Jer 34-39 | ESV | STEP | The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord , when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army and all the kingdoms of the earth under his dominion and all the peoples were fighting against Jerusalem and all of its cities :

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when ^aNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army ^band all the kingdoms of the earth under his dominion and all the peoples were fighting against Jerusalem and all of its cities: 2 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Go and speak to ^cZedekiah king of Judah and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^dBehold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. 3 ^eYou shall not escape from his hand but shall surely be captured and delivered into his hand. ^fYou shall see the king of Babylon eye to eye and speak with him face to face. And you shall go to Babylon.’ 4 Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah king of Judah! ^gThus says the Lord concerning you: ^h‘You shall not die by the sword. 5 You shall die in peace. ⁱAnd as spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so people shall ^jburn spices for you ^kand lament for you, saying, “Alas, lord!”’ For I have spoken the word, declares the Lord.”

6 Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah, in Jerusalem, 7 when the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah that were left, ^lLachish and ^mAzekah, ⁿfor these were the only ^ofortified cities of Judah that remained.

8 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after King Zedekiah ^phad made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem ^qto make a proclamation of liberty to them, 9 ^rthat everyone should set free his Hebrew slaves, male and female, ^sso that no one should enslave a Jew, his brother. 10 And they obeyed, all the officials and all the people who had entered into the covenant that everyone would set free his slave, male or female, so that they would not be enslaved again. They obeyed and set them free. 11 But afterward they turned around and took back the male and female slaves ^tthey had set free, and brought them into subjection as slaves. 12 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 13 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I myself made a covenant with your fathers when ^uI brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying, 14 ^v‘At the end of seven years each of you must set free the fellow Hebrew who has been sold to you and has served you six years; ^wyou must set him free from your service.’ But ^xyour fathers did not listen to me or incline their ears to me. 15 You recently repented and did what was right in my eyes ^yby proclaiming liberty, each to his neighbor, and ^zyou made a covenant before me in the ^aahouse that is called by my name, 16 but then you turned around ^aband profaned my name when each of you took back his male and female slaves, ^acwhom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them into subjection to be your slaves.

17 “Therefore, thus says the Lord: You have not obeyed me ^adby proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and to his neighbor; ^aebehold, I proclaim to you liberty ^afto the sword, to pestilence, and to famine, declares the Lord. ^agI will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 18 And the men who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of ^ahthe covenant that they made before me, I will make them like ^{▼▼Hebrew lacks them like} ^ajthe calf that they cut in two and passed between its parts— 19 the officials of Judah, the officials of Jerusalem, ^akthe eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf. 20 And I will give them into the hand of their enemies ^aland into the hand of those who seek their lives. ^amTheir dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth. 21 And ^anZedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives, into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon ^aowhich has withdrawn from you. 22 Behold, ^apI will command, declares the Lord, and will ^aqbring them back to this city. ^arAnd they will fight against it and take it and burn it with fire. ^asI will make the cities of Judah a desolation ^atwithout inhabitant.”

Jeremiah 35

The Obedience of the Rechabites

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of ^auJehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: 2 “Go to the house of the ^avRechabites and speak with them and bring them to the house of the Lord, into one of ^awthe chambers; then offer them wine to drink.” 3 So I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites. 4 I brought them to the house of the Lord into ^axthe chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, ^aythe man of God, which was near ^azthe chamber of the officials, above ^bathe chamber of ^bbMaaseiah the son of Shallum, ^bckeeper of the threshold. 5 Then I set before the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups, and I said to them, “Drink wine.” 6 But they answered, “We will drink no wine, for ^bdJonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, ‘You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons forever. 7 You shall not build a house; you shall not sow seed; you shall not plant or have a vineyard; but you shall live in tents all your days, ^bethat you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.’ 8 We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, 9 and not to build houses to dwell in. We have no vineyard or field or seed, 10 but we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done all that Jonadab our father commanded us. 11 But ^bfwhen Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of ^bgthe army of the Chaldeans and ^bhthe army of the Syrians.’ ^biSo we are living in Jerusalem.”

