OEB by section JER 36:1

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Experiences of Jeremiah During the Siege and at the Capture of Jerusalem

Jeremiah Warns King Zedekiah of the Impending Fate of Jerusalem

37 Now Zedekiah the son of Josiah was reigning in place of Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim, having been set upon the throne of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon; 2 but neither he nor his ministers nor the people of the land gave any heed to the messages Jehovah had delivered by the prophet Jeremiah. 3 King Zedekiah, however, sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest to Jeremiah, with the request that he would pray for them to Jehovah their God. 4 Now Jeremiah, who had not yet been put in prison, was still coming and going among the people.

5 The Chaldeans who were engaged in the siege of Jerusalem, having received a report that Pharaoh’s army was advancing from Egypt, abandoned the siege. 6 Then there came to Jeremiah this message from Jehovah, 7 Thus saith Jehovah: Tell the king of Judah who hath sent thee to consult Me, that Pharaoh’s army which is advancing to your aid shall return to Egypt to their own land; 8 and the Chaldeans will come back and assault this city and take it and burn it with fire. 9 Thus saith Jehovah: Do not delude yourselves with the idea that the Chaldeans will leave you for good: they will do nothing of the kind. 10 For even if you defeated the whole Chaldean army that is fighting against you, so completely that the only survivors were wounded men – a man to a tent– even they would rise up and burn this city with fire.

Jeremiah Arrested and Imprisoned

11 When, in view of the advance of Pharoah’s army, the Chaldean forces had abandoned the siege of Jerusalem, 12 Jeremiah made a journey from Jerusalem to the district of Benjamin to receive his inheritance among the people. 13 He had just reached the Benjamin gate when he was apprehended there by a sentry named Jirijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, who called out, "You are deserting to the Chaldeans." 14 "It is false, said Jeremiah, "I am not deserting to the Chaldeans." But Jirijah, refusing to listen, apprehended Jeremiah and brought him before the courtiers, 15 who in their exasperation had Jeremiah flogged and put in the house of Jonathan, the Secretary of State, which they had turned into a prison. 16 So Jeremiah found himself in the cells of the dungeon, where he remained for a considerable time.

Amelioration of Jeremiah’s Lot

17 Then King Zedekiah sent for him and questioned him secretly in his house whether there was any communication from Jehovah. "There is," said Jeremiah; "you will be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon. 18 Further," said Jeremiah to the king, "what is my crime against you or your ministers or this people that you have put me in prison? 19 Where are your prophets (now) that assured you that the king of Babylon would never invade this country? 20 And now I beseech your Majesty to listen with favour to my supplication, and not to allow me to be taken back to the house of Jonathan the Secretary, where I am likely to perish." 21 Jeremiah was accordingly committed by royal command to the guard-court, and furnished with a loaf of bread a day from the Baker’s Street, till all the bread in the city was consumed. So Jeremiah remained in the guard-court.

Jeremiah Accused of Treason, is Put into a Dungeon, from which he is Rescued by Ebedmelech, a Foreigner

38 Now Shephatiah, the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah, the son of Pashhur, and Juca, the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur, the son of Malchiah, and heard Jeremiah addressing all the people in words like these: 2 "Thus saith Jehovah: Whoever remains in this city shall die by sword, famine and perstilence; but whoever goes over to the Chaldeans shall be spared, though he shall escape with nothing but his life." 3 Also, "Thus saith Jehovah, This city shall most assuredly be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon’s army, and it shall be captured." 4 Whereupon those courtiers said to the king, "We petition you to have this fellow put to death: this sort of talk is unnerving all the people and the soldiers left in the city. This fellow does not want to help the city, but to ruin it." 5 "He is in your power," said the king; for he was helpless against them. 6 So they took Jeremiah and, lowering him with ropes, they threw him into the cistern of the royal prince Malchiah, that was in the guard-court. There was no water in the cistern, but only mud; and Jeremiah sank in the mud.

