Beginning
Jeremiah Is Imprisoned in a Cistern
38 Shephatiah son of Mattah, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehucal[a] son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malkijah heard what Jeremiah had told the people when he said, 2 “This is what the Lord says. Whoever remains in this city will die by sword, famine, and plague, but whoever goes over to the Chaldeans will live. He will escape with his life, and he will live. 3 This is what the Lord says. This city will surely be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.”
4 Then the officials said to the king, “This man should be put to death because he is demoralizing the soldiers who are left in the city. He is demoralizing all the people by saying these things to them. This man is not seeking the welfare of the people. He wants to hurt them.”
5 King Zedekiah answered, “Very well. He is in your hands. The king cannot do anything to stop you.”
6 So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Malkijah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They let Jeremiah down by ropes. There was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.
7 Ebed Melek the Cushite,[b] an official in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the cistern. While the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate, 8 Ebed Melek left the palace and said to the king, 9 “My lord the king, everything that these men have done to Jeremiah the prophet is evil. They have thrown him into a cistern, where he is likely to die because of the famine, for there is no more bread in the city.”
10 Then the king gave orders to Ebed Melek the Cushite: “Take thirty men from here under your command and lift Jeremiah the prophet up out of the cistern before he dies.”
11 So Ebed Melek took command of the men and entered a room under the treasury in the palace. He took some old rags and worn-out clothing from there, and he lowered them with ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern. 12 Ebed Melek the Cushite said to Jeremiah, “Put these rags and worn-out clothes under your arms to pad the ropes.” After Jeremiah did that, 13 they lifted him up with the ropes and pulled him out of the cistern. After this Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
14 King Zedekiah then sent for Jeremiah and brought him to the third entrance of the temple of the Lord. He said to Jeremiah, “I am going to ask you something. Do not hide anything from me.”
15 Jeremiah replied, “Won’t you put me to death if I tell you the truth? If I give you advice, you won’t listen to me.”
16 So King Zedekiah swore a secret oath to Jeremiah: “As surely as the Lord lives, who gave us our lives, I will not put you to death, and I will not hand you over to the men who seek your life.”
17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “The Lord, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says: If you surrender to the Babylonian king’s officials, your life will be spared, and this city will not be burned. You will live, and your family will live. 18 But if you will not surrender to the Babylonian king’s officials, then this city will be handed over to the Chaldeans. They will burn it down, and you will not escape from their hands.”
19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have defected to the Chaldeans. The Chaldeans may turn me over to them, and they will torture me.”
20 But Jeremiah said, “They will not turn you over to them. Please obey the Lord by doing what I tell you. It will go well with you, and your life will be spared. 21 But if you refuse to surrender, this is what the Lord has revealed to me. 22 All the women who are left in the palace of the king of Judah will certainly be brought out to the officials of the Babylonian king. Those women will say to you, ‘Those trusted friends of yours misled you and led you to defeat. Your feet have sunk down into the mud, and they all have deserted you.’ 23 They will bring all your wives and children to the Chaldeans. You yourself will not escape their grasp. You will be seized by the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned down.”
24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “If you do not let anyone know about this conversation, you will not die. 25 But if the officials hear that I have spoken with you, they will come and ask you, ‘Tell us what you said to the king. Do not hide it from us, and we will not put you to death—just tell us what the king said to you.’ 26 Tell them, ‘I was humbly begging the king not to return me to the house of Jonathan to die there.’”
27 All the officials then came to Jeremiah. When they began to question him, he said everything just the way the king had commanded. Then they stopped questioning him, since no one had heard the conversation.
28 So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured. He was still there when Jerusalem fell.
The Fall of Jerusalem
39 In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem with his whole army and laid siege to it. 2 In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city wall. 3 All the officers of the king of Babylon entered and sat down in the middle gate: Nergal Sharezer the staff officer,[c] Nebo Sarsekim a chief officer,[d] Nergal Sharezer a high official,[e] and all the other officials of the king of Babylon. 4 When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled and left the city at night by way of the king’s garden through the gate between the two walls. Then they went toward the Arabah.
5 But the Chaldean army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains by Jericho. After they had captured him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath and passed judgment on him. 6 The king of Babylon killed Zedekiah’s sons in front of his eyes at Riblah, and he also killed the nobles of Judah. 7 Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him with bronze shackles and sent him to Babylon. 8 The Chaldeans burned down the king’s palace and the houses of the people. They also broke down the walls of Jerusalem. 9 Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard,[f] carried into exile the rest of the people who remained in the city, along with those who had deserted, as well as the rest of the people. 10 But Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people, who owned nothing, and he then gave them vineyards and fields.
Jeremiah Is Released
11 Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave orders to Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, concerning Jeremiah. He said, 12 “Take him, look after him, and do him no harm. Do for him whatever he wants.”
