Jeremiah Rescued from the Dungeon

381 Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah, heard the words that Jeremiah spoke to all the people, saying, 2 Thus says Yahweh, He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; but he who goes forth to the Chaldeans shall live, and his life shall be to him for a prey, and he shall live. 3 Thus says Yahweh, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it. 4 Then the princes said to the king, Let this man, we pray you, be put to death; because he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words to them: for this man doesn’t seek the welfare of this people, but the hurt. 5 Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand; for the king is not he who can do anything against you. 6 Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchijah the king’s son, that was in the court of the guard: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. In the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire. 7 Now when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, 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 in the place where he is, because of the famine; for there is no more bread in the city. 10 Then the king commanded Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from hence thirty men with you, 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 there rags and worn-out garments, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah. 12 Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, Put now these rags and worn-out garments under your armpits under the cords. Jeremiah did so. 13 So they drew up Jeremiah with the cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

Zedekiah Seeks Counsel from Jeremiah

14 Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took Jeremiah the prophet to him into the third entry that is in the house of Yahweh: and the king said to Jeremiah, I will ask you something. Hide nothing from me. 15 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, If I declare it to you, will you not surely put me to death? and if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me. 16 So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, As Yahweh lives, who made us this soul, I will not put you to death, neither will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life. 17 Then said Jeremiah to Zedekiah, Thus says Yahweh, the God of Armies, the God of Israel: If you will go forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, then your soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and you shall live, and your house. 18 But if you will 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 you shall not escape out of their hand. 19 Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews who are fallen away to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me. 20 But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver you. Obey, I beg you, the voice of Yahweh, in that which I speak to you: so it shall be well with you, and your soul shall live. 21 But if you refuse to go forth, this is the word that Yahweh has shown me: 22 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, Your familiar friends have set you on, and have prevailed over you: now that your feet are sunk in the mire, they are turned away back. 23 They shall bring out all your wives and your children to the Chaldeans; and you shall not escape out of their hand, but shall be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon: and you shall cause this city to be burned with fire. 24 Then said Zedekiah to Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words, and you shall not die. 25 But if the princes hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you, and tell you, Declare to us now what you have said to the king; don’t hide it from us, and we will not put you to death; also what the king said to you: 26 then you shall tell 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 to 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 abode in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.

The Fall of Jerusalem

391 It happened when Jerusalem was taken, (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 besieged it; 2 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city), 3 that all the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate, to wit, Nergal Sharezer, Samgarnebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris, Nergal Sharezer, Rabmag, with all the rest of the princes of the king of Babylon. 4 It happened that, when Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, then they fled, and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the king’s garden, through the gate between the two walls; and he went out toward the Arabah. 5 But the army of the Chaldeans 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; and he gave judgment on him. 6 Then the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes: also the king of Babylon killed all the nobles of Judah. 7 Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon. 8 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 residue of the people who remained in the city, the deserters also who fell away to him, and the residue of the people who remained. 10 But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the people, who had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.

Nebuchadrezzar's Care for Jeremiah

11 Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon commanded Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard concerning Jeremiah, saying, 12 Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do to him even as he shall tell you. 13 So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard sent, and Nebushazban, Rabsaris, and Nergal Sharezer, Rabmag, and all the chief officers of the king of Babylon; 14 they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the guard, and committed him to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, that he should carry him home: so he lived among the people.

Ebed-melech Assured of Deliverance

15 Now the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the guard, saying, 16 Go, and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring my words on this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished before you in that day. 17 But I will deliver you in that day, says Yahweh; and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid. 18 For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but your life shall be for a prey to you; because you have put your trust in me, says Yahweh.

Jeremiah and the Remnant with Gedaliah

401 The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, after that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah, who were carried away captive to Babylon. 2 The captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said to him, Yahweh your God pronounced this evil on this place; 3 and Yahweh has brought it, and done according as he spoke: because you have sinned against Yahweh, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing has come on you. 4 Now, behold, I release you this day from the chains which are on your hand. If it seems good to you to come with me into Babylon, come, and I will take care of you; but if it seems bad to you to come with me into Babylon, don’t: behold, all the land is before you; where it seems good and right to you to go, there go. 5 Now while he was not yet gone back, Go back then, said he, to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people; or go wherever it seems right to you to go. So the captain of the guard gave him food and a present, and let him go. 6 Then went Jeremiah to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah, and lived with him among the people who were left in the land.

