Chronological
38 Then Shephatiah, the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah, the son of Pashhur, and Jucal, the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur, the son of Malchiah, heard the Words that Jeremiah had spoken to all the people, saying,
2 “Thus says the LORD: ‘He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine and by the pestilence. But he who goes forth to the Chaldeans shall live. For his life shall be as a prize, and he shall live.’
3 “Thus says the LORD: ‘This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babel’s army, which shall take it.’”
4 Therefore the princes said to the king, “We implore you, let this man be put to death. For thus he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words to them. For this man does not seek the wealth of this people, but the hurt.”
5 Then Zedekiah the king said, “Behold, he is in your hands. For the king can deny you nothing.”
6 Then they took Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah, the son of Hammelech, which was in the court of the prison. And they let down Jeremiah with ropes. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire. So Jeremiah sunk in the mire.
7 Now when Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, one of the Eunuchs who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon and that the king sat in the gate of Benjamin,
8 Ebed-Melech went 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 dies of hunger in the place where he is. For there is no more bread in the city.”
10 Then the king commanded Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take from here thirty men with you, and take Jeremiah the Prophet out of the dungeon before he dies.”
11 So, Ebed-Melech took the men with him and went to the house of the king, under the treasury, and took old rotten rags there, and old worn clothes, and let them down by ropes into the dungeon, to Jeremiah.
12 And Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Put these old rags and worn clothes under your arm pits, in the place of the ropes.” And Jeremiah did so.
13 So they drew up Jeremiah with ropes and took him up out of the dungeon. And Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.
14 Then Zedekiah the king sent and brought Jeremiah the Prophet to him, into the third entry of the House of the LORD. And the king said to Jeremiah, “I will ask you something. Hide nothing from me.”
15 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I declare it to you, will you not kill me? And if I give you counsel, you will not hear me.”
16 So the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, “As the LORD lives, Who made us these souls, I will not kill you or give you into the hands of those men who seek your life.”
17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the LORD God of Hosts, the God of Israel: ‘If you will go forth to the king of Babel’s princes, then your soul shall live. And this city shall not be burnt up with fire. And you and your House shall live.
18 ‘But if you will not go forth to the king of Babel’s princes, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans. And they shall burn it with fire. And you shall not escape out of their hands.’”
19 And Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have fallen before the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hands, and they mock me.”
20 But Jeremiah said, “They shall not deliver you. Please listen to the Voice of the LORD which I speak to you. So shall it go well with you, and your soul shall live.
21 “But if you will refuse to go forth, this is the Word that the LORD has shown me:
22 ‘And behold, all the women who are left in the king of Judah’s house shall be brought forth to the king of Babel’s princes. And those women shall say, “Your friends have misled you and have overcome you. Your feet were sunken in the mire. They have turned back.”
23 ‘So they shall bring out all your wives, and your children, to the Chaldeans. And you shall not escape from their hands, but shall be taken by the hand of the king of Babel. And you shall cause this city to be burnt with fire.’”
24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no man know of these words, and you shall not die.
25 “But if the princes hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you and say to you, ‘Declare to us, now, what you have said to the king and also what the king said to you. Do not hide it from us, and we will not kill you,’
26 “then you shall say to them, ‘I humbly petitioned the king not to make me return to Jonathan’s house, to die there.’”
27 Then all the princes came to Jeremiah and asked him. And he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So, they stopped speaking with him. For the matter was not heard.
28 So Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison 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, came Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babel, and all his army against Jerusalem. And they besieged it.
2 In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, the city was breached.
3 And all the princes of the king of Babel came in and sat in the middle gate: Nergal-Sharezer, Samgar-Nebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris, Nergal-Sharezer, Rabmag, with all the rest of the princes of the king of Babel.
4 And when Zedekiah, the king of Judah, saw them, and all the men of war, then they fled and went out of the city by night, through the king’s garden, by the gate between the two walls. And he went toward the wilderness.
5 But the Chaldean’s army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the desert of Jericho. And when they had captured him, they brought him to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babel, to Riblah, in the land of Hamath, where he gave judgment upon him.
6 Then the king of Babel killed the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes. Also, the king of Babel killed all the nobles of Judah.
7 Moreover, he put out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him in chains, to carry him to Babel.
8 And the Chaldeans burnt the king’s house, and the houses of the people, with fire and broke down the walls of Jerusalem.
9 Then Nebuzaradan, the chief steward, carried away captive into Babel the remnant of the people who remained in the city, and those who had fled and fallen to him, with the rest of the people who remained.
10 But Nebuzaradan, the chief steward, left the poor who had nothing in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at that same time.
11 Now Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babel, gave orders concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan, the chief steward, saying,
12 “Take him and look after him and do him no harm. But do to him just as he shall say to you.”
13 So Nebuzaradan, the chief steward, sent Nebushasban, Rabsaris, Nergal-Sharezar, Rabmag, and all the king of Babel’s princes.
14 Then they sent and took Jeremiah out of the court of the prison, and committed him to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, so that he would carry him home. So he dwelt among the people.
15 Now the Word of the LORD came to Jeremiah while he was detained in the court of the prison, saying,
16 “Go and speak to Ebed-Melech, the Ethiopian, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will bring My Words upon this city for misery, and not for prosperity. And they shall be accomplished before you on that day.
17 “But I will deliver you on that day,” says the LORD, “and you shall not be given into the hand of the men whom you fear.
18 “For I will surely deliver you, and you shall not fall by the sword. But your life shall be as a prize for you because you have put your trust in Me,” says the LORD.’”
