Zedekiah’s Vain Hope^(A)

37 Now King ^(B)Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah. ^2 (C)But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land gave heed to the words of the Lord which He spoke by the prophet Jeremiah.

³ And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and ^(D)Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, ^(E)“Pray now to the Lord our God for us.” ⁴ Now Jeremiah was coming and going among the people, for they had not yet put him in prison. ⁵ Then ^(F)Pharaoh’s army came up from Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news of them, they departed from Jerusalem.

⁶ Then the word of the Lord came to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, ⁷ “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Thus you shall say to the king of Judah, ^(G)who sent you to Me to inquire of Me: “Behold, Pharaoh’s army which has come up to help you will return to Egypt, to their own land. ^8 (H)And the Chaldeans shall come back and fight against this city, and take it and burn it with fire.” ’ ⁹ Thus says the Lord: ‘Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely depart from us,” for they will not depart. ^10 (I)For though you had defeated the whole army of the Chaldeans who fight against you, and there remained only wounded men among them, they would rise up, every man in his tent, and burn the city with fire.’ ”

Jeremiah Imprisoned

¹¹ And it happened, when the army of the Chaldeans left the siege of Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh’s army, ¹² that Jeremiah went out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin to claim his property there among the people. ¹³ And when he was in the Gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard was there whose name was Irijah the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are defecting to the Chaldeans!”

¹⁴ Then Jeremiah said, ^[a]“False! I am not defecting to the Chaldeans.” But he did not listen to him.

So Irijah seized Jeremiah and brought him to the princes. ¹⁵ Therefore the princes were angry with Jeremiah, and they struck him ^(J)and put him in prison in the ^(K)house of Jonathan the scribe. For they had made that the prison.

¹⁶ When Jeremiah entered ^(L)the dungeon and the cells, and Jeremiah had remained there many days, ¹⁷ then Zedekiah the king sent and took him out. The king asked him secretly in his house, and said, “Is there any word from the Lord?”

And Jeremiah said, “There is.” Then he said, “You shall be ^(M)delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon!”

¹⁸ Moreover Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “What offense have I committed against you, against your servants, or against this people, that you have put me in prison? ¹⁹ Where now are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you or against this land’? ²⁰ Therefore please hear now, O my lord the king. Please, let my petition be accepted before you, and do not make me return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there.”

²¹ Then Zedekiah the king commanded that they should commit Jeremiah ^(N)to the court of the prison, and that they should give him daily a piece of bread from the bakers’ street, ^(O)until all the bread in the city was gone. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

Unity Through Humility

2 Therefore if there is any ^[a]consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any ^(A)affection and mercy, ^2 (B)fulfill my joy ^(C)by being like-minded, having the same love, being of ^(D)one accord, of one mind. ^3 (E)Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but ^(F)in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. ^4 (G)Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of ^(H)others.

The Humbled and Exalted Christ

^5 (I)Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, ^(J)being in the form of God, did not consider it ^[b]robbery to be equal with God, ^7 (K)but ^[c]made Himself of no reputation, taking the form ^(L)of a bondservant, and ^(M)coming in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and ^(N)became ^(O)obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. ^9 (P)Therefore God also ^(Q)has highly exalted Him and ^(R)given Him the name which is above every name, ^10 (S)that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, ¹¹ and ^(T)that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Jeremiah in the Dungeon

38 Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, ^(A)Jucal^[a] the son of Shelemiah, and ^(B)Pashhur the son of Malchiah ^(C)heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken to all the people, saying, ² “Thus says the Lord: ^(D)‘He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes over to the Chaldeans shall live; his life shall be as a prize to him, and he shall live.’ ³ Thus says the Lord: ^(E)‘This city shall surely be ^(F)given into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which shall take it.’ ”

⁴ Therefore the princes said to the king, “Please, ^(G)let this man be put to death, for thus he ^[b]weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man does not seek the ^[c]welfare of this people, but their harm.”

⁵ Then Zedekiah the king said, “Look, he is in your hand. For the king can do nothing against you.” ^6 (H)So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah ^[d]the king’s son, which was in the court of the prison, and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire. So Jeremiah sank in the mire.

^7 (I)Now Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, one of the ^[e]eunuchs, who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon. When the king was sitting at the Gate of Benjamin, ⁸ Ebed-Melech went out of the king’s house and spoke to the king, saying: ⁹ “My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon, and he is likely to die from hunger in the place where he is. For there is ^(J)no more bread in the city.” ¹⁰ Then the king commanded Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take from here thirty men with you, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon before he dies.” ¹¹ So Ebed-Melech took the men with him and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took from there old clothes and old rags, and let them down by ropes into the dungeon to Jeremiah. ¹² Then Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Please put these old clothes and rags under your armpits, under the ropes.” And Jeremiah did so. ¹³ So they pulled Jeremiah up with ropes and lifted him out of the dungeon. And Jeremiah remained ^(K)in the court of the prison.

The Death of Lazarus

11 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of ^(A)Mary and her sister Martha. ^2 (B)It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. ³ Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”

⁴ When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

⁵ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶ So, when He heard that he was sick, ^(C)He stayed two more days in the place where He was. ⁷ Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”

⁸ The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to ^(D)stone You, and are You going there again?”

⁹ Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? ^(E)If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the ^(F)light of this world. ¹⁰ But ^(G)if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” ¹¹ These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus ^(H)sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.”

¹² Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.” ¹³ However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.

¹⁴ Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. ¹⁵ And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him.”

¹⁶ Then ^(I)Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”

I Am the Resurrection and the Life

¹⁷ So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. ¹⁸ Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about ^[a]two miles away. ¹⁹ And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.

²⁰ Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. ²¹ Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now I know that ^(J)whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”

²³ Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

²⁴ Martha said to Him, ^(K)“I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am ^(L)the resurrection and the life. ^(M)He who believes in Me, though he may ^(N)die, he shall live. ²⁶ And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

²⁷ She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, ^(O)I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

Jesus and Death, the Last Enemy

²⁸ And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.” ²⁹ As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him. ³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but ^[b]was in the place where Martha met Him. ^31 (P)Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, ^[c]saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.”

³² Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she ^(Q)fell down at His feet, saying to Him, ^(R)“Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

³³ Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. ³⁴ And He said, “Where have you laid him?”

They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”

^35 (S)Jesus wept. ³⁶ Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”

³⁷ And some of them said, “Could not this Man, ^(T)who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?”

Lazarus Raised from the Dead

³⁸ Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a ^(U)stone lay against it. ³⁹ Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”

Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”

⁴⁰ Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would ^(V)see the glory of God?” ⁴¹ Then they took away the stone ^[d]from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. ⁴² And I know that You always hear Me, but ^(W)because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” ⁴³ Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” ⁴⁴ And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with ^(X)graveclothes, and ^(Y)his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”