The Fall of Jerusalem

39 This is how Jerusalem was captured: Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army and ·surrounded the city to attack it [^Lbesieged it]. This was during the tenth month of the ninth year Zedekiah was king of Judah [^CJanuary 588 bc; 52:4]. ² This lasted until the ninth day of the fourth month in Zedekiah’s eleventh year [^CJuly 18, 586 bc]. Then the city wall was ·broken through [breached]. ³ And all these officers of the king of Babylon came [^Cinto Jerusalem] and sat down at the Middle Gate: Nergal-Sharezer ·of the district of Samgar [or Samgar-nebo]; Nebo-Sarsekim, a chief ·officer [or eunuch]; Nergal-Sharezer, ·an important leader [or the Rabmag]; and all the other important officers.

⁴ When Zedekiah king of Judah and all his soldiers saw them, they ·ran away [fled]. They ·left [went out of] Jerusalem at night and went out ·from [^Lby way of] the king’s garden. They went through the gate that was between the two walls and then headed toward the ·Jordan Valley [^LArabah]. ⁵ But the ·Babylonian [^LChaldean] army ·chased [pursued] them and ·caught up with [overtook] Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. They captured him and took him to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was at the town of Riblah in the land of Hamath [^Cnorth of Israel, in Syria]. There Nebuchadnezzar passed ·his sentence [judgment] on Zedekiah. ⁶ At Riblah the king of Babylon ·killed [slaughtered] Zedekiah’s sons and all the ·important officers [nobles] of Judah ·as Zedekiah watched [^Lbefore his eyes]. ⁷ Then he ·put out [blinded] Zedekiah’s eyes. He put bronze chains on Zedekiah and took him to Babylon.

⁸ The ·Babylonians [^LChaldeans] ·set fire to [^Lburned with fire] the ·palace [^Lhouse of the king] and to the houses of the people, and they ·broke [tore] down the walls around Jerusalem. ⁹ Nebuzaradan, commander of the king’s special guards, took the people left in Jerusalem, those captives who had ·surrendered [deserted; defected; ^Lfell] to him earlier, and the rest of the people of Jerusalem, and he ·took them all away [exiled them all] to Babylon. ¹⁰ But Nebuzaradan, commander of the guard, left some of the poorest people of Judah behind. They owned nothing, but that day he gave them vineyards and fields.

¹¹ Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had ·given these orders [commanded] about Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan, commander of the guard: ¹² “Find Jeremiah and take care of him. Do not ·hurt [do evil to] him, but do for him whatever he asks you.” ¹³ So Nebuchadnezzar sent these men for Jeremiah: Nebuzaradan, commander of the guards; Nebushazban, a chief ·officer [or eunuch]; Nergal-Sharezer, ·an important leader [or the Rabmag]; and all the other officers of the king of Babylon. ¹⁴ They had Jeremiah taken out of the courtyard of the guard. Then they turned him over to Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan [^Cthe new governor of the Babylonian province of Judah; 40:5], who had orders to take Jeremiah back home. So they took him home, and he stayed among the people left in Judah.

¹⁵ While Jeremiah was guarded in the courtyard, the Lord spoke his word to him: ¹⁶ “Jeremiah, go and tell Ebed-Melech the Cushite [^CEthiopian; 38:7–13] this message: ‘This is what the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; ^Tof hosts], the God of Israel, says: Very soon I will make my words about this city [^CJerusalem] come true ·through [for] ·disaster [evil; trouble], not ·through [for] ·good times [good]. You will see everything come true with your own eyes. ¹⁷ But I will ·save [rescue; deliver ] you on that day, Ebed-Melech, says the Lord. You will not be handed over to the people you fear. ¹⁸ I will surely ·save [rescue] you [^CEbed-Melech]. You will not ·die from [^Lfall by] a sword, but ·you will escape and live [^Lyour life will be plunder]. This will happen because you have ·trusted [confidence] in me, says the Lord.’”