Jeremiah Imprisoned

¹¹ Now it happened when the army of the Chaldeans had withdrawn from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army, ¹² that Jeremiah left Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin in order to ^(A)take ^[a]possession of some property there among the people. ¹³ While he was at the ^(B)Gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah the son of Hananiah was there; and he ^(C)arrested Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are deserting to the Chaldeans!” ¹⁴ But Jeremiah said, “^(D)A lie! I am not deserting to the Chaldeans”; yet he would not listen to him. So Irijah arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. ¹⁵ Then the officials were ^(E)angry at Jeremiah and they beat him, and ^(F)put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for they had made it into the prison. ¹⁶ For Jeremiah had come into the ^[b](G)dungeon, that is, the vaulted cell; and Jeremiah stayed there many days.

¹⁷ Now King Zedekiah sent men and took him out; and in his palace the king ^(H)secretly asked him and said, “Is there a ^(I)word from the Lord?” And Jeremiah said, “There is!” Then he said, “You will be ^(J)handed over to the king of Babylon!” ¹⁸ Moreover, Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “^(K)In what way have I sinned against you, or your servants, or this people, that you have put me in prison? ¹⁹ And ^(L)where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The ^(M)king of Babylon will not come against you or against this land’? ²⁰ But now, please listen, my lord the king; please let my ^(N)plea ^[c]come before you and do not make me return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, so that I will not die there.” ²¹ Then King Zedekiah gave a command, and they placed Jeremiah in custody in the ^(O)courtyard of the guardhouse, and gave him a loaf of ^(P)bread daily from the bakers’ street, until all the bread in the city was ^(Q)gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guardhouse.

Jeremiah Thrown into the Cistern

38 Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, Jucal the ^(R)son of Shelemiah, and ^(S)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 ^(T)stays in this city will die by the ^(U)sword, by famine, or by plague; but anyone who surrenders to the Chaldeans will live and have his own ^(V)life as plunder, and stay alive.’ ³ This is what the Lord says: ‘This city will certainly be ^(W)handed over to the army of the king of Babylon and he will capture it.’” ⁴ Then the ^(X)officials said to the king, “Please have this man put to death, since he is ^[d](Y)discouraging the men of war who are left in this city and ^[e]all the people, by speaking words like these to them; for this man ^(Z)is not seeking the well-being of this people, but rather their harm.” ⁵ And King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your ^[f]hands; for the king ^(AA)can do nothing against you.” ⁶ So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the ^(AB)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 ^(AC)mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud. ⁷ But ^(AD)Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a ^[g](AE)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 ^(AF)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 ^(AG)no more bread in the city.” ¹⁰ Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take thirty men from here ^[h]under your authority and bring Jeremiah the prophet up from the cistern before he dies.” ¹¹ So Ebed-melech took the men under his ^[i]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 ^(AH)courtyard of the guardhouse.

Zedekiah Seeks an Answer from God

¹⁴ Then King Zedekiah ^(AI)sent word and ^[j]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 ^(AJ)ask you something; do not hide anything from me.” ¹⁵ And Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “^(AK)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 ^(AL)secret, saying, “As the Lord lives, who made this ^[k](AM)life for us, I certainly will not put you to death, nor will I hand you over to ^(AN)these men who are seeking your ^[l]life.”

¹⁷ So Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord ^(AO)God of armies, the ^(AP)God of Israel says: ‘If you will indeed ^(AQ)surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then ^[m]you will live, this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will ^[n]survive. ¹⁸ But if you do ^(AR)not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city ^(AS)will be handed over to the Chaldeans; and they will burn it with fire, and ^(AT)you yourself will not escape from their hands.’” ¹⁹ Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am ^(AU)in fear of the Jews who have ^(AV)deserted to the Chaldeans, for they may hand me over to them, and they will ^(AW)abuse me.” ²⁰ But Jeremiah said, “They will not turn you over. Please ^[o](AX)obey the Lord in what I am saying to you, so that it may go ^(AY)well for you and ^[p](AZ)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 ^(BA)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 ^(BB)sons to the Chaldeans, and ^(BC)you yourself will not escape from their hand, but will be seized by the hand of the king of Babylon, and ^(BD)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 ^(BE)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 ^(BF)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 ^[r]conversation had not been overheard. ²⁸ So Jeremiah ^(BG)stayed in the courtyard of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was captured.