40 The Word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan, the chief steward, had let him go from Ramah when he had taken him, bound in chains, among all who were carried away captive from Jerusalem and Judah, and were carried away captive to Babel.
2 And the chief steward took Jeremiah and said to him, “The LORD your God has pronounced this plague upon this place.
3 “Now the LORD has brought it and done as He has said. Because you have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed His Voice, therefore this thing has come upon you.
4 “And now, behold, I free you this day from the chains which were on your hands. If it pleases you to come with me to Babel, come. And I will look after you well. But if it pleases you not to come with me to Babel, stay here. Behold, all the land is before you. Wherever it seems good and convenient for you to go, go there.”
5 Still, Jeremiah did not return. Therefore, the chief steward said, “Return to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babel has made governor over all the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people. Or go wherever it pleases you to go.” So, the chief steward gave him rations and a reward and let him go.
6 Then Jeremiah went to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, to Mizpah and dwelt there with him among the people who were left in the land.
7 Now when all the captains of the army who were in the fields, both they and their men, heard that the king of Babel had made Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, governor in the land, and that he had committed to him men and women and children and of the poor of the land who were not carried away captive to Babel,
8 then they came to Gedaliah, to Mizpah—Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, Johanan, Jonathan, the sons of Kareah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of Maachathi—both they and their men.
9 And Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, swore to them and to their men, saying, “Do not fear to serve the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land and serve the king of Babel, and it shall be well with you.
10 “As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah, to serve the Chaldeans who will come to us. But you, gather wine and summer fruits and oil and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that you have taken.”
11 Likewise, when all the Jews who were in Moab, and among the Ammonites, and in Edom, and who were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babel had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan,
12 then all the Jews returned from all places where they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, to Mizpah, and gathered much wine and summer fruits.
13 Moreover, Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the army who were in the fields, came to Gedaliah, to Mizpah,
14 and said to him, “Do you not know that Baalis, the king of the Ammonites, has sent Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, to kill you?” But Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, did not believe them.
15 Then Johanan, the son of Kareah, spoke to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, “Please let me go, and I will kill Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah. And no one shall know it. Why should he kill you, so that all the Jews who are gathered to you should be scattered, and the remnant in Judah perish?”
16 But Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, said to Johanan, the son of Kareah, “You shall not do this thing. For you speak falsely about Ishmael.”
74 O God, why have You rejected us forever? Is Your wrath kindled against the sheep of Your pasture?
2 Think upon the congregation which You have possessed of old; and on the rod of Your inheritance which You have redeemed; and on this Mount Zion wherein You have dwelt.
3 Lift up Your feet to perpetual desolations. The enemy has broken everything in the Sanctuary.
4 Your adversaries roar in the midst of Your congregation and set up their banners for signs.
5 He who lifted the axes upon the thick trees was renowned as one who brought a thing to perfection.
6 But now they break down the carved work thereof with axes and hammers.
7 They have cast Your Sanctuary into the fire and razed it to the ground. They have defiled the dwelling place of Your Name.
8 They said in their hearts, “Let us destroy them altogether.” They have burnt all the synagogues of God in the land.
9 We do not see our signs. There has not been one Prophet, nor is there any with us who knows how long.
10 O God, how long shall the adversary reproach You? Shall the enemy blaspheme Your Name forever?
11 Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand? Draw it out of Your bosom and consume them!
12 For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the Earth.
13 You divided the sea by Your power. You broke the heads of the dragons in the waters.
14 You broke the head of Leviathan in pieces and gave him to be food for the people in wilderness.
15 You broke up the fountain and river. You dry up mighty rivers.
16 The day is Yours and the night is Yours. You have prepared the light and the Sun.
17 You have set all the borders of the Earth. You have made Summer and Winter.
18 Remember this: the enemy has reproached the LORD and the foolish people have blasphemed Your Name.
19 Do not give the life of Your turtledove to the beast. Do not forget the Congregation of Your poor, forever.
20 Consider Your Covenant; for the dark places of the Earth are full of the habitations of the cruel.
21 O, do not let the oppressed return ashamed! Let the poor and needy praise Your Name.
22 Arise, O God! Maintain Your own cause! Remember Your daily reproach by the foolish man.
23 Do not forget the voice of Your enemies. The tumult of those who rise against You ascends continually. To him who excels: Do not destroy. A Psalm, or song, committed to Asaph
79 O God, the heathen have come into Your inheritance. They have defiled Your Holy Temple and made Jerusalem heaps of stones.
2 The dead bodies of Your servants they have given to be food to birds of the heaven, and the flesh of Your saints to the beasts of the Earth.
3 They have shed their blood like waters, all around Jerusalem; and there was no one to bury them.
4 We are a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision to those around us.
5 LORD, how long will You be angry? Forever? Shall Your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out Your wrath upon the heathen who have not known You, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon Your Name.
7 For they have devoured Jacob and made His dwelling place desolate.
8 Do not remember our former iniquities against us, but let Your tender mercies come quickly to meet us; for we are in great misery.
9 Help us, O God of Our Salvation, for the Glory of Your Name; and deliver us and be merciful to our sins for Your Name’s sake.
10 Why should the heathen say, “Where is their God?” Let them be known among the heathen in our sight by the vengeance of the blood of Your servants that is shed.
11 Let the sighing of the prisoners come before You. Preserve the children of death according to Your mighty arm
12 and render to our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom their reproach with which they have reproached You, O LORD.
13 So we, Your people, and sheep of Your pasture, shall praise You forever; and from generation to generation we will set forth Your praise. To him who excels on Shoshannim Eduth: A Psalm committed to Asaph
© 2019, 2024 by Five Talents Audio. All rights reserved.