Old/New Testament
Jeremiah Warns Against Trust in Pharaoh
37 Now (A)Zedekiah the son of Josiah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had (B)made king in the land of Judah, reigned as king in place of (C)Coniah the son of Jehoiakim. 2 But (D)neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of Yahweh which He spoke through Jeremiah the prophet.
3 Yet (E)King Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah and (F)Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “(G)Please pray to Yahweh our God on our behalf.” 4 Now Jeremiah was still coming in and going out among the people; they had not yet (H)put him in the prison. 5 Meanwhile, (I)Pharaoh’s military force had come out from Egypt; and the Chaldeans who had been besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them. So they (J)withdrew from Jerusalem.
6 Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, 7 “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘(K)Thus you are to say to the king of Judah, who sent you to Me to inquire of Me: “Behold, (L)the military force of Pharaoh which has come out for your assistance is going to return to its own land of Egypt. 8 The Chaldeans will also (M)return and fight against this city, and they will capture it and burn it with fire.”’ 9 Thus says Yahweh, ‘Do not (N)deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,” for they will not go. 10 For (O)even if you had struck down the entire military force of the Chaldeans who were fighting against you, and there were only wounded men remaining among them, each man in his tent, they would rise up and (P)burn this city with fire.’”
Jeremiah Imprisoned
11 Now it happened when the military force of the Chaldeans had withdrawn from Jerusalem because of the military force of Pharaoh, 12 that Jeremiah went out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin in order to (Q)obtain his portion of some property there among the people. 13 Now it happened that while he was at the (R)Gate of Benjamin, the master of the guard whose name was Irijah the son of Shelemiah the son of Hananiah was there; and he (S)seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are [a]going over to the Chaldeans!” 14 But Jeremiah said, “(T)A lie! I am not [b]going over to the Chaldeans”; yet he would not listen to him. So Irijah seized Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. 15 Then the officials were (U)angry at Jeremiah and struck him, and they (V)put him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe because they had made that house into the prison. 16 For Jeremiah had come into the [c](W)pit, that is, the vaulted cell; and Jeremiah stayed there many days.
17 Then King Zedekiah sent and took him out; and in his palace the king (X)secretly asked him and said, “Is there a (Y)word from Yahweh?” And Jeremiah said, “There is!” Then he said, “You will be (Z)given into the hand of the king of Babylon!” 18 Moreover, Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “(AA)In what way have I sinned against you or against your servants or against this people, that you have put me in prison? 19 (AB)Where then are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The (AC)king of Babylon will not come against you or against this land’? 20 But now, please listen, O my lord the king; please let my (AD)supplication [d]come before you, and do not make me return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, that I may not die there.” 21 Then King Zedekiah gave commandment, and they committed Jeremiah to the (AE)court of the guard and gave him a loaf of (AF)bread daily from the bakers’ street, until all the bread in the city had (AG)come to an end. So Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.
Jeremiah Brought Up from the Cistern
38 And Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the (AH)son of Shelemiah, and (AI)Pashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people, saying, 2 “Thus says Yahweh, ‘He who (AJ)stays in this city will die by the (AK)sword and by the famine and by the pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live and have his own (AL)life as spoil and stay alive.’ 3 Thus says Yahweh, ‘This city will certainly be (AM)given into the hand of the military force of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.’” 4 Then the (AN)officials said to the king, “Now let this man be put to death, inasmuch as he is (AO)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 (AP)is not seeking peace for this people but rather calamity.” 5 So King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your [e]hands; for the king (AQ)can do nothing against you.” 6 Then they took Jeremiah and cast him into the [f](AR)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 (AS)mire, and Jeremiah sank into the mire. 7 But (AT)Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, [g]a (AU)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 (AV)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 [h]will die right where he is because of the famine, for there is (AW)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 (AX)court of the guard.
Zedekiah Sends for Jeremiah
14 Then King Zedekiah (AY)sent and [i]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 (AZ)ask you something; do not hide anything from me.” 15 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “(BA)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 (BB)secret saying, “As Yahweh lives, who made this [j](BC)life for us, surely I will not put you to death, nor will I give you over to the hand of (BD)these men who are seeking your [k]life.”