12 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 13 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, ^bjWill you not receive instruction and listen to my words? declares the Lord. 14 The command that Jonadab the son of Rechab gave to his sons, to drink no wine, has been kept, and they drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their father’s command. I have spoken to you ^bkpersistently, but you have not listened to me. 15 I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them ^blpersistently, saying, ^bm‘Turn now every one of you from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and ^bndo not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to you and your fathers.’ ^boBut you did not incline your ear or listen to me. 16 The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have kept the command that their father gave them, but this people has not obeyed me. 17 Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, ^bpbecause I have spoken to them and they have not listened, ^bqI have called to them and they have not answered.”

18 But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father and kept all his precepts and done all that he commanded you, 19 therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall never lack a man ^brto stand before me.”

Jeremiah 36

Jehoiakim Burns Jeremiah’s Scroll

1 In the ^bsfourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Take ^bta scroll and ^buwrite on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and ^bvJudah ^bwand all the nations, ^bxfrom the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until today. 3 ^byIt may be that the house of Judah will hear all the disaster that I intend to do to them, ^bzso that every one may turn from his evil way, and ^cathat I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.”

4 Then Jeremiah called ^cbBaruch the son of Neriah, and ^ccBaruch wrote on ^cda scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord that he had spoken to him. 5 And Jeremiah ordered ^ceBaruch, saying, ^cf“I am banned from going to the house of the Lord, 6 so you are to go, and ^cgon a day of fasting in the hearing of all the people in the Lord’s house you shall read the words of the Lord from the scroll that you have written at my dictation. You shall read them also in the hearing of all the men of Judah who come out of their cities. 7 ^chIt may be that their plea for mercy will come before the Lord, ^ciand that every one will turn from his evil way, for great is the anger and wrath that the Lord has pronounced against this people.” 8 And Baruch the son of Neriah did all that Jeremiah the prophet ordered him about reading from the scroll the words of the Lord in the Lord’s house.

9 ^cjIn the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, ^ckin the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem ^clproclaimed a fast before the Lord. 10 Then, in the hearing of all the people, Baruch read the words of Jeremiah from the scroll, in the house of the Lord, in ^cmthe chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the secretary, which was in the upper court, at the entry of the New Gate of the Lord’s house.

11 When Micaiah the son of Gemariah, son of ^cnShaphan, heard all the words of the Lord from the scroll, 12 he went down to the king’s house, into the secretary’s chamber, and ^coall the officials were sitting there: ^cpElishama the secretary, ^cqDelaiah the son of Shemaiah, ^crElnathan ^csthe son of Achbor, ^ctGemariah the son of ^cuShaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the officials. 13 And Micaiah told them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the scroll in the hearing of the people. 14 Then all the officials sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, son of ^cvShelemiah, son of Cushi, to say to Baruch, “Take in your hand the scroll that you read in the hearing of the people, and come.” So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and came to them. 15 And they said to him, “Sit down and read it.” So Baruch read it to them. 16 When they heard all the words, they turned one to another in fear. And they said to Baruch, ^cw“We must report all these words to the king.” 17 Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us, please, how did you write all these words? Was it at his dictation?” 18 Baruch answered them, “He dictated all these words to me, ^cxwhile I wrote them with ink on the scroll.” 19 Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go and hide, you and Jeremiah, and let no one know where you are.”

20 So they went into the court to the king, having put the scroll in ^cythe chamber of Elishama the secretary, and they reported all the words to the king. 21 Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the secretary. And Jehudi read it to the king and all the officials who stood beside the king. 22 It was ^czthe ninth month, and the king was sitting in ^dathe winter house, and there was a fire burning in the fire pot before him. 23 As Jehudi read three or four columns, the king would cut them off with a knife and throw them into the fire in the fire pot, until the entire scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the fire pot. 24 Yet ^dbneither the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words was afraid, ^dcnor did they tear their garments. 25 Even when ^ddElnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah ^deurged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. 26 And the king commanded Jerahmeel the ^dfking’s son and Seraiah the son of Azriel and ^dgShelemiah the son of Abdeel to seize ^dhBaruch the secretary and Jeremiah the prophet, but the Lord hid them.

27 Now after the king had burned the scroll with the words that Baruch wrote at Jeremiah’s dictation, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 28 “Take another scroll and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned. 29 And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord, You have burned this scroll, saying, ^di“Why have you written in it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will cut off from it man and beast?” 30 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: ^djHe shall have none ^dkto sit on the throne of David, ^dland his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day and the frost by night. 31 ^dmAnd I will punish him and his offspring and his servants for their iniquity. I will bring upon them and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem and upon the people of Judah all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, but they would not hear.’”