13 So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, Nebushazban the chief officer,[g] Nergal Sharezer a high official,[h] and all the other officials of the king of Babylon 14 sent for Jeremiah and had him taken out of the courtyard of the guard. They entrusted him to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, to take him to his house. So he remained among his people.
15 While Jeremiah had still been imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the Lord had come to him: 16 “Go and tell Ebed Melek the Cushite that this is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says. Watch, I am going to fulfill my words against this city for evil and not for good. They are going to be fulfilled before your eyes. 17 But I will deliver you on that day, declares the Lord, and you will not be handed over to those you fear. 18 I will certainly save you. You will not fall by the sword. You will escape with your life, because you have put your trust in me, declares the Lord.”
Jeremiah Is Set Free
40 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah after Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had released him at Ramah. Jeremiah had been captured and bound in chains with all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah who were being carried into exile in Babylon. 2 When the captain of the guard found Jeremiah, he said to him, “The Lord your God pronounced this disaster on this place, 3 and the Lord has brought it about and has done what he said he would do. This took place because you people[i] sinned against the Lord and did not obey him. 4 But now, today, I am removing the chains from your wrists. If you wish, come with me to Babylon. I will take care of you. But if this does not seem good to you, then don’t come. The whole land is before you. If there is a place that seems good and right to you, go there.” 5 But before Jeremiah turned away, he added, “Or you can go to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan. The king of Babylon has made him governor over the cities of Judah. You can live with him among the people. Go wherever it seems right for you to go.”
Then the commander of the guard gave him a gift and some food and released him. 6 Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah and lived with him among the people who had been left behind in the land.
Gedaliah Is Assassinated
7 All the army officers who were still in the field and all their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam to be governor of the land, and that he had given him authority over the men, women, children, and over the poorest people of the land—those who were not carried away into exile in Babylon. 8 They and their men went to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Ja’azaniah[j] the son of the Ma’acathite. 9 Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, swore an oath in the presence of them and their men. He said, “Do not be afraid of the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you. 10 As for me, I will certainly stay at Mizpah to represent you before the Chaldeans who come to us. As for you, store up wine, summer fruit, and oil, put it into your jars, and live in the towns you have taken over.”
11 When all the Jews who were in Moab, among the Ammonites, in Edom, and in other lands heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah, and that he had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, over them, 12 all those Jews returned from all the places they had been scattered. They returned to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah. There they stored up a large amount of wine and summer fruit.
13 Then Johanan son of Kareah and the army officers who were still in the field came to Gedaliah at Mizpah 14 and said to him, “Do you know that Baalis king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to assassinate you?” But Gedaliah son of Ahikam did not believe them.
15 Then Johanan son of Kareah spoke secretly to Gedaliah at Mizpah, “I urge you, let me go and kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah. No one will know. Why should he assassinate you and cause all the Jews who are gathered around you to be scattered and the remnant of Judah to perish?”
16 But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, “Do not do this! What you are saying about Ishmael is false.”
41 In the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, a descendant of the royal family and one of the chief officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah. While they were eating a meal together there, 2 Ishmael son of Nethaniah got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, with a sword, killing the man the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land. 3 Ishmael also struck down all the Jews who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah and also the Chaldean soldiers they found there.
4 The next day, the day after Gedaliah was assassinated, before anyone knew about it, 5 men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria—eighty men in all—with their beards shaved, their clothing torn, and their bodies gashed.[k] They came bringing grain offerings and incense to the House of the Lord. 6 Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he came. As he met them he said, “Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam.” 7 When they got to the middle of the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men with him began to kill them, throwing their bodies into a cistern. 8 But ten of them said to Ishmael, “Don’t kill us! We have food hidden in the countryside: wheat, barley, oil, and honey!”
So he stopped and did not murder them along with the others. 9 Now the cistern into which Ishmael threw all the dead bodies of the murdered men was a large one,[l] which had been built by King Asa to defend against Ba’asha king of Israel. Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with the murdered men.
10 Then Ishmael made prisoners of all the people who were left in Mizpah, including the king’s daughters and the others who were left there in Mizpah—people whom Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, had placed under the care of Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them as prisoners and set out to cross over to the Ammonites.
11 But when Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers with him heard about all the crimes that Ishmael son of Nethaniah had committed, 12 they took all of their men and went to attack Ishmael son of Nethaniah. They caught up with him by the great pool at Gibeon. 13 When all the people with Ishmael saw Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him, they were glad. 14 All of the people whom Ishmael had taken prisoner turned back and went to Johanan son of Kareah. 15 But Ishmael son of Nethaniah and eight of his men escaped from Johanan and went over to the Ammonites.
16 Then Johanan son of Kareah and the army officers with him took all the survivors from Mizpah, whom he had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after Ishmael had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam—the soldiers, the women, the children, and the court officials that Johanan had brought back from Gibeon. 17 They left there and stayed at Geruth Kimham near Bethlehem. They were on the way to Egypt 18 because they were afraid of the Chaldeans, since Ishmael son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.