Jeremiah 39
Wycliffe Bible
39 In the ninth year of Zedekiah, king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and all his host (and all his army), came to Jerusalem, and they besieged it.
2 Forsooth in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month (on the fifth day of the mouth), the city was opened;
3 and all the princes of the king of Babylon entered, and sat in the middle gate, Nergalsharezer, Samgarnebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris, (another) Nergalsharezer, Rabmag, and all [the] other princes of the king of Babylon. (and all the leaders, or all the officers, of the king of Babylon entered, and sat at the Middle Gate, yea, Nergalsharezer, Samgarnebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris, another Nergalsharezer, Rabmag, and all the other officers of the king of Babylon.)
4 And when Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and all the men warriors had seen them, they fled, and went out by night from the city, by the way of the garden of the king, and by the gate that was betwixt (the) two walls; and they went out to the way of (the) desert.
5 Forsooth the host of Chaldees pursued them, and they took Zedekiah in the field of wilderness of Jericho; and they took him, and brought to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, in Riblah, which is in the land of Hamath; and Nebuchadnezzar spake dooms to him. (And the Chaldean army pursued them, and they took hold of Zedekiah in the field of the Jericho wilderness; and they took him, and brought him to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, in Riblah, which is in the land of Hamath; and Nebuchadnezzar passed judgement upon him/and Nebuchadnezzar spoke out his sentence, or his fate.)
6 And the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah, before his eyes; and the king of Babylon (also) killed all the noble men of Judah.
7 Also he putted out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in fetters, that he should be led into Babylon. (And he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and bound him with fetters, so that he could be led to Babylon.)
8 And [the] Chaldees burnt with fire the house of the king (And the Chaldeans burned down the palace), and the house(s) of the common people, and destroyed the wall of Jerusalem.
9 And Nebuzaradan, the master of knights, translated into Babylon the residues of the people, that dwelled in the city, and the fleers-away, that had fled over to him, and the superfluous men of the common people, that were left. (And Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried away captive to Babylon the rest of the people, who lived in the city, and the fleers-away, who had fled over to him, and the rest of the common people, who were left there.)
10 And Nebuzaradan, the master of knights, left in the land of Judah, of the people of poor men, and gave to them vineries and cisterns in that day. (But Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, left some of the poor people in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and cisterns on that day.)
11 Forsooth Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had commanded of Jeremy to Nebuzaradan, master of the chivalry, and said, (And Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, gave custody of Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, and said,)
12 Take thou him, and set thine eyes on him, and do thou nothing of evil to him; but as he will, so do thou to him (but whatever he desireth, do thou for him).
13 Therefore Nebuzaradan, the prince of the chivalry (And so Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard), sent Nebushazban, and Rabsaris, and Nergalsharezer, and Rabmag, and all the principal men of the king of Babylon,
14 sent, and took Jeremy from the porch of the prison, and they betook him to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, that he should enter into the house, and dwell among the people. (yea, he sent them, and they took Jeremiah from the courtyard of the prison, and they delivered him to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, so that he could go to his house, and live among the people.)
15 Forsooth the word of the Lord was made to Jeremy, when he was closed in the porch of the prison, and said (And the word of the Lord had come to Jeremiah, when he was enclosed in the courtyard of the prison, and said,)
16 Go thou, and say to Ebedmelech (the) Ethiopian, and speak thou, The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, Lo! I shall bring my words on this city into evil, and not into good; and those shall be in thy sight in that day. (Go thou, and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, and say thou, The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saith these things, Lo! I shall bring to pass my words upon this city, for evil, and not for good, and it shall happen before thine eyes on that day.)
17 And I shall deliver thee in that day, saith the Lord, and thou shalt not be betaken into the hands of [the] men, which thou dreadest; (And I shall rescue thee on that day, saith the Lord, and thou shalt not be delivered into the hands of the people, whom thou fearest;)
18 but I delivering shall deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall down by (the) sword; but thy soul shall be into health to thee (but thy soul shall be saved for thee), for thou haddest trust in me, saith the Lord.
Jeremiah 39
Easy-to-Read Version
The Fall of Jerusalem
39 This is how Jerusalem was captured: During the tenth month of the ninth year that Zedekiah was king of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. He surrounded the city to defeat it. 2 And on the ninth day of the fourth month in Zedekiah’s eleventh year, the wall of Jerusalem was broken through. 3 Then all the royal officials of the king of Babylon came into the city of Jerusalem. They came in and sat down at the Middle Gate. These are the names of the officials: Nergal-Sharezer, the governor of the district of Samgar, a very high official; Nebo Sarsekim, another very high official; and various other important officials were there also.
4 King Zedekiah of Judah saw the officials from Babylon, so he and the soldiers with him ran away. They left Jerusalem at night. They went out through the king’s garden and out through the gate that was between the two walls. Then they went toward the desert. 5 The Babylonian army chased Zedekiah and the soldiers with him. They caught up with Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. They captured Zedekiah and took him to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar was at the town of Riblah in the land of Hamath. At that place Nebuchadnezzar decided what to do to Zedekiah. 6 There at the town of Riblah, the king of Babylon killed Zedekiah’s sons and he killed all the royal officials of Judah while Zedekiah watched. 7 Then Nebuchadnezzar tore out Zedekiah’s eyes. He put bronze chains on Zedekiah and took him to Babylon.
8 The army of Babylon set fire to the king’s palace and the houses of the people of Jerusalem. And they broke down the walls of Jerusalem. 9 Nebuzaradan was the commander of the king of Babylon’s special guards. He took all the people who had surrendered to him and all the people still in Jerusalem and made them captives. He carried them away to Babylon. 10 But commander Nebuzaradan left behind some of the poor people of Judah who owned nothing. Nebuzaradan gave them vineyards and farmland in Judah.
11 Nebuchadnezzar also gave an order about Jeremiah to commander Nebuzaradan: 12 “Find Jeremiah and take care of him. Don’t hurt him. Give him whatever he asks for.”
13 So Nebuzaradan, the commander of the king’s special guards, Nebushazban, a chief officer in the army of Babylon, Nergal-Sharezer, a high official, and all the other officers of the army of Babylon sent for Jeremiah. 14 They had Jeremiah taken out of the Temple yard where he had been under the guard of the king of Judah. They turned Jeremiah over to Gedaliah[a] son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan. Gedaliah had orders to take Jeremiah back home. So Jeremiah was taken home, and he stayed among his own people.
The Lord’s Message to Ebed Melech
15 While the guards were watching Jeremiah in the Temple yard, a message from the Lord came to him. This was the message: 16 “Jeremiah, go and tell Ebed Melech[b] the Ethiopian this message: ‘This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of the people of Israel, says: Very soon I will make my messages about this city of Jerusalem come true. My messages will come true through disaster, not through something good. You will see everything come true with your own eyes. 17 But I will save you on that day, Ebed Melech.’ This is the message from the Lord. ‘You will not be given to the people you are afraid of. 18 I will save you, Ebed Melech. You will not die from a sword, but you will escape and live. That will happen because you have trusted in me.’” This message is from the Lord.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 39:14 Gedaliah Gedaliah was the man who Nebuchadnezzar appointed as his governor for the land of Judah.
- Jeremiah 39:16 Ebed Melech See Jer. 38:7-13.
2001 by Terence P. Noble
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International