32 Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to ^dnBaruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who ^dowrote on it at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them.

Jeremiah 37

Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah

1 ^dpZedekiah the son of Josiah, ^dqwhom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah, reigned instead of ^drConiah the son of Jehoiakim. 2 ^dsBut neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the Lord that he spoke through Jeremiah the prophet.

3 King Zedekiah sent ^dtJehucal the son of ^duShelemiah, and ^dvZephaniah the priest, the son of ^dwMaaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “Please ^dxpray for us to the Lord our God.” 4 ^dyNow Jeremiah was still going in and out among the people, ^dzfor he had not yet been put in prison. 5 ^eaThe army of Pharaoh had come out of Egypt. And when ^ebthe Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news about them, ^ecthey withdrew from Jerusalem.

6 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet: 7 “Thus says the Lord, God of Israel: Thus shall you say to the king of Judah who ^edsent you to me to inquire of me, ‘Behold, ^eePharaoh’s army that came to help you is about to ^efreturn to Egypt, to its own land. 8 And ^egthe Chaldeans shall come back and fight against this city. ^ehThey shall capture it and burn it with fire. 9 Thus says the Lord, Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,” for they will not go away. 10 ^eiFor even if you should defeat the whole army of Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and there remained of them only wounded men, every man in his tent, they would rise up and ^ejburn this city with fire.’”

Jeremiah Imprisoned

11 Now when ^ekthe Chaldean army had withdrawn from Jerusalem at the approach of Pharaoh’s army, 12 Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem to go to ^elthe land of Benjamin ^emto receive his portion there ^enamong the people. 13 When he was at ^eothe Benjamin Gate, a sentry there named Irijah the son of ^epShelemiah, son of Hananiah, seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, ^eq“You are deserting to the Chaldeans.” 14 And Jeremiah said, “It is a lie; I am not deserting to the Chaldeans.” But Irijah would not listen to him, and seized Jeremiah and brought him to ^erthe officials. 15 And the officials were enraged at Jeremiah, and they beat him ^esand imprisoned him in the house of Jonathan the secretary, for it had been made a prison.

16 ^etWhen Jeremiah had come to the dungeon cells and remained there many days, 17 King Zedekiah sent for him and received him. The king questioned him ^eusecretly in his house and said, “Is there any word from the Lord?” Jeremiah said, “There is.” Then he said, ^ev“You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.” 18 Jeremiah also said to King Zedekiah, “What wrong have I done to you or your servants or this people, ^ewthat you have put me in prison? 19 ^exWhere are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you and against this land’? 20 Now hear, please, O my lord the king: ^eylet my humble plea come before you and ^ezdo not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, lest I die there.” 21 So King Zedekiah gave orders, and they committed Jeremiah to ^fathe court of the guard. And a loaf of bread was given him daily from the bakers’ street, ^fbuntil all the bread of the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in ^fcthe court of the guard.

Jeremiah 38

Jeremiah Cast into the Cistern

1 Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, ^fdJucal the son of Shelemiah, and ^fePashhur the son of Malchiah heard the words that Jeremiah was saying to all the people: 2 “Thus says the Lord: ^ffHe who stays in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, ^fgbut he who goes out to the Chaldeans shall live. He shall have his life as a prize of war, and live. 3 Thus says the Lord: ^fhThis city shall surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and be taken.” 4 Then the officials said to the king, ^fi“Let this man be put to death, ^fjfor he is weakening the hands of the soldiers who are left in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man is not seeking ^fkthe welfare of this people, but their harm.” 5 King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your hands, ^flfor the king can do nothing against you.” 6 So they took Jeremiah ^fmand cast him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in ^fnthe court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down ^foby ropes. ^fpAnd there was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and ^fqJeremiah sank in the mud.

Jeremiah Rescued from the Cistern

7 When ^frEbed-melech ^fsthe Ethiopian, ^fta eunuch who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern—the king was sitting ^fuin the Benjamin Gate— 8 ^fvEbed-melech went from the king’s house and said to the king, 9 “My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they did to Jeremiah the prophet by casting him into the cistern, and he will die there of ^fwhunger, ^fxfor there is no bread left in the city.” 10 Then the king commanded ^fyEbed-melech the Ethiopian, “Take thirty men with you from here, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.” 11 So ^fzEbed-melech took the men with him and went to the house of the king, to a wardrobe in the storehouse, and took from there old rags and worn-out clothes, which he let down to Jeremiah in the cistern ^gaby ropes. 12 Then ^gbEbed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Put the rags and clothes between your armpits and ^gcthe ropes.” Jeremiah did so. 13 Then they drew Jeremiah up with ^gdropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the ^gecourt of the guard.

Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah Again

14 King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and received him at the third entrance of the temple of the Lord. The king said to Jeremiah, “I will ask you a question; hide nothing from me.” 15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me.” 16 Then King Zedekiah swore ^gfsecretly to Jeremiah, ^gg“As the Lord lives, ^ghwho made our souls, I will not put you to death or deliver you into the hand of ^githese men who seek your life.”

17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: ^gjIf you will surrender to ^gkthe officials of the king of Babylon, ^glthen your life shall be spared, and this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live. 18 But if you do not surrender to ^gmthe officials of the king of Babylon, ^gnthen this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, ^goand they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape from their hand.” 19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Judeans ^gpwho have deserted to the Chaldeans, lest I be handed over to them and they deal cruelly with me.” 20 Jeremiah said, “You shall not be given to them. Obey now the voice of the Lord in what I say to you, ^gqand it shall be well with you, and your life shall be spared. 21 But if you refuse to ^grsurrender, this is the vision which the Lord has shown to me: 22 Behold, all the women left in the house of the king of Judah were being led out to the officials of the king of Babylon and were saying,

^gs“‘Your trusted friends have deceived you
and prevailed against you;
now that your feet are sunk in the mud,
they turn away from you.’
23 All your wives and ^gtyour sons shall be led out to the Chaldeans, and you yourself shall not escape from their hand, but shall be seized by the king of Babylon, and this city shall be burned with fire.”

24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no one know of these words, and you shall not die. 25 If ^guthe officials hear that I have spoken with you and come to you and say to you, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you; hide nothing from us and we will not put you to death,’ 26 then you shall say to them, ^gv‘I made a humble plea to the king that he would not send me back to the house of Jonathan to die there.’” 27 Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and asked him, and he answered them as the king had instructed him. So they stopped speaking with him, for the conversation had not been overheard. 28 And Jeremiah remained ^gwin the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.

Jeremiah 39

The Fall of Jerusalem

1 ^gxIn the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city. 3 Then all ^gythe officials of the king of Babylon came ^gzand sat in the middle gate: Nergal-sar-ezer of Samgar, Nebu-sar-sekim ^hathe Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag, with all the rest of the officers of the king of Babylon. 4 When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled, going out of the city at night by way of the king’s garden through the gate between the two walls; and they went toward ^hbthe Arabah. 5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in ^hcthe plains of Jericho. And when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, at ^hdRiblah, in the land of Hamath; ^heand he passed sentence on him. 6 The king of Babylon ^hfslaughtered the sons of Zedekiah at ^hgRiblah before his eyes, and the king of Babylon ^hhslaughtered all the nobles of Judah. 7 ^hiHe put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains to take him to Babylon. 8 ^hjThe Chaldeans burned the king’s house and the house of the people, ^hkand broke down the walls of Jerusalem. 9 Then ^hlNebuzaradan, the ^hmcaptain of the guard, carried into exile to Babylon the rest of the people who were left in the city, ^hnthose who had deserted to him, and the people who remained. 10 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, ^holeft in the land of Judah some of the poor people who owned nothing, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.

The Lord Delivers Jeremiah

11 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave command concerning Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, saying, 12 ^hp“Take him, look after him well, and do him no harm, but deal with him as he tells you.” 13 So ^hqNebuzaradan the captain of the guard, Nebushazban the Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag, ^hrand all the chief officers of the king of Babylon 14 sent and took Jeremiah from ^hsthe court of the guard. They entrusted him to ^htGedaliah the son of ^huAhikam, son of ^hvShaphan, that he should take him home. So ^hwhe lived among the people.

15 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah ^hxwhile he was shut up in the court of the guard: 16 “Go, and say to ^hyEbed-melech the Ethiopian, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^hzBehold, I will fulfill my words against this city for harm and ^ianot for good, and they shall be accomplished before you on that day. 17 But I will deliver you on that day, declares the Lord, and you shall not be given into the hand of the men ^ibof whom you are afraid. 18 For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but you shall have your ^iclife as a prize of war, ^idbecause you have put your trust in me, declares the Lord.’”