Zedekiah Consults Jeremiah Again

¹⁴ King Zedeki′ah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and received him at the third entrance of the temple of the Lord. The king said to Jeremiah, “I will ask you a question; hide nothing from me.” ¹⁵ Jeremiah said to Zedeki′ah, “If I tell you, will you not be sure to put me to death? And if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me.” ¹⁶ Then King Zedeki′ah swore secretly to Jeremiah, “As the Lord lives, who made our souls, I will not put you to death or deliver you into the hand of these men who seek your life.”

¹⁷ Then Jeremiah said to Zedeki′ah, “Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, If you will surrender to the princes of the king of Babylon, then your life shall be spared, and this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live. ¹⁸ But if you do not surrender to the princes of the king of Babylon, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chalde′ans, and they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape from their hand.” ¹⁹ King Zedeki′ah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have deserted to the Chalde′ans, lest I be handed over to them and they abuse me.” ²⁰ Jeremiah said, “You shall not be given to them. Obey now the voice of the Lord in what I say to you, and it shall be well with you, and your life shall be spared. ²¹ But if you refuse to surrender, this is the vision which the Lord has shown to me: ²² Behold, all the women left in the house of the king of Judah were being led out to the princes of the king of Babylon and were saying,

²³ All your wives and your sons shall be led out to the Chalde′ans, and you yourself shall not escape from their hand, but shall be seized by the king of Babylon; and this city shall be burned with fire.”

²⁴ Then Zedeki′ah said to Jeremiah, “Let no one know of these words and you shall not die. ²⁵ If the princes hear that I have spoken with you and come to you and say to you, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you; hide nothing from us and we will not put you to death,’ ²⁶ then you shall say to them, ‘I made a humble plea to the king that he would not send me back to the house of Jonathan to die there.’” ²⁷ Then all the princes came to Jeremiah and asked him, and he answered them as the king had instructed him. So they left off speaking with him, for the conversation had not been overheard. ²⁸ And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.

Shining as Lights in the World

¹² Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; ¹³ for God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

¹⁴ Do all things without grumbling or questioning, ¹⁵ that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, ¹⁶ holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. ¹⁷ Even if I am to be poured as a libation upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. ¹⁸ Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.

Timothy and Epaphroditus

¹⁹ I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I may be cheered by news of you. ²⁰ I have no one like him, who will be genuinely anxious for your welfare. ²¹ They all look after their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. ²² But Timothy’s worth you know, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel. ²³ I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me; ²⁴ and I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself shall come also.

²⁵ I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphrodi′tus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, ²⁶ for he has been longing for you all, and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. ²⁷ Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. ²⁸ I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. ²⁹ So receive him in the Lord with all joy; and honor such men, ³⁰ for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete your service to me.

The Fall of Jerusalem

39 In the ninth year of Zedeki′ah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadrez′zar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and besieged it; ² in the eleventh year of Zedeki′ah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city. ³ When Jerusalem was taken,^[a] all the princes of the king of Babylon came and sat in the middle gate: Ner′gal-share′zer, Sam′gar-ne′bo, Sar′sechim the Rab′saris, Ner′gal-share′zer the Rabmag, with all the rest of the officers of the king of Babylon. ⁴ When Zedeki′ah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled, going out of the city at night by way of the king’s garden through the gate between the two walls; and they went toward the Arabah. ⁵ But the army of the Chalde′ans pursued them, and overtook Zedeki′ah in the plains of Jericho; and when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadrez′zar king of Babylon, at Riblah, in the land of Hamath; and he passed sentence upon him. ⁶ The king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedeki′ah at Riblah before his eyes; and the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah. ⁷ He put out the eyes of Zedeki′ah, and bound him in fetters to take him to Babylon. ⁸ The Chalde′ans burned the king’s house and the house of the people, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem. ⁹ Then Nebu′zarad′an, the captain of the guard, carried into exile to Babylon the rest of the people who were left in the city, those who had deserted to him, and the people who remained. ¹⁰ Nebu′zarad′an, the captain of the guard, left in the land of Judah some of the poor people who owned nothing, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.

Jeremiah, Set Free, Remembers Ebed-melech

¹¹ Nebuchadrez′zar king of Babylon gave command concerning Jeremiah through Nebu′zarad′an, the captain of the guard, saying, ¹² “Take him, look after him well and do him no harm, but deal with him as he tells you.” ¹³ So Nebu′zarad′an the captain of the guard, Nebushaz′ban the Rab′saris, Ner′gal-share′zer the Rabmag, and all the chief officers of the king of Babylon ¹⁴ sent and took Jeremiah from the court of the guard. They entrusted him to Gedali′ah the son of Ahi′kam, son of Shaphan, that he should take him home. So he dwelt among the people.

¹⁵ The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah while he was shut up in the court of the guard: ¹⁶ “Go, and say to E′bed-mel′ech the Ethiopian, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will fulfil my words against this city for evil and not for good, and they shall be accomplished before you on that day. ¹⁷ But I will deliver you on that day, says the Lord, and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid. ¹⁸ For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword; but you shall have your life as a prize of war, because you have put your trust in me, says the Lord.’”

The Plot to Kill Jesus

⁴⁵ Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him; ⁴⁶ but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. ⁴⁷ So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council, and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. ⁴⁸ If we let him go on thus, every one will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place^[a] and our nation.” ⁴⁹ But one of them, Ca′iaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all; ⁵⁰ you do not understand that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish.” ⁵¹ He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation, ⁵² and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. ⁵³ So from that day on they took counsel how to put him to death.

⁵⁴ Jesus therefore no longer went about openly among the Jews, but went from there to the country near the wilderness, to a town called E′phraim; and there he stayed with the disciples.

⁵⁵ Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves. ⁵⁶ They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast?” ⁵⁷ Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if any one knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.