37 And King Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah.

² But neither he nor his servants, nor the people of the land hearkened unto the words of the Lord, which He spoke by the prophet Jeremiah.

³ And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “Pray now unto the Lord our God for us.”

⁴ Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people, for they had not put him into prison.

⁵ Then Pharaoh’s army came forth out of Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they departed from Jerusalem.

⁶ Then came the word of the Lord unto the prophet Jeremiah, saying,

⁷ “Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, who sent you unto Me to inquire of Me: ‘Behold, Pharaoh’s army, which has come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land.

⁸ And the Chaldeans shall come again and fight against this city, and take it and burn it with fire.’

⁹ Thus saith the Lord: Deceive not yourselves, saying, ‘The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us,’ for they shall not depart.

¹⁰ For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans who fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet should they rise up every man in his tent and burn this city with fire.”

¹¹ And it came to pass that when the army of the Chaldeans had broken off from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh’s army,

¹² then Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin to separate himself from thence in the midst of the people.

¹³ And when he was in the Gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard was there, whose name was Irijah the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he took Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “Thou fallest away to the Chaldeans!”

¹⁴ Then said Jeremiah, “It is false! I fall not away to the Chaldeans.” But he hearkened not to him; so Irijah took Jeremiah and brought him to the princes.

¹⁵ Thereupon the princes were wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe; for they had made that the prison.

¹⁶ When Jeremiah had entered into the dungeon and into the cells, and Jeremiah had remained there many days,

¹⁷ then Zedekiah the king sent and took him out; and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, “Is there any word from the Lord?” And Jeremiah said, “There is; for, said He: Thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon!”

¹⁸ Moreover Jeremiah said unto King Zedekiah, “How have I offended against thee or against thy servants or against this people, that ye have put me in prison?

¹⁹ Where are now your prophets who prophesied unto you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land’?

²⁰ Therefore hear now, I pray thee, O my lord the king. Let my supplication, I pray thee, be accepted before thee, that thou cause me not to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there.”

²¹ Then Zedekiah the king commanded that they should commit Jeremiah into the court of the prison, and that they should give him daily a piece of bread out of the bakers’ street, until all the bread in the city was spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

38 Then Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur the son of Malchiah heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken unto all the people, saying,

² “Thus saith the Lord: ‘He that remaineth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life as a prey, and shall live.’

³ Thus saith the Lord: ‘This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which shall take it.’”

⁴ Therefore the princes said unto the king, “We beseech thee, let this man be put to death; for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words unto them; for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt.”

⁵ Then Zedekiah the king said, “Behold, he is in your hand; for the king is not he that can do any thing against you.”

⁶ Then they took Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah, the son of Hammelech, which was in the court of the prison; and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire; so Jeremiah sank in the mire.

⁷ Now when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon (the king then sitting in the Gate of Benjamin),

⁸ Ebedmelech went forth out of 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 dungeon; and he is likely to die of hunger in the place where he is, for there is no more bread in the city.”

¹⁰ Then the king commanded Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take from hence thirty men with thee, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon before he dies.”

¹¹ So Ebedmelech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took from thence old castoff clothes and old rotten rags, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah.

¹² And Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, “Put now these old castoff clothes and rotten rags under thine armpits, under the cords.” And Jeremiah did so.

¹³ So they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up out of the dungeon; and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

¹⁴ Then Zedekiah the king sent and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him into the principal entry that is in the house of the Lord; and the king said unto Jeremiah, “I will ask thee a thing; hide nothing from me.”

¹⁵ Then Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, “If I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death? And if I give thee counsel, wilt thou not hearken unto me?”

¹⁶ So Zedekiah the king swore secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, “As the Lord liveth, who made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee into the hand of these men who seek thy life.”

¹⁷ Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, “Thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon’s princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house.

¹⁸ But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand.’”

¹⁹ And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me.”

²⁰ But Jeremiah said, “They shall not deliver thee. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the Lord, which I speak unto thee; so it shall be well with thee, and thy soul shall live.

²¹ But if thou refuse to go forth, this is the word that the Lord hath shown me:

²² And behold, all the women who are left in the king of Judah’s house shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, and those women shall say, ‘Thy friends have set thee up and have prevailed against thee. Thy feet are sunk in the mire, and they have turned away back.’

