Jeremiah 38:14-28

Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah Again

14King 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.” 15Jeremiah 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.” 16Then King Zedekiah swore ^asecretly to Jeremiah, ^b“As the Lord lives, ^cwho made our souls, I will not put you to death or deliver you into the hand of ^dthese men who seek your life.”

17Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: ^eIf you will surrender to ^fthe officials of the king of Babylon, ^gthen your life shall be spared, and this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live. 18But if you do not surrender to ^hthe officials of the king of Babylon, ⁱthen this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, ^jand they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape from their hand.” 19King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Judeans ^kwho have deserted to the Chaldeans, lest I be handed over to them and they deal cruelly with me.” 20Jeremiah said, “You shall not be given to them. Obey now the voice of the Lord in what I say to you, ^land it shall be well with you, and your life shall be spared. 21But if you refuse to ^msurrender, this is the vision which the Lord has shown to me: 22Behold, 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,

ⁿ“‘Your trusted friends have deceived you
and prevailed against you;
now that your feet are sunk in the mud,
they turn away from you.’
23All your wives and ^oyour 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.”

24Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no one know of these words, and you shall not die. 25If ^pthe 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,’ 26then you shall say to them, ^q‘I made a humble plea to the king that he would not send me back to the house of Jonathan to die there.’” 27Then 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. 28And Jeremiah remained ^rin the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.

Jeremiah 39:1-14

The Fall of Jerusalem

1 ^sIn 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. 2In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city. 3Then all ^tthe officials of the king of Babylon came ^uand sat in the middle gate: Nergal-sar-ezer of Samgar, Nebu-sar-sekim ^vthe Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag, with all the rest of the officers of the king of Babylon. 4When 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 ^wthe Arabah. 5But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in ^xthe plains of Jericho. And when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, at ^yRiblah, in the land of Hamath; ^zand he passed sentence on him. 6The king of Babylon ^aaslaughtered the sons of Zedekiah at ^abRiblah before his eyes, and the king of Babylon ^acslaughtered all the nobles of Judah. 7 ^adHe put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains to take him to Babylon. 8 ^aeThe Chaldeans burned the king’s house and the house of the people, ^afand broke down the walls of Jerusalem. 9Then ^agNebuzaradan, the ^ahcaptain of the guard, carried into exile to Babylon the rest of the people who were left in the city, ^aithose who had deserted to him, and the people who remained. 10Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, ^ajleft 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

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