Historical

Jeremiah Brought Up from the Cistern

38 And Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the ^(A)son of Shelemiah, and ^(B)Pashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people, saying, ² “Thus says Yahweh, ‘He who ^(C)stays in this city will die by the ^(D)sword and by the famine and by the pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live and have his own ^(E)life as spoil and stay alive.’ ³ Thus says Yahweh, ‘This city will certainly be ^(F)given into the hand of the military force of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.’” ⁴ Then the ^(G)officials said to the king, “Now let this man be put to death, inasmuch as he is ^(H)making the hands of the men of war who remain in this city as well as the hands of all the people limp, by speaking such words to them; for this man ^(I)is not seeking peace for this people but rather calamity.” ⁵ So King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your ^[a]hands; for the king ^(J)can do nothing against you.” ⁶ Then they took Jeremiah and cast him into the ^[b](K)cistern of Malchijah the king’s son, which was in the court of the guard; and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. Now in the cistern there was no water but only ^(L)mire, and Jeremiah sank into the mire. ⁷ But ^(M)Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, ^[c]a ^(N)eunuch, while he was in the king’s palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. Now the king was sitting in the ^(O)Gate of Benjamin; ⁸ and Ebed-melech went out from 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 cistern; and he ^[d]will die right where he is because of the famine, for there is ^(P)no more bread in the city.” ¹⁰ Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take in your hand thirty men from here and bring up Jeremiah the prophet from the cistern before he dies.” ¹¹ So Ebed-melech took the men in his hand and went into the king’s palace to a place beneath the storeroom and took from there worn-out clothes and worn-out rags and let them down by ropes into the cistern to Jeremiah. ¹² Then Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Now put these worn-out clothes and rags under your armpits under the ropes”; and Jeremiah did so. ¹³ So they pulled Jeremiah up with the ropes and brought him up from the cistern, and Jeremiah stayed in the ^(Q)court of the guard.

Zedekiah Sends for Jeremiah

¹⁴ Then King Zedekiah ^(R)sent and ^[e]had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance that is in the house of Yahweh; and the king said to Jeremiah, “I am going to ^(S)ask you something; do not hide anything from me.” ¹⁵ Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “^(T)If I tell you, will you not certainly put me to death? Besides, if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me.” ¹⁶ But King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah in ^(U)secret saying, “As Yahweh lives, who made this ^[f](V)life for us, surely I will not put you to death, nor will I give you over to the hand of ^(W)these men who are seeking your ^[g]life.”

¹⁷ Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says Yahweh ^(X)God of hosts, the ^(Y)God of Israel, ‘If you will indeed ^(Z)go out to the ^[h]officers of the king of Babylon, then ^[i]you will live, this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will live. ¹⁸ But if you will ^(AA)not go out to the ^[j]officers of the king of Babylon, then this city ^(AB)will be given over to the hand of the Chaldeans; and they will burn it with fire, and ^(AC)you yourself will not escape from their hand.’” ¹⁹ Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I ^(AD)am anxious because of the Jews who have ^[k](AE)gone over to the Chaldeans, lest they give me over into their hand and they ^(AF)deal severely with me.” ²⁰ But Jeremiah said, “They will not give you over. Please ^(AG)listen to the voice of Yahweh in what I am saying to you, that it may go ^(AH)well with you and ^[l](AI)you may live. ²¹ But if you keep refusing to go out, this is the word which Yahweh has shown me: ²² ‘And behold, all of the ^(AJ)women who have remained in the house of the king of Judah are going to be brought out to the ^[m]officers of the king of Babylon; and behold, those women will say,

²³ And they will also bring out all your wives and your ^(AK)sons to the Chaldeans, and ^(AL)you yourself will not escape from their hand, but will be seized by the hand of the king of Babylon, and ^(AM)this city will be burned with fire.’”

²⁴ Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no man know about these words and you will not die. ²⁵ But if the ^(AN)officials hear that I have talked with you and come to you and say to you, ‘Tell us now what you said to the king and what the king said to you; do not hide it from us, and we will not put you to death,’ ²⁶ then you are to say to them, ‘I was ^(AO)presenting my petition before the king, not to make me return to the house of Jonathan to die there.’” ²⁷ Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him. So he told them in accordance with all these words which the king had commanded; and they ceased speaking with him since the ^[o]conversation had not been overheard. ²⁸ So Jeremiah ^(AP)stayed in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was captured.

