“Inquire(A) now of the Lord for us because Nebuchadnezzar[a](B) king of Babylon(C) is attacking us. Perhaps the Lord will perform wonders(D) for us as in times past so that he will withdraw from us.”

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 21:2 Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, of which Nebuchadnezzar is a variant; here and often in Jeremiah and Ezekiel

King Zedekiah, however, sent(A) Jehukal(B) son of Shelemiah with the priest Zephaniah(C) son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah the prophet with this message: “Please pray(D) to the Lord our God for us.”

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Rebellious Israel Purged

20 In the seventh year, in the fifth month on the tenth day, some of the elders of Israel came to inquire(A) of the Lord, and they sat down in front of me.(B)

Then the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, speak to the elders(C) of Israel and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Have you come to inquire(D) of me? As surely as I live, I will not let you inquire of me, declares the Sovereign Lord.(E)

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“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire(A) of me, ‘Pharaoh’s army, which has marched(B) out to support you, will go back to its own land, to Egypt.(C)

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“I have heard you,” replied Jeremiah the prophet. “I will certainly pray(A) to the Lord your God as you have requested; I will tell(B) you everything the Lord says and will keep nothing back from you.”(C)

Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true(D) and faithful(E) witness(F) against us if we do not act in accordance with everything the Lord your God sends you to tell us. Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the Lord our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it will go well(G) with us, for we will obey(H) the Lord our God.”

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Psalm 44[a]

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A maskil.[b]

We have heard it with our ears,(A) O God;
    our ancestors have told us(B)
what you did in their days,
    in days long ago.(C)
With your hand you drove out(D) the nations
    and planted(E) our ancestors;
you crushed(F) the peoples
    and made our ancestors flourish.(G)
It was not by their sword(H) that they won the land,
    nor did their arm bring them victory;
it was your right hand,(I) your arm,(J)
    and the light(K) of your face, for you loved(L) them.

You are my King(M) and my God,(N)
    who decrees[c] victories(O) for Jacob.

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 44:1 In Hebrew texts 44:1-26 is numbered 44:2-27.
  2. Psalm 44:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
  3. Psalm 44:4 Septuagint, Aquila and Syriac; Hebrew King, O God; / command

and Jeroboam said to his wife, “Go, disguise yourself, so you won’t be recognized as the wife of Jeroboam. Then go to Shiloh. Ahijah(A) the prophet is there—the one who told me I would be king over this people. Take ten loaves of bread(B) with you, some cakes and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.”

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15 Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?”

“I am in great distress,” Saul said. “The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has departed(A) from me. He no longer answers(B) me, either by prophets or by dreams.(C) So I have called on you to tell me what to do.”

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He inquired(A) of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him by dreams(B) or Urim(C) or prophets.(D)

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“Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts(A) and put wicked stumbling blocks(B) before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all?(C) Therefore speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When any of the Israelites set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling block before their faces and then go to a prophet, I the Lord will answer them myself in keeping with their great idolatry. I will do this to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel, who have all deserted(D) me for their idols.’(E)

“Therefore say to the people of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Repent!(F) Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices!(G)

“‘When any of the Israelites or any foreigner(H) residing in Israel separate themselves from me and set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling block(I) before their faces and then go to a prophet to inquire(J) of me, I the Lord will answer them myself.

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It was because of the Lord’s anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah,(A) and in the end he thrust them from his presence.(B)

Now Zedekiah rebelled(C) against the king of Babylon.

So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth(D) day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem(E) with his whole army. They encamped outside the city and built siege works(F) all around it.(G) The city was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.

By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat.(H)

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39 In the ninth year of Zedekiah(A) king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar(B) king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army and laid siege(C) to it. And on the ninth day of the fourth(D) month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year, the city wall(E) was broken through.(F)

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Zedekiah Questions Jeremiah Again

14 Then King Zedekiah sent(A) for Jeremiah the prophet and had him brought to the third entrance to the temple of the Lord. “I am going to ask you something,” the king said to Jeremiah. “Do not hide(B) anything from me.”

15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I give you an answer, will you not kill me? Even if I did give you counsel, you would not listen to me.”

16 But King Zedekiah swore this oath secretly(C) to Jeremiah: “As surely as the Lord lives, who has given us breath,(D) I will neither kill you nor hand you over to those who want to kill you.”(E)

17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you surrender(F) to the officers of the king of Babylon, your life will be spared and this city will not be burned down; you and your family will live.(G) 18 But if you will not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be given into the hands(H) of the Babylonians and they will burn(I) it down; you yourself will not escape(J) from them.’”

19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid(K) of the Jews who have gone over(L) to the Babylonians, for the Babylonians may hand me over to them and they will mistreat me.”

20 “They will not hand you over,” Jeremiah replied. “Obey(M) the Lord by doing what I tell you. Then it will go well(N) with you, and your life(O) will be spared. 21 But if you refuse to surrender, this is what the Lord has revealed to me: 22 All the women(P) left in the palace of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon. Those women will say to you:

“‘They misled you and overcame you—
    those trusted friends(Q) of yours.
Your feet are sunk in the mud;(R)
    your friends have deserted you.’

23 “All your wives and children(S) will be brought out to the Babylonians. You yourself will not escape(T) from their hands but will be captured(U) by the king of Babylon; and this city will[a] be burned down.”(V)

24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Do not let anyone know(W) about this conversation, or you may die. 25 If the officials hear that I talked with you, and they come to you and say, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you; do not hide it from us or we will kill you,’ 26 then tell(X) them, ‘I was pleading with the king not to send me back to Jonathan’s house(Y) to die there.’”

27 All the officials did come to Jeremiah and question him, and he told them everything the king had ordered him to say. So they said no more to him, for no one had heard his conversation with the king.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 38:23 Or and you will cause this city to

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