Jeremiah Thrown into a Cistern

38 Now Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jucal^[a] son of Shelemiah,^(A) and Pashhur son of Malchijah heard the words Jeremiah was speaking to all the people: ² “This is what the Lord says: ‘Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine, and plague,^(B) but whoever surrenders to the Chaldeans will live.^(C) He will retain his life like the spoils of war and will live.’^{(D) 3} This is what the Lord says: ‘This city will most certainly be handed over to the king of Babylon’s army,^(E) and he will capture it.’”

⁴ The officials then said to the king, “This man ought to die, because he is weakening the morale^[b] of the warriors who remain in this city and of all the people by speaking to them in this way. This man is not pursuing the welfare of this people, but their harm.”^(F)

⁵ King Zedekiah said, “Here he is; he’s in your hands since the king can’t do anything against you.” ⁶ So they took Jeremiah and dropped him into the cistern of Malchiah the king’s son, which was in the guard’s courtyard, lowering Jeremiah with ropes. There was no water in the cistern, only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.^(G)

⁷ But Ebed-melech, a Cushite court official in the king’s palace, heard Jeremiah had been put into the cistern. While the king was sitting at the Benjamin Gate,^{(H) 8} Ebed-melech went from the king’s palace and spoke to the king: ⁹ “My lord the king, these men have been evil in all they have done to the prophet Jeremiah. They have dropped him into the cistern where he will die from hunger, because there is no more bread in the city.”^(I)

¹⁰ So the king commanded Ebed-melech, the Cushite, “Take from here thirty men under your authority^[c] and pull the prophet Jeremiah up from the cistern before he dies.”

¹¹ So Ebed-melech took the men under his authority^[d] and went to the king’s palace to a place below the storehouse.^[e] From there he took old rags and worn-out clothes and lowered them by ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern. ¹² Ebed-melech the Cushite called down to Jeremiah, “Place these old rags and clothes between your armpits and the ropes.” Jeremiah did this. ¹³ They pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern, but he remained in the guard’s courtyard.

Zedekiah’s Final Meeting with Jeremiah

¹⁴ King Zedekiah sent for the prophet Jeremiah and received him at the third entrance of the Lord’s temple. The king said to Jeremiah, “I am going to ask you something; don’t hide anything from me.”

¹⁵ Jeremiah replied to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, you will kill me, won’t you? Besides, if I give you advice, you won’t listen to me anyway.”

¹⁶ King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah in private,^(J) “As the Lord lives, who has given us this life,^(K) I will not kill you or hand you over to these men who intend to take your life.”

¹⁷ Jeremiah therefore said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘If indeed you surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon,^(L) then you will live, this city will not be burned, and you and your household will survive. ¹⁸ But if you do not surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city will be handed over to the Chaldeans.^(M) They will burn it, and you yourself will not escape from them.’”

¹⁹ But King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am worried about the Judeans who have defected to the Chaldeans. They may hand me over to the Judeans to abuse me.”^(N)

²⁰ “They will not hand you over,” Jeremiah replied. “Obey the Lord in what I am telling you, so it may go well for you and you can live. ²¹ But if you refuse to surrender, this is the verdict^[f] that the Lord has shown me: ²² ‘All the women^[g] who remain in the palace of Judah’s king will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon and will say to you,^[h]

²³ All your wives and children will be brought out to the Chaldeans.^(O) You yourself will not escape from them, for you will be seized by the king of Babylon and this city will burn.’”

²⁴ Then Zedekiah warned Jeremiah, “Don’t let anyone know about this conversation^[k] or you will die. ²⁵ The officials may hear that I have spoken with you^(P) and come and demand of you, ‘Tell us what you said to the king; don’t hide anything from us and we won’t kill you. Also, what did the king say to you?’ ²⁶ If they do, tell them, ‘I was bringing before the king my petition that he not return me to the house of Jonathan to die there.’”^{(Q) 27} All the officials did come to Jeremiah, and they questioned him. He reported the exact words to them the king had commanded, and they quit speaking with him because the conversation^[l] had not been overheard. ²⁸ Jeremiah remained in the guard’s courtyard until the day Jerusalem was captured, and he was there when it happened.^[m]

The Fall of Jerusalem to Babylon

39 In the ninth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, in the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem with his entire army and laid siege to it.^{(A) 2} In the fourth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year, on the ninth day of the month, the city was broken into.^{(B) 3} All the officials of the king of Babylon entered and sat at the Middle Gate: Nergal-sharezer, Samgar, Nebusarsechim^[a] the chief of staff, Nergal-sharezer the chief soothsayer, and all the rest of the officials of Babylon’s king.^(C)