17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says Yahweh (BE)God of hosts, the (BF)God of Israel, ‘If you will indeed (BG)go out to the [l]officers of the king of Babylon, then [m]you will live, this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will live. 18 But if you will (BH)not go out to the [n]officers of the king of Babylon, then this city (BI)will be given over to the hand of the Chaldeans; and they will burn it with fire, and (BJ)you yourself will not escape from their hand.’” 19 Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I (BK)am anxious because of the Jews who have [o](BL)gone over to the Chaldeans, lest they give me over into their hand and they (BM)deal severely with me.” 20 But Jeremiah said, “They will not give you over. Please (BN)listen to the voice of Yahweh in what I am saying to you, that it may go (BO)well with you and [p](BP)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 (BQ)women who have remained in the house of the king of Judah are going to be brought out to the [q]officers of the king of Babylon; and behold, those women will say,
“[r]Your close friends
Have misled and overpowered you;
While your feet were sunk in the mud,
They turned back.”
23 And they will also bring out all your wives and your (BR)sons to the Chaldeans, and (BS)you yourself will not escape from their hand, but will be seized by the hand of the king of Babylon, and (BT)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 (BU)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 (BV)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 [s]conversation had not been overheard. 28 So Jeremiah (BW)stayed in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was captured.
The Walls of Jerusalem Torn Down
39 [t]Now when Jerusalem was captured [u](BX)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 (BY)breached. 3 Then all the (BZ)officials of the king of Babylon came in and sat down at the (CA)Middle Gate: Nergal-sar-ezer, Samgar-nebu, Sar-sekim the [v]Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the [w]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 (CB)fled and went out of the city at night by way of the king’s garden through the gate (CC)between the two walls; and he went out toward the [x]Arabah. 5 But the military force of the (CD)Chaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the [y](CE)plains of Jericho; and they took him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at (CF)Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he spoke judgment on him. 6 Then the (CG)king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah (CH)before his eyes at Riblah; the king of Babylon also slaughtered all the (CI)nobles of Judah. 7 He then (CJ)blinded Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him in (CK)fetters of bronze to bring him to (CL)Babylon. 8 The Chaldeans also (CM)burned with fire the house of the king and the houses of the people, and they (CN)tore down the walls of Jerusalem. 9 And as for the rest of the people who remained in the city, the [z](CO)defectors who had gone over to him and (CP)the rest of the people who remained, (CQ)Nebuzaradan the (CR)captain of the bodyguard took them away into exile in Babylon. 10 But some of the (CS)poorest people who had nothing, (CT)Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had them remain in the land of Judah and gave them vineyards and fields [aa]at that time.
Jeremiah Delivered
11 Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave a command about (CU)Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, saying, 12 “Take him and set your eyes to look after him and (CV)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 [ab]Rab-saris and Nergal-sar-ezer the [ac]Rab-mag and all the leading officers of the king of Babylon; 14 they even sent and (CW)took Jeremiah out of the court of the guard and gave him over to (CX)Gedaliah, the son of (CY)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 (CZ)confined in the court of the guard, saying, 16 “Go and speak to (DA)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 (DB)for [ad]calamity and not for [ae]prosperity; and they will (DC)take place before you on that day. 17 But I will (DD)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 (DE)life as spoil because you have (DF)trusted in Me,” declares Yahweh.’”
Jesus Greater than Moses
3 Therefore, (A)holy brothers, partakers of a (B)heavenly calling, consider (C)the Apostle and (D)High Priest of our (E)confession—Jesus, 2 who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as (F)Moses also was in all His house. 3 (G)For He has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, in so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house. 4 For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. 5 Now (H)Moses was faithful in all His house as (I)a servant, (J)for a testimony of those things (K)which were to be spoken later, 6 but Christ was faithful as (L)a Son over His house—(M)whose house we are, (N)if we hold fast our (O)confidence and the boast of our (P)hope.
7 Therefore, just as (Q)the Holy Spirit says,
“(R)Today if you hear His voice,
8 (S)Do not harden your hearts as [a]when they provoked Me,
As in the day of trial in the wilderness,
9 (T)Where your fathers tried Me by testing Me,
And saw My works for (U)forty years.
10 (V)Therefore I was angry with this generation,
And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart,
And they did not know My ways’;
11 (W)As I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest.’”
Warning Against Unbelief
12 (X)See to it brothers, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart [b]that falls away from (Y)the living God. 13 But (Z)encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the (AA)deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ, (AB)if we hold fast the beginning of our (AC)assurance firm until the end, 15 while it is said,
16 For who (AE)provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, (AF)did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, (AG)whose corpses fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear (AH)that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were (AI)disobedient? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter because of (AJ)unbelief.
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