The Vision of Four Figures

1 Now it came about in the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was by the ^(A)river Chebar among the exiles, the ^(B)heavens were opened and I saw ^[a](C)visions of God. ² (On the fifth of the month ^[b]in the ^(D)fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s exile, ³ the ^(E)word of the Lord came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, son of Buzi, in the ^(F)land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and there ^(G)the hand of the Lord came upon him.)

⁴ As I looked, behold, a ^(H)high wind was coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing intermittently and a bright light around it, and in its midst something like ^(I)gleaming ^[c]metal in the midst of the fire. ⁵ And within it there were figures resembling ^(J)four living beings. And this was their appearance: they had human ^(K)form. ⁶ Each of them had ^(L)four faces and ^(M)four wings. ⁷ Their legs were straight and ^[d]their feet were like a calf’s ^[e]hoof, and they sparkled like ^(N)polished bronze. ⁸ Under their wings on their ^(O)four sides were human ^(P)hands. As for the faces and wings of the four of them, ⁹ their wings touched one another; their faces did ^(Q)not turn when they moved, each ^(R)went straight forward. ¹⁰ As for the ^(S)form of their faces, each had a human ^(T)face; ^[f]all four had the face of a lion on the right and the face of a bull on the left, and ^[g]all four had the face of an eagle. ¹¹ Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above; each had two touching another being, and ^(U)two covering their bodies. ¹² And ^(V)each went straight forward; ^(W)wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go, without turning as they went. ^13 [h]In the midst of the living beings there was something that looked like burning coals of ^(X)fire, ^[i]like torches moving among the living beings. The fire was bright, and lightning was ^[j]flashing from the fire. ¹⁴ And the living beings ^(Y)ran back and forth like bolts of ^(Z)lightning.

¹⁵ Now as I looked at the living beings, behold, there was one ^(AA)wheel on the ground beside the living beings, for ^[k]each of the four of them. ¹⁶ The ^(AB)appearance of the wheels and their workmanship was like ^[l]sparkling ^(AC)topaz, and all four of them had the same form, their appearance and workmanship being as if ^[m]one wheel were within another. ¹⁷ Whenever they ^[n]moved, they ^[o]moved in any of their four ^[p]directions without ^(AD)turning as they ^[q]moved. ¹⁸ As for their rims, they were high and awesome, and the rims of all four of them were ^[r](AE)covered with eyes all around. ^19 (AF)Whenever the living beings ^[s]moved, the wheels ^[t]moved with them. And whenever the living beings ^(AG)rose from the earth, the wheels rose also. ^20 (AH)Wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go in that direction^[u]. And the wheels rose just as they did; for the spirit of the living ^[v]beings was in the wheels. ^21 (AI)Whenever those went, they went; and whenever those stopped, they stopped. And whenever those rose from the earth, the wheels rose just as they did; for the spirit of the living ^[w]beings was in the wheels.

Vision of Divine Glory

²² Now ^(AJ)over the heads of the living ^[x]beings there was something like an expanse, like the awesome gleam of crystal, spread out over their heads. ²³ Under the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward the other; each one also had ^(AK)two wings covering its body on the one side and on the other. ²⁴ And I also heard the sound of their wings, like the ^(AL)sound of abundant waters as they went, like the ^(AM)voice of ^[y]the Almighty, a sound of a crowd like the ^(AN)sound of an army camp; whenever they stopped, they let down their wings. ²⁵ And a voice came from above the ^(AO)expanse that was over their heads; whenever they stood still, they let down their wings.