⁴ When King Zedekiah of Judah and all the fighting men saw them, they fled. They left the city at night by way of the king’s garden^(D) through the city gate between the two walls. They left along the route to the Arabah.^{(E) 5} However, the Chaldean army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. They arrested him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon’s king, at Riblah in the land of Hamath. The king passed sentence on him there.^(F)

⁶ At Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes, and he also slaughtered all Judah’s nobles. ⁷ Then he blinded Zedekiah and put him in bronze chains to take him to Babylon.^{(G) 8} The Chaldeans next burned down the king’s palace and the people’s houses and tore down the walls of Jerusalem.^{(H) 9} Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guards,^(I) deported the rest of the people to Babylon—those who had remained in the city and those deserters who had defected to him along with the rest of the people who remained. ¹⁰ However, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guards, left in the land of Judah some of the poor people who owned nothing, and he gave them vineyards and fields at that time.^(J)

Nebuchadnezzar’s Siege of Jerusalem

25 In the ninth year^(A) of Zedekiah’s reign,^(B) on the tenth day of the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem with his entire army.^(C) They laid siege to the city and built a siege wall against it all around.^{(D) 2} The city was under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year.

³ By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that the common people had no food.^{(E) 4} Then the city was broken into,^(F) and all the warriors fled^(G) at night by way of the city gate between the two walls near the king’s garden,^(H) even though the Chaldeans surrounded the city. As the king made his way along the route to the Arabah,^{(I) 5} the Chaldean army pursued him and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. Zedekiah’s entire army left him and scattered.^{(J) 6} The Chaldeans seized the king^(K) and brought him up to the king of Babylon^(L) at Riblah,^(M) and they passed sentence on him. ⁷ They slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes. Finally, the king of Babylon blinded Zedekiah, bound him in bronze chains, and took him to Babylon.^(N)

Jerusalem Destroyed

⁸ On^(O) the seventh day of the fifth month—which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon—Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guards, a servant of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem.^{(P) 9} He burned the Lord’s temple,^(Q) the king’s palace,^(R) and all the houses of Jerusalem; he burned down^(S) all the great houses. ¹⁰ The whole Chaldean army with the captain of the guards tore down the walls^(T) surrounding Jerusalem. ¹¹ Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guards, deported the rest of the people who remained in the city, the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the population.^{(U) 12} But the captain of the guards left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and farmers.^(V)

¹³ Now^(W) the Chaldeans broke into pieces the bronze pillars^(X) of the Lord’s temple, the water carts, and the bronze basin,^[a](Y) which were in the Lord’s temple, and carried the bronze to Babylon.^{(Z) 14} They also took the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, dishes, and all the bronze articles used in the priests’ service.^{(AA) 15} The captain of the guards took away the firepans and sprinkling basins—whatever was gold or silver.^(AB)

¹⁰ In the spring^[a](A) Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and brought him to Babylon along with the valuable articles of the Lord’s temple. Then he made Jehoiachin’s brother Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.^(B)

Judah’s King Zedekiah

¹¹ Zedekiah was twenty-one years old^(C) when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. ¹² He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God and did not humble himself^(D) before the prophet Jeremiah at the Lord’s command.^{(E) 13} He also rebelled against^(F) King Nebuchadnezzar who had made him swear allegiance by God. He became obstinate^[b](G) and hardened his heart against returning to the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁴ All the leaders of the priests and the people multiplied their unfaithful deeds, imitating all the detestable practices of the nations, and they defiled the Lord’s temple that he had consecrated in Jerusalem.

The Destruction of Jerusalem

¹⁵ But the Lord, the God of their ancestors sent word against them by the hand of his messengers, sending them time and time again,^(H) for he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. ¹⁶ But they kept ridiculing God’s messengers,^(I) despising his words,^(J) and scoffing at his prophets, until the Lord’s wrath was so stirred up against his people that there was no remedy.^{(K) 17} So he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans,^(L) who killed their fit young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary. He had no pity on young men or young women, elderly or aged; he handed them all over to him. ¹⁸ He took everything to Babylon—all the articles of God’s temple, large and small, the treasures of the Lord’s temple, and the treasures of the king and his officials. ¹⁹ Then the Chaldeans burned God’s temple.^(M) They tore down Jerusalem’s wall, burned all its palaces, and destroyed all its valuable articles.

²⁰ He deported those who escaped from the sword to Babylon, and they became servants to him and his sons until the rise of the Persian^[c] kingdom.^(N)

Terrors of the Besieged City

א Aleph

ב Beth

ג Gimel

ד Daleth

ה He

ו Waw

ז Zayin

ח Cheth

ט Teth

י Yod

כ Kaph

ל Lamed

מ Mem

נ Nun

ס Samek

פ Pe

ע Ayin

צ Tsade

ק Qoph

ר Resh

שׂ Sin

ת Taw