²³ So they shall bring out all thy wives and thy children to the Chaldeans. And thou shalt not escape out of their hand, but shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon; and thou shalt cause this city to be burned with fire.”

²⁴ Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah, “Let no man know of these words, and thou shalt not die.

²⁵ But if the princes hear that I have talked with thee, and they come unto thee and say unto thee, ‘Declare unto us now what thou hast said unto the king, also what the king said unto thee; hide it not from us, and we will not put thee to death,’

²⁶ then thou shalt say unto them, ‘I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan’s house to die there.’”

²⁷ Then came all the princes unto Jeremiah and asked him, and he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they left off speaking with him, for the matter was not perceived.

²⁸ So Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken, and he was there when Jerusalem was taken.

39 In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah in the tenth month, came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and they besieged it.

² And in the eleventh year of Zedekiah in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, the city was broken into.

³ And all the princes of the king of Babylon came in and sat in the Middle Gate: even Nergalsharezer, Samgarnebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris, Nergalsharezer, Rabmag, with all the residue of the princes of the king of Babylon.

⁴ And it came to pass that when Zedekiah the king of Judah saw them and all the men of war, then they fled and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the king’s garden, by the gate betwixt the two walls; and he went out the way of the plain.

⁵ But the Chaldeans’ army pursued after them, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he gave judgment upon him.

⁶ Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes in Riblah; also the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah.

⁷ Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and bound him with chains to carry him to Babylon.

⁸ And the Chaldeans burned the king’s house and the houses of the people with fire, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem.

⁹ Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive into Babylon the remnant of the people that remained in the city and those who fell away, who fell to him, with the rest of the people who remained.

¹⁰ But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left the poor of the people, who had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.

¹¹ Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, saying,

¹² “Take him and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee.”

¹³ So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard sent Nebushasban, Rabsaris, and Nergalsharezer, Rabmag, and all the king of Babylon’s princes;

¹⁴ even they sent and took Jeremiah out of the court of the prison and committed him unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, that he should carry him home. So he dwelt among the people.

¹⁵ Now the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah while he was shut up in the court of the prison, saying,

¹⁶ “Go and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, ‘Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring My words upon this city for evil and not for good; and they shall be accomplished in that day before thee.

¹⁷ But I will deliver thee in that day, saith the Lord; and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid.

¹⁸ For I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword; but thy life shall be as a prize unto thee, because thou hast put thy trust in Me, saith the Lord.’”

40 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord after Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him bound in chains among all who were carried away captive of Jerusalem and Judah, who were carried away captive unto Babylon.

² And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah and said unto him, “The Lord thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place.

³ Now the Lord hath brought it, and done according as He hath said: because ye have sinned against the Lord and have not obeyed His voice, therefore this thing has come upon you.

⁴ And now behold, I loose thee this day from the chains which were upon thine hand. If it seem good unto thee to come with me into Babylon, come, and I will look well after thee; but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon, forbear. Behold, all the land is before thee. Wherever it seemeth good and convenient for thee to go, thither go.”

⁵ Now while he had not yet gone back, he said, “Go back also to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people; or go wheresoever it seemeth convenient unto thee to go.” So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a reward and let him go.

⁶ Then went Jeremiah unto Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, to Mizpah, and dwelt with him among the people who were left in the land.

⁷ Now when all the captains of the forces which were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed unto him men and women and children, and the poor of the land of those who were not carried away captive to Babylon,

⁸ then they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah — even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.

⁹ And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, swore unto them and to their men, saying, “Fear not to serve the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.

¹⁰ As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah to serve the Chaldeans, who will come unto us; but ye, gather ye wine and summer fruits and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that ye have taken.”

¹¹ Likewise when all the Jews who were in Moab, and among the Ammonites and in Edom, and who were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan,

¹² even all the Jews returned out of all places whither they were driven and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruits in abundance.

¹³ Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces that were in the fields came to Gedaliah at Mizpah

¹⁴ and said unto him, “Dost thou certainly know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites hath sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to slay thee?” But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam believed them not.

¹⁵ Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, “Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it. Why should he slay thee, that all the Jews who are gathered unto thee should be scattered and the remnant in Judah perish?”

¹⁶ But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said unto Johanan the son of Kareah, “Thou shalt not do this thing, for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael.”