Beginning

38 ¶ Then Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur the son of Malchiah, heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken unto all the people, saying,

² Thus hath the LORD said, He that remains in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, but he that goes forth to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life for a prey and shall live.

³ Thus hath the LORD said, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which shall take it.

⁴ Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakens the hands of the men of war that remain in this city and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them; for this man does not seek the peace of this people, but the hurt.

⁵ Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand, for the king can not do any thing against you.

⁶ Then they took Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the guard: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire; so Jeremiah sunk in the mire.

⁷ Now when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs which was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon; the king was then sitting in the gate of Benjamin,

⁸ Ebedmelech went forth out of the king’s house and spoke to the king, saying,

⁹ My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon; and he is like to die for hunger in the place where he is, for there is no more bread in the city.

¹⁰ Then the king commanded Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from here thirty men with thee and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon before he dies.

¹¹ So Ebedmelech took the men with him and went into the house of the king under the treasury and took from there old cast clouts and old rotten rags and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah.

¹² And Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, Put now these old cast clouts and rotten rags under thine armholes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so.

¹³ So they drew up Jeremiah with cords and took him up out of the dungeon; and Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

¹⁴ ¶ Then Zedekiah the king sent and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him into the third entry that is in the house of the LORD: and the king said unto Jeremiah, I will ask thee a word; hide nothing from me.

¹⁵ Then Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, If I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death? and if I give thee counsel, thou wilt not hearken unto me.

¹⁶ So Zedekiah the king swore secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, As the LORD lives, that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee into the hand of these men that seek thy life.

¹⁷ Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus hath the LORD, the God of the hosts, the God of Israel said: If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon’s princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house:

¹⁸ but if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand.

¹⁹ And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me.

²⁰ But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver thee. Hear now the voice of the LORD, which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live.

²¹ But if thou refuse to go forth, this is the word that the LORD hath showed me:

²² and, behold, all the women that are left in the king of Judah’s house shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, and those women shall say, Thy friends have deceived thee and have prevailed against thee; thy feet are sunk in the mire, and they are turned away back.

²³ So they shall bring out all thy wives and thy children to the Chaldeans; and thou shalt not escape out of their hand but shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon; and thou shalt cause this city to be burned with fire.

²⁴ Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words, and thou shalt not die.

²⁵ But if the princes hear that I have talked with thee, and they come unto thee, and say unto thee, Declare unto us now what thou hast said unto the king, hide it not from us, and we will not put thee to death; also what the king said unto thee:

²⁶ then thou shalt say unto them, I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan’s house, to die there.

²⁷ Then all the princes came unto Jeremiah, and asked him: and he told them according to all those words that the king had commanded. So they left off speaking with him; for the matter was not perceived.

²⁸ So Jeremiah abode in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken; and he was there when Jerusalem was taken.

39 ¶ In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem, and they besieged it.

² And in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, the city was broken up.

³ And all the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate even Nergalsharezer, Samgarnebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris, Nergalsharezer, Rabmag, with all the residue of the princes of the king of Babylon.

⁴ And it came to pass, that when Zedekiah the king of Judah saw them and all the men of war, then they fled and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the king’s garden, by the gate between the two walls; and the king went out by the way of the desert.

⁵ But the Chaldeans’ army pursued after them, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he sentenced him.

⁶ Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes; also the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah.

⁷ Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him with chains, to carry him to Babylon.

⁸ And the Chaldeans burned the king’s house and the houses of the people with fire and broke down the walls of Jerusalem.

⁹ Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive into Babylon the remnant of the people that remained in the city, and those that had come over to him, with the rest of the people that remained.

¹⁰ But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the people, which had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.

¹¹ ¶ Now Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, saying,

¹² Take him, and look well to him and do him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee.

¹³ So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard sent, and Nebushasban, Rabsaris, and Nergalsharezer, Rabmag, and all the king of Babylon’s princes;

¹⁴ even they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the guard, and committed him unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, that he should carry him home: so he dwelt among the people.

¹⁵ Now the word of the LORD had come unto Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the prison, saying,

¹⁶ Go and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus hath the LORD of the hosts, the God of Israel said: Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished in that day before thee.

¹⁷ But I will deliver thee in that day, said the LORD, and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid.

