) He had found Jeremiah bound in chains among all the captives^(HE) from Jerusalem and Judah who were being carried into exile to Babylon. ² When the commander^(HF) of the guard found Jeremiah, he said to him, “The Lord your God decreed^(HG) this disaster^(HH) for this place.^{(HI) 3} And now the Lord has brought it about; he has done just as he said he would. All this happened because you people sinned^(HJ) against the Lord and did not obey^(HK) him. ⁴ But today I am freeing^(HL) you from the chains^(HM) on your wrists. Come with me to Babylon, if you like, and I will look after you; but if you do not want to, then don’t come. Look, the whole country lies before you; go wherever you please.”^{(HN) 5} However, before Jeremiah turned to go,^[n] Nebuzaradan added, “Go back to Gedaliah^(HO) son of Ahikam,^(HP) the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed^(HQ) over the towns^(HR) of Judah, and live with him among the people, or go anywhere else you please.”^(HS)

Then the commander gave him provisions and a present^(HT) and let him go. ⁶ So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah^(HU) and stayed with him among the people who were left behind in the land.

Gedaliah Assassinated^(HV)

⁷ When all the army officers and their men who were still in the open country heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam as governor^(HW) over the land and had put him in charge of the men, women and children who were the poorest^(HX) in the land and who had not been carried into exile to Babylon, ⁸ they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah^(HY)—Ishmael^(HZ) son of Nethaniah, Johanan^(IA) and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite,^(IB) and Jaazaniah^[o] the son of the Maakathite,^(IC) and their men. ⁹ Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, took an oath to reassure them and their men. “Do not be afraid to serve^(ID) the Babylonians,^[p](IE)” he said. “Settle down in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you.^{(IF) 10} I myself will stay at Mizpah^(IG) to represent you before the Babylonians who come to us, but you are to harvest the wine,^(IH) summer fruit and olive oil, and put them in your storage jars,^(II) and live in the towns you have taken over.”^(IJ)

¹¹ When all the Jews in Moab,^(IK) Ammon, Edom^(IL) and all the other countries^(IM) heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, as governor over them, ¹² they all came back to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, from all the countries where they had been scattered.^(IN) And they harvested an abundance of wine and summer fruit.

¹³ Johanan^(IO) son of Kareah and all the army officers still in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah^{(IP) 14} and said to him, “Don’t you know that Baalis king of the Ammonites^(IQ) has sent Ishmael^(IR) son of Nethaniah to take your life?” But Gedaliah son of Ahikam did not believe them.

¹⁵ Then Johanan^(IS) son of Kareah said privately to Gedaliah in Mizpah, “Let me go and kill^(IT) Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and no one will know it. Why should he take your life and cause all the Jews who are gathered around you to be scattered^(IU) and the remnant^(IV) of Judah to perish?”

¹⁶ But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan^(IW) son of Kareah, “Don’t do such a thing! What you are saying about Ishmael is not true.”