Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah

37 ^(A)Zedekiah the son of Josiah, ^(B)whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah, reigned instead of ^(C)Coniah the son of Jehoiakim.

^24 (A)“As I live, declares the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were ^(B)the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off

^17 (A)And the king of Babylon ^(B)made Mattaniah, ^(C)Jehoiachin's uncle, king in his place, ^(D)and changed his name to Zedekiah.

^12 (A)and Jehoiachin the king of Judah gave himself up to the king of Babylon, himself and his mother and his servants and his officials and his palace officials. ^(B)The king of Babylon took him prisoner ^(C)in the eighth year of his reign

¹² “Say now to ^(A)the rebellious house, ^(B)Do you not know what these things mean? Tell them, behold, ^(C)the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took her king and her princes and brought them to him to Babylon. ^13 (D)And he took one of the royal offspring^{[a] (E)}and made a covenant with him, ^(F)putting him under oath (^(G)the chief men of the land he had taken away), ¹⁴ that the kingdom might be humble and not lift itself up, and keep his covenant that it might stand. ^15 (H)But he rebelled against him by sending his ambassadors ^(I)to Egypt, that they might give him horses and a large army. ^(J)Will he thrive? Can one escape who does such things? Can he ^(K)break the covenant and yet escape?

^16 (L)“As I live, declares the Lord God, surely ^(M)in the place where the king dwells ^(N)who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant with him he broke, in Babylon he shall die. ^17 (O)Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company will not help him in war, ^(P)when mounds are cast up and siege walls built to cut off many lives. ¹⁸ He despised the oath in breaking the covenant, and behold, he gave his hand and did all these things; he shall not escape. ¹⁹ Therefore thus says the Lord God: As I live, surely it is my oath that he despised, and my covenant that he broke. I will return it upon his head. ^20 (Q)I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon ^(R)and enter into judgment with him there ^(S)for the treachery he has committed against me. ²¹ And all the pick^[b] of his troops shall fall by the sword, ^(T)and the survivors shall be scattered to every wind, and you shall know that ^(U)I am the Lord; I have spoken.”

Jehoiachin Released from Prison

^31 (A)And in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, graciously freed^{[a] (B)}Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison.

The Good Figs and the Bad Figs

24 ^(A)After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem ^(B)Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with ^(C)the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me this vision: behold, ^(D)two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the Lord.

^9 (A)Jehoiachin was eighteen^[a] years old when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. ¹⁰ In ^(B)the spring of the year King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon, ^(C)with the precious vessels of the house of the Lord, and made his brother ^(D)Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.