The Walls of Jerusalem Torn Down

39 ^[p]Now when Jerusalem was captured ^[q](AQ)in the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his military force came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it; ² in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the city was ^(AR)breached. ³ Then all the ^(AS)officials of the king of Babylon came in and sat down at the ^(AT)Middle Gate: Nergal-sar-ezer, Samgar-nebu, Sar-sekim the ^[r]Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the ^[s]Rab-mag, and all the rest of the officials of the king of Babylon. ⁴ Now it happened that when Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, they ^(AU)fled and went out of the city at night by way of the king’s garden through the gate ^(AV)between the two walls; and he went out toward the ^[t]Arabah. ⁵ But the military force of the ^(AW)Chaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the ^[u](AX)plains of Jericho; and they took him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at ^(AY)Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he spoke judgment on him. ⁶ Then the ^(AZ)king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah ^(BA)before his eyes at Riblah; the king of Babylon also slaughtered all the ^(BB)nobles of Judah. ⁷ He then ^(BC)blinded Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him in ^(BD)fetters of bronze to bring him to ^(BE)Babylon. ⁸ The Chaldeans also ^(BF)burned with fire the house of the king and the houses of the people, and they ^(BG)tore down the walls of Jerusalem. ⁹ And as for the rest of the people who remained in the city, the ^[v](BH)defectors who had gone over to him and ^(BI)the rest of the people who remained, ^(BJ)Nebuzaradan the ^(BK)captain of the bodyguard took them away into exile in Babylon. ¹⁰ But some of the ^(BL)poorest people who had nothing, ^(BM)Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had them remain in the land of Judah and gave them vineyards and fields ^[w]at that time.

Jeremiah Delivered

¹¹ Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave a command about ^(BN)Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, saying, ¹² “Take him and set your eyes to look after him and ^(BO)do nothing harmful to him, but rather deal with him just as he speaks to you.” ¹³ So Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard sent word, along with Nebushazban the ^[x]Rab-saris and Nergal-sar-ezer the ^[y]Rab-mag and all the leading officers of the king of Babylon; ¹⁴ they even sent and ^(BP)took Jeremiah out of the court of the guard and gave him over to ^(BQ)Gedaliah, the son of ^(BR)Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to take him home. So he stayed among the people.

¹⁵ Now the word of Yahweh had come to Jeremiah while he was ^(BS)confined in the court of the guard, saying, ¹⁶ “Go and speak to ^(BT)Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Behold, I am about to bring My words on this city ^(BU)for ^[z]calamity and not for ^[aa]prosperity; and they will ^(BV)take place before you on that day. ¹⁷ But I will ^(BW)deliver you on that day,” declares Yahweh, “and you will not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are terrified. ¹⁸ For I will certainly provide you escape, and you will not fall by the sword; but you will have your own ^(BX)life as spoil because you have ^(BY)trusted in Me,” declares Yahweh.’”

Jeremiah Stays in Judah

40 The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh after ^(BZ)Nebuzaradan captain of the bodyguard had released him from ^(CA)Ramah, when he had taken him bound in ^(CB)chains among all the exiles of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon. ² And the captain of the bodyguard had taken Jeremiah and said to him, “^(CC)Yahweh your God promised this calamity against this place; ³ and Yahweh has brought it on and done just as He promised. Because you people ^(CD)sinned against Yahweh and did not listen to His voice, therefore this thing has happened to you. ⁴ So now, behold, I am ^(CE)freeing you today from the chains which are on your hands. If it is good in your eyes to come with me to Babylon, come along, and I will set my eyes to look after you; but if it ^[ab]is displeasing in your eyes to come with me to Babylon, ^[ac]never mind. Look, the ^(CF)whole land is before you; go wherever it seems good and right in your eyes to go.” ⁵ But as ^[ad]Jeremiah had not yet set out to return, ^[ae]he said, “Return then to ^(CG)Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has ^(CH)appointed over the cities of Judah, and stay with him among the people; or else go anywhere that is right in your eyes to go.” So the captain of the bodyguard gave him a ^(CI)ration and a ^(CJ)gift and let him go. ⁶ Then Jeremiah went to ^(CK)Mizpah to ^(CL)Gedaliah the son of Ahikam and stayed with him among the people who remained in the land.