7 Now when all the captains of the forces who 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 to him men, and women, and children, and of the poorest of the land, of those who were not carried away captive to Babylon; 8 then they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, to wit, 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 the Maacathite, they and their men. 9 Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan swore to them and to their men, saying, Don’t be afraid 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 stand before the Chaldeans who shall come to us: but you, gather wine and summer fruits and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that you have taken. 11 Likewise when all the Jews who were in Moab, and among the children of Ammon, 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 then all the Jews returned out of all places where they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, to Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruits very much.

Ishmael's Conspiracy against Gedaliah

13 Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, 14 and said to him, Do you know that Baalis the king of the children of Ammon has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take your life? But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam didn’t believe them. 15 Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, Please let me go, and I will kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it: why should he take your life, that all the Jews who are gathered to you should be scattered, and the remnant of Judah perish? 16 But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, You shall not do this thing; for you speak falsely of Ishmael.

An Appeal to God against the Enemy

741 God, why have you rejected us forever?
Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture? 2 Remember your congregation, which you purchased of old,
which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your inheritance;
Mount Zion, in which you have lived. 3 Lift up your feet to the perpetual ruins,
all the evil that the enemy has done in the sanctuary. 4 Your adversaries have roared in the midst of your assembly.
They have set up their standards as signs. 5 They behaved like men wielding axes,
cutting through a thicket of trees. 6 Now they break all its carved work down with hatchet and hammers. 7 They have burned your sanctuary to the ground.
They have profaned the dwelling place of your Name. 8 They said in their heart, “We will crush them completely.”
They have burned up all the places in the land where God was worshiped. 9 We see no miraculous signs.
There is no longer any prophet,
neither is there among us anyone who knows how long. 10 How long, God, shall the adversary reproach?
Shall the enemy blaspheme your name forever? 11 Why do you draw back your hand, even your right hand?
Take it out of your pocket and consume them!

12 Yet God is my King of old,
working salvation in the midst of the earth. 13 You divided the sea by your strength.
You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters. 14 You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces.
You gave him as food to people and desert creatures. 15 You opened up spring and stream.
You dried up mighty rivers. 16 The day is yours, the night is also yours.
You have prepared the light and the sun. 17 You have set all the boundaries of the earth.
You have made summer and winter.

18 Remember this, that the enemy has mocked you, Yahweh.
Foolish people have blasphemed your name. 19 Don’t deliver the soul of your dove to wild beasts.
Don’t forget the life of your poor forever. 20 Honor your covenant,
for haunts of violence fill the dark places of the earth. 21 Don’t let the oppressed return ashamed.
Let the poor and needy praise your name. 22 Arise, God! Plead your own cause.
Remember how the foolish man mocks you all day. 23 Don’t forget the voice of your adversaries.
The tumult of those who rise up against you ascends continually.

A Lament over the Destruction of Jerusalem

791 God, the nations have come into your inheritance.
They have defiled your holy temple.
They have laid Jerusalem in heaps. 2 They have given the dead bodies of your servants to be food for the birds of the sky,
the flesh of your saints to the animals of the earth. 3 Their blood they have shed like water around Jerusalem.
There was no one to bury them. 4 We have become a reproach to our neighbors,
a scoffing and derision to those who are around us. 5 How long, Yahweh?
Will you be angry forever?
Will your jealousy burn like fire?

6 Pour out your wrath on the nations that don’t know you;
on the kingdoms that don’t call on your name; 7 For they have devoured Jacob,
and destroyed his homeland. 8 Don’t hold the iniquities of our forefathers against us.
Let your tender mercies speedily meet us,
for we are in desperate need. 9 Help us, God of our salvation, for the glory of your name.
Deliver us, and forgive our sins, for your name’s sake. 10 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”
Let it be known among the nations, before our eyes,
that vengeance for your servants’ blood is being poured out. 11 Let the sighing of the prisoner come before you.
According to the greatness of your power, preserve those who are sentenced to death. 12 Pay back to our neighbors seven times into their bosom
their reproach with which they have reproached you, Lord. 13 So we, your people and sheep of your pasture,
will give you thanks forever.
We will praise you forever, to all generations.