Jeremiah Rescued from the Cistern

⁷ When ^(A)Ebed-melech ^(B)the Ethiopian, ^(C)a eunuch who was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern—the king was sitting ^(D)in the Benjamin Gate—

¹³ When he was at ^(A)the Benjamin Gate, a sentry there named Irijah the son of ^(B)Shelemiah, son of Hananiah, seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, ^(C)“You are deserting to the Chaldeans.”

² This was after ^(A)King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had departed from Jerusalem.

¹⁹ then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives,

²⁷ And he rose and went. And there was an ^(A)Ethiopian, a ^(B)eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, ^(C)who was in charge of all her treasure. ^(D)He had come to Jerusalem to worship ²⁸ and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. ²⁹ And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” ³⁰ So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” ³¹ And he said, ^(E)“How can I, unless someone ^(F)guides me?” And ^(G)he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. ³² Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:

³⁴ And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” ³⁵ Then Philip opened his mouth, and ^(J)beginning with this Scripture ^(K)he told him the good news about Jesus. ³⁶ And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! ^(L)What prevents me from being baptized?”^{[a] 38} And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. ³⁹ And when they came up out of the water, ^(M)the Spirit of the Lord ^(N)carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.

²⁹ And ^(A)people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and ^(B)recline at table in the kingdom of God. ³⁰ And behold, ^(C)some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

³⁰ Jesus replied, “A man ^(A)was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. ³¹ Now by chance a ^(B)priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. ³² So likewise ^(C)a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a ^(D)Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. ³⁴ He went to him and ^(E)bound up his wounds, pouring on ^(F)oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ And the next day he took out two ^(G)denarii^[a] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ ³⁶ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”

¹⁶ So ^(A)the last will be first, and the first last.”