^7 (CM)Then all the ^[af]commanders of the military forces that were in the field, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam over the land and that he had appointed him over the men, women, little ones, and those of the ^(CN)poorest of the land who had not been exiled to Babylon. ⁸ So they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, along with ^(CO)Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and ^(CP)Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the ^(CQ)Netophathite, and ^(CR)Jezaniah the son of the ^(CS)Maacathite, both they and their men. ⁹ Then Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, ^(CT)swore to them and to their men, saying, “^(CU)Do not be afraid of serving the Chaldeans; stay in the land and serve the king of Babylon, that it may go well with you. ¹⁰ Now as for me, behold, I am going to stay at Mizpah to ^(CV)stand for you before the Chaldeans who come to us; but as for you, ^(CW)gather in wine and ^(CX)summer fruit and oil and put them in your storage vessels and stay in your cities that you have seized.” ¹¹ And also all the Jews, who were in ^(CY)Moab and among the sons of ^(CZ)Ammon and in ^(DA)Edom and who were in all the other lands, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant for Judah and that he had appointed over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan. ¹² Then all the Jews ^(DB)returned from all the places to which they had been banished and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and gathered in wine and summer fruit in great abundance.

¹³ Now Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the military forces that were in the field came to Gedaliah at Mizpah ¹⁴ and said to him, “Do you indeed know that Baalis the king of the sons of ^(DC)Ammon has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to strike down your life?” But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam did not believe them. ¹⁵ Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke secretly to Gedaliah in Mizpah, saying, “^(DD)Let me go and strike down Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and not a man will know! Why should he ^(DE)strike down your life, so that all the Jews who are gathered to you would be scattered and the ^(DF)remnant of Judah would perish?” ¹⁶ But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, “^(DG)Do not do this thing, for you are telling a lie about Ishmael.”

Ishmael Strikes Down Gedaliah

41 ^(DH)Now it happened in the seventh month, that ^(DI)Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal seed and one of the chief officers of the king, along with ten men, came to Mizpah to ^(DJ)Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. And they ^(DK)were eating bread together there in Mizpah. ² Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him arose and ^(DL)struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword and ^(DM)put to death the one ^(DN)whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land. ³ Ishmael also struck down all the Jews who were with him, that is with Gedaliah at Mizpah, as well as the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.

⁴ Now it happened on the ^[ag]next day after putting Gedaliah to death, when no one knew about it, ⁵ that eighty men ^(DO)came from ^(DP)Shechem, from ^(DQ)Shiloh, and from ^(DR)Samaria with ^(DS)their beards shaved off and their clothes torn and ^[ah]their bodies ^(DT)gashed, having grain offerings and frankincense in their hands to bring to the ^(DU)house of Yahweh. ⁶ Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, ^(DV)weeping as he went; and it happened that as he encountered them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam!” ⁷ But it happened that as soon as they came inside the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the men that were with him ^(DW)slaughtered them and cast them into the cistern. ⁸ But ten men who were found among them said to Ishmael, “Do not put us to death; for we have ^(DX)stores of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the field.” So he refrained and did not put them to death along with their ^[ai]companions.

⁹ Now as for the cistern where Ishmael had cast all the corpses of the men whom he had struck down ^[aj]because of Gedaliah, it was the ^(DY)one that King Asa had made on ^(DZ)account of Baasha, king of Israel; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain. ¹⁰ Then Ishmael took captive all the ^(EA)remnant of the people who were in Mizpah, the ^(EB)king’s daughters and all the people who remained in Mizpah, over whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam; thus Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and went to cross over to the sons of ^(EC)Ammon.

Johanan Rescues the People

¹¹ But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the ^(ED)commanders of the military forces that were with him heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done. ¹² So they took all the men and went to ^(EE)fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and they found him by the ^(EF)great ^[ak]pool that is in Gibeon. ¹³ Now it happened as soon as all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the military forces that were with him, they were glad. ¹⁴ So all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and returned and went to Johanan the son of Kareah. ¹⁵ But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah ^(EG)escaped from Johanan with eight men and went to the sons of Ammon. ¹⁶ Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the military forces that were with him took from Mizpah ^(EH)all the remnant of the people whom he had returned from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after he had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, that is, the mighty men who were men of war, the women, the little ones, and the eunuchs, whom he had returned from Gibeon. ¹⁷ And they went and stayed in ^[al](EI)Geruth Chimham, which is beside Bethlehem, in order to ^(EJ)proceed into Egypt ¹⁸ because of the Chaldeans; for they were ^(EK)afraid of them, since Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom ^(EL)the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.