²⁶ Now ^(AP)above the expanse that was over their heads there was something ^(AQ)resembling a throne, like ^[z](AR)lapis lazuli in appearance; and on that which resembled a throne, high up, was a figure with the appearance of a ^(AS)man. ²⁷ Then I ^[aa]noticed from the appearance of His waist and upward something ^(AT)like gleaming ^[ab]metal that looked like fire all around within it, and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw something like fire; and there was a radiance around Him. ²⁸ Like the appearance of the ^(AU)rainbow ^[ac]in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the ^(AV)glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I ^(AW)fell on my face and heard a voice speaking.

The Prophet’s Call

2 Then He said to me, “Son of man, ^(AX)stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.” ² And as He spoke to me the ^(AY)Spirit entered me and set me on my feet; and I heard Him speaking to me. ³ Then He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the sons of Israel, to a rebellious people who have ^(AZ)rebelled against Me; ^(BA)they and their fathers have revolted against Me to this very day. ⁴ So I am sending you to those who are ^[ad](BB)impudent and obstinate children, and you shall say to them, ‘This is what the Lord ^[ae]God says:’ ⁵ As for them, ^(BC)whether they listen or ^[af]not—for they are a rebellious house—they will ^(BD)know that a prophet has been among them. ⁶ And as for you, son of man, you are ^(BE)not to fear them nor fear their words, though ^(BF)thistles and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions; you are not to fear their words nor be dismayed at their presence, since they are a rebellious house. ⁷ But you shall ^(BG)speak My words to them ^(BH)whether they listen or ^[ag]not, for they are rebellious.

⁸ “Now you, son of man, listen to what I am speaking to you; do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth wide and ^(BI)eat what I am giving you.” ⁹ Then I looked, and behold, a ^(BJ)hand was extended to me; and behold, a ^[ah](BK)scroll was in it. ¹⁰ When He spread it out before me, it was written on the front and back, and written on it were songs of mourning, sighing, and ^(BL)woe.

Ezekiel’s Commission

3 Then He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; ^(BM)eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” ² So I ^(BN)opened my mouth, and He fed me this scroll. ³ And He said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and ^(BO)fill your ^[ai]body with this scroll which I am giving you.” Then I ^(BP)ate it, and it was as sweet as ^(BQ)honey in my mouth.

⁴ Then He said to me, “Son of man, ^[aj]go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them. ⁵ For ^(BR)you are not being sent to a people of ^[ak](BS)unintelligible speech or difficult language, but to the house of Israel, ⁶ nor to many peoples of ^[al]unintelligible speech or difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. ^[am]But I have sent you to ^[an]the people who understand you; ⁷ yet the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, since they are ^(BT)not willing to listen to Me. The entire house of Israel certainly is ^[ao]stubborn and obstinate. ⁸ Behold, I have made your face just as hard as their faces, and your forehead just as hard as their foreheads. ⁹ Like emery harder than flint I have made your forehead. Do not be afraid of them or be dismayed before them, since they are a rebellious house.” ¹⁰ Moreover, He said to me, “Son of man, take into your heart all My ^(BU)words which I will speak to you and listen ^[ap]closely. ^11 [aq]Go to the exiles, to the sons of your people, and speak to them and tell them, whether they listen or ^[ar]not, ‘This is what the Lord ^[as]God says.’”

¹² Then the ^(BV)Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a great ^(BW)rumbling sound behind me: “Blessed be the glory of the Lord from His place!” ¹³ And I heard the sound of the wings of the living beings touching one another and the sound of the ^(BX)wheels beside them, even a great rumbling sound. ¹⁴ So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away; and I went embittered in the rage of my spirit, and ^(BY)the hand of the Lord was strong on me. ¹⁵ Then I came to the exiles who lived beside the river Chebar at Tel-abib, and I sat there for ^(BZ)seven days where they were living, causing consternation among them.