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Chapter 37
Jeremiah in the Dungeon. 1 Zedekiah, son of Josiah, became king, succeeding Coniah, son of Jehoiakim; Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, appointed him king over the land of Judah.(A) 2 Neither he, nor his officials, nor the people of the land would listen to the words which the Lord spoke through Jeremiah the prophet. 3 Yet King Zedekiah sent Jehucal, son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah, son of Maaseiah the priest, to Jeremiah the prophet with this request: “Please appeal to the Lord, our God, for us.”(B) 4 At this time Jeremiah still came and went freely among the people; he had not yet been put into prison.[a] 5 Meanwhile, Pharaoh’s army[b] had set out from Egypt, and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard this report, they withdrew from the city.(C)
6 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet: 7 Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Thus you must say to the king of Judah who sent you to consult me: Listen! Pharaoh’s army, which has set out to help you, will return to Egypt, its own land.(D) 8 The Chaldeans shall return and attack this city; they shall capture it and destroy it by fire.(E)
9 Thus says the Lord: Do not deceive yourselves, saying: “The Chaldeans are surely leaving us forever.” They are not! 10 Even if you could defeat the whole Chaldean army that is now attacking you, and only the wounded remained, each in his tent, these would rise up and destroy the city with fire.(F)
11 Now when the Chaldean army withdrew from Jerusalem because of the army of Pharaoh,(G) 12 Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem to go to the territory of Benjamin, to receive his share of property among the people. 13 But at the Gate of Benjamin, the captain of the guard, by the name of Irijah, son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah, arrested Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are deserting to the Chaldeans!” 14 “That is a lie!” Jeremiah answered, “I am not deserting to the Chaldeans.” Without listening to him, Irijah kept Jeremiah in custody and brought him to the princes.
15 The princes were enraged at Jeremiah and had Jeremiah beaten and imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for they were using it as a jail.(H) 16 And so Jeremiah went into a room in the dungeon, where he remained many days.
17 Then King Zedekiah had him brought to his palace, and he asked him secretly, “Is there any word from the Lord?” “There is!” Jeremiah answered: “You shall be handed over to the king of Babylon.”(I) 18 Jeremiah then asked King Zedekiah: “How have I wronged you or your officials or this people, that you should put me in prison?(J) 19 Where are your own prophets who prophesied for you, saying: ‘The King of Babylon will not attack you or this land’? 20 Please hear me, my lord king! Grant my petition: do not send me back into the house of Jonathan the scribe, or I shall die there.”
21 So King Zedekiah ordered that Jeremiah be confined in the court of the guard and given a ration of bread every day from the bakers’ street until all the bread in the city was eaten up. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.(K)
Chapter 38
Jeremiah in the Muddy Cistern. 1 Shephatiah, son of Mattan, Gedaliah, son of Pashhur, Jucal, son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur, son of Malchiah, heard the words Jeremiah was speaking to all the people:[c] 2 Thus says the Lord: Those who remain in this city shall die by means of the sword, starvation, and disease; but those who go out to the Chaldeans shall live. Their lives shall be spared them as spoils of war that they may live.(L) 3 Thus says the Lord: This city shall certainly be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon; he shall capture it.
4 Then the princes said to the king, “This man ought to be put to death. He is weakening the resolve[d] of the soldiers left in this city and of all the people, by saying such things to them; he is not seeking the welfare of our people, but their ruin.”(M) 5 King Zedekiah answered: “He is in your hands,” for the king could do nothing with them. 6 And so they took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Prince Malchiah, in the court of the guard, letting him down by rope. There was no water in the cistern, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.(N)
7 Now Ebed-melech, an Ethiopian, a court official in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the cistern. The king happened to be sitting at the Gate of Benjamin, 8 and Ebed-melech went there from the house of the king and said to him, 9 “My lord king, these men have done wrong in all their treatment of Jeremiah the prophet, throwing him into the cistern. He will starve to death on the spot, for there is no more bread in the city.”(O) 10 Then the king ordered Ebed-melech the Ethiopian: “Take three men with you, and get Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.” 11 Ebed-melech took the men with him, and went first to the linen closet in the house of the king. He took some old, tattered rags and lowered them by rope to Jeremiah in the cistern. 12 Then he said to Jeremiah, “Put these old, tattered rags between your armpits and the ropes.” Jeremiah did so, 13 and they pulled him up by rope out of the cistern. But Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.
14 King Zedekiah summoned Jeremiah the prophet to meet him at the third entrance of the house of the Lord. “I have a question to ask you,” the king said to Jeremiah. “Do not hide anything from me.”(P) 15 Jeremiah answered Zedekiah: “If I tell you anything, will you not have me put to death? If I counsel you, you will not listen to me!”(Q) 16 But King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah secretly: “As the Lord lives who gave us our lives, I will not kill you, nor will I hand you over to those men who seek your life.”