¹⁸ For I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey unto thee, because thou hast put thy trust in me, said the LORD.

40 ¶ The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all that were carried away captive of Jerusalem and Judah, which were carried away captive unto Babylon.

² And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said unto him, The LORD thy God has pronounced this evil upon this place.

³ Now the LORD has brought it and done according as he had said; because ye have sinned against the LORD, and did not listen to his voice, therefore this thing is come upon you.

⁴ And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the chains which were upon thine hand. If it seems good unto thee to come with me into Babylon, come; and I will look well unto thee: but if it seems ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon, forbear: behold, all the land is before thee; where it seems good and convenient for thee to go, go there.

⁵ Now while he had not yet replied that he would go back, the captain said, Go back also to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the cities of Judah and dwell with him among the people, or go wherever it seems convenient unto thee to go. So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a reward and sent him forth.

⁶ Then Jeremiah came unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah and dwelt with him among the people that were left in the land.

⁷ ¶ And all the princes of the army which were in the field, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor over the land and had committed unto him the men and the women and the children and the poor of the land, those that were not carried away captive to Babylon;

⁸ then they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.

⁹ And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan swore unto them and to their men, saying, Fear not to serve the Chaldeans; dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.

¹⁰ As for me, behold, I dwell in Mizpah to serve the Chaldeans, which will come unto us; but ye, gather ye the wine and the bread and the oil and put them in your vessels and dwell in your cities that ye have taken.

¹¹ Likewise when all the Jews that were in Moab and among the Ammonites and in Edom and that were in all the lands heard how the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and that he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan,

¹² all these Jews returned out of all places where they were driven and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah in Mizpah, and gathered wine and much fruit.

¹³ Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah and all the princes of the armies that were in the fields came to Gedaliah to Mizpah

¹⁴ and said unto him, Dost thou certainly know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to slay thee? But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam did not believe them.

¹⁵ Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, I will go now, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it; why should he slay thee, that all the Jews which are gathered unto thee should be scattered and the remnant in Judah perish?

¹⁶ But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said unto Johanan the son of Kareah, Thou shalt not do this thing, for thou dost speak falsely of Ishmael.

41 ¶ Now it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama, of the royal seed, and some princes of the king, and ten men with him, came unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam in Mizpah; and there they ate bread together in Mizpah.

² Then arose Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men that were with him, and smote Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword and slew him whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.

³ Ishmael also slew all the Jews that were with him, even with Gedaliah at Mizpah and the Chaldean soldiers that were found there.

⁴ And it came to pass the second day after he had slain Gedaliah, when no one knew of it yet

⁵ that there came certain men of Shechem, of Shiloh, and of Samaria, eighty men, having their beards shaven, and their clothes rent, and having cut themselves, with offerings and incense in their hand, to bring them to the house of the LORD.

⁶ And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went forth from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went: and it came to pass, as he met them, he said unto them, Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.

⁷ And it was so, when they came into the midst of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah slew them and cast them into the midst of a pit, he, and the men that were with him.

⁸ But ten men were found among them that said unto Ishmael, Slay us not: for we have treasures in the field, of wheat and of barley and of oil and of honey. So he forbare, and did not slay them among their brethren.

⁹ Now the pit in which Ishmael had cast all the dead bodies of the men, whom he had slain because of Gedaliah, was the same which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel: and Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with those that were slain.

¹⁰ Then Ishmael carried away captive all the residue of the people that were in Mizpah, even the king’s daughters and all the people that remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam: and Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive and departed to go over to the Ammonites.

¹¹ ¶ But when Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the princes of the armies that were with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done,

¹² then they took all the men and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon.

¹³ Now it came to pass, that when all the people which were with Ishmael heard Johanan the son of Kareah and all the princes of the armies that were with him, then they were glad.

¹⁴ So all the people that Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah cast about and returned and went unto Johanan the son of Kareah.

¹⁵ But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men and went to the Ammonites.

¹⁶ Then Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the princes of the armies that were with him, took all the remnant of the people which had turned from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after he had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam; men of war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs, whom Johanan had caused to turn from Gibeon:

¹⁷ and they departed and dwelt in the habitation of Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, that they might go and enter into Egypt

¹⁸ because of the Chaldeans; for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon made governor in the land.