17 Jeremiah then said to Zedekiah: “Thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel: If you will only surrender to the princes of Babylon’s king, you shall save your life; this city shall not be destroyed by fire, and you and your household shall live.(R) 18 But if you do not surrender to the princes of Babylon’s king, this city shall fall into the hand of the Chaldeans, who shall destroy it by fire, and you shall not escape their hand.”(S)
19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Judahites who have deserted to the Chaldeans; I could be handed over to them, and they will mistreat me.”(T) 20 “You will not be handed over to them,” Jeremiah answered. “I beg you! Please listen to the voice of the Lord regarding what I tell you so that it may go well with you and your life be spared.(U) 21 But if you refuse to surrender, this is what the Lord has shown: 22 I see all the women who remain in the house of Judah’s king being brought out to the princes of Babylon’s king, and they are crying:
‘They betrayed you, outdid you,
your good friends!
Now that your feet are sunk in mud,
they slink away.’(V)
23 All your wives and children shall be brought out to the Chaldeans, and you shall not escape their hands; you shall be handed over to the king of Babylon, and this city shall be destroyed by fire.”(W)
24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no one know about this conversation, or you shall die. 25 If the princes should hear I spoke with you and if they should come and ask you, ‘Tell us what you said to the king; do not hide it from us, or we will kill you,’ or, ‘What did the king say to you?’ 26 then give them this answer: ‘I petitioned the king not to send me back to Jonathan’s house lest I die there.’” 27 When all the princes came to Jeremiah and questioned him, he answered them with the very words the king had commanded. They said no more to him, for nothing had been overheard of the conversation. 28 Thus Jeremiah stayed in the court of the guard until the day Jerusalem was taken.(X)
Chapter 6
Rules for Slaves. 1 [a]Those who are under the yoke of slavery must regard their masters as worthy of full respect, so that the name of God and our teaching[b] may not suffer abuse.(A) 2 Those whose masters are believers must not take advantage of them because they are brothers but must give better service because those who will profit from their work are believers and are beloved.(B)
V. False Teaching and True Wealth
Teach and urge these things.[c] 3 Whoever teaches something different and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the religious teaching(C) 4 is conceited, understanding nothing, and has a morbid disposition for arguments and verbal disputes. From these come envy, rivalry, insults, evil suspicions, 5 and mutual friction among people with corrupted minds, who are deprived of the truth, supposing religion to be a means of gain.(D) 6 [d]Indeed, religion with contentment is a great gain.(E) 7 For we brought nothing into the world, just as we shall not be able to take anything out of it.(F) 8 If we have food and clothing, we shall be content with that.(G) 9 Those who want to be rich are falling into temptation and into a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge them into ruin and destruction.(H) 10 For the love of money is the root of all evils, and some people in their desire for it have strayed from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.
Exhortations to Timothy.[e] 11 But you, man of God,[f] avoid all this. Instead, pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness.(I) 12 Compete well for the faith. Lay hold of eternal life, to which you were called when you made the noble confession in the presence of many witnesses.(J) 13 I charge [you] before God, who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus, who gave testimony under Pontius Pilate for the noble confession,(K) 14 to keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ 15 that the blessed and only ruler will make manifest at the proper time, the King of kings and Lord of lords,(L) 16 who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, and whom no human being has seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal power. Amen.(M)
Right Use of Wealth.[g] 17 Tell the rich in the present age not to be proud and not to rely on so uncertain a thing as wealth but rather on God, who richly provides us with all things for our enjoyment.(N) 18 Tell them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, ready to share, 19 thus accumulating as treasure a good foundation for the future, so as to win the life that is true life.(O)
VI. Final Recommendation and Warning[h]
20 O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you. Avoid profane babbling and the absurdities of so-called knowledge.(P) 21 By professing it, some people have deviated from the faith.
Grace be with all of you.(Q)
38 Like the moon it will stand eternal,
forever firm like the sky!”
Selah
B
IV
39 But now you have rejected and spurned,(A)
been enraged at your anointed.
40 You renounced the covenant with your servant,
defiled his crown in the dust.
41 You broke down all city walls,(B)
left his strongholds in ruins.
42 All who pass through seize plunder;
his neighbors deride him.
43 You have exalted the right hand of his foes,
have gladdened all his enemies.(C)
44 You turned back his sharp sword,
did not support him in battle.
45 You brought to an end his splendor,
hurled his throne to the ground.
46 You cut short the days of his youth,
covered him with shame.
Selah
V
47 How long, Lord? Will you hide forever?
Must your wrath smolder like fire?(D)
48 Remember how brief life is,
how frail the sons of man you have created!(E)
49 What is man, that he should live and not see death?
Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol?(F)
Selah
VI
50 Where are your former mercies, Lord,
that you swore to David in your faithfulness?
51 Remember, Lord, the insults to your servants,
how I have borne in my bosom the slander of the nations.(G)
52 Your enemies, Lord, insult;
they insult each step of your anointed.
28 A city breached and left defenseless
are those who do not control their temper.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.