7 Now it came to the ears of Ebedmelech, an Ethiopian eunuch attached to the palace, that they had put Jeremiah in the cistern. 8 Ebedmelech accordingly left the palace for the Benjamin gate where the king happened to be sitting at the time, and thus he addressed him: 9 "Your Majesty, these men have behaved most wrongfully in their treatment of Jeremiah the prophet; they have flung him into the cistern and he will die of hunger on the spot, for there is no more bread in the city." 10 At once the king ordered Ebedmelech to take with him three me and pull Jeremiah out of the cistern before he perished. 11 Ebedmelech, accordingly, taking the men with him, went to the palace, and secured from (a lumber room) underneath the treasury some torn and tattered rags, and let them down by ropes to Jeremiah into the cistern. 12 Then he told Jeremiah to put the torn and tattered rags under his armpits beneath the ropes; and Jeremiah did so. 13 Then they drew him up with the ropes and pulled him out of the cistern; and Jeremiah remained in the guard-court.

Zedekiah Secretly Consults Jeremiah

14 King Zedekiah afterwards sent and had Jeremiah brought to him at the third entry that leads into the Temple; and the king said to Jeremiah, "I am going to ask you a question which you are to answer me unreservedly." 15 "If I tell you," said Jeremiah, "are you not certain to put me to death? besides, any advice I give you, you will simply disregard." 16 Then, in secret, the king swore the following oath to Jeremiah, "As Jehovah liveth, who created this life of ours, I assure you solemnly that I will neither put you to death nor deliver you into the hands of those men that are seeking your life." 17 Then said Jeremiah to Zedekiah, "Thus saith Jehovah, If you surrender voluntarily to the officers of the king of Babylon, your life will be spared, and this city shall not be burned with fire, but you and your family will be spared. 18 If, however, you refuse to surrender, then this city shall be delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans, who will burn it with fire; and you shall not escape from their hands." 19 Then the king said to Jeremiah, "I am afraid of the Jews who have gone over to them and subjected to violence." 20 "No," said Jeremiah, "you will not be handed over. But I entreat you to listen to what I say – it is the voice of Jehovah: your happiness and your life depend upon it. 21 But if you refuse to surrender, then this is the message revealed to me in a vision by Jehovah – 22 mark it well; (I saw) all the women that are left in the palace of the king of Judah brought out to the chief officers of the king of Babylon, chanting the while this song:

Thy most excellent friends have beguiled

And prevailed over thee,

Thy feet they have thrust in the mire,

And thus sinking have left thee.

23 All your wives and children they shall bring out to the Chaldeans, and you yourself shall not escape; you will be seized by the hand of the king of Babylon; and this city shall be burned with fire."

24 "Well, then," said the king to him, "let nobody know anything of this conversation, or else you are a dead man. 25 If the courtiers hear that I have been talking with you, and come and ask you to tell them unreservedly, on pain of death, what you have been saying to the king and the king to you, 26 then just tell them that you were presenting a petition to the king that you should not be taken back to Jonathan’s house, where you were in danger of perishing." 27 In point of fact, the courtiers did all come to Jeremiah and question him; and the story he told them was in entire accordance with the king’s instructions. So they said no more to him, for no part of the conversation had been heard. 28 Jeremiah accordingly remained in the guard-court till the day Jerusalem was taken.

The Capture of Jerusalem

39 In the tenth month of the ninth year of Zedekiah, king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon came with all his forces against Jerusalem and laid siege to it. 2 On the ninth day of the fourth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah a breach was made in the city. 3 All the chief officers of the king of Babylon came and took their seats in the middle gate – Nergalsharezer the Rab-mag, Nebushazban the Rab-saris, and all the rest of the officers of the king of Babylon. 4 On observing this, Zedekiah, king of Judah, and all the soldiers took to flight, leaving the city during the night by way of the royal garden, by the gate between the two walls, and they made for the Jordan valley. 5 But the Chaldean army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the steppes of Jericho. They seized him and brought him to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was at Riblah in the district of Hamath, and he 6 pronounced judgment upon them. At Riblah the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and all the noblemen of Judah also did the king 7 of Babylon slay. He then put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and loaded him with chains to carry him to Babylon. 8 The palace and the houses of the people the Chaldeans burned with fire, and the walls of Jerusalem they 9 demolished. The rest of the people that were left in the city, and the deserters who had gone over to him, and those that were left of the artificers, Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, carried to exile in Babylon. 10 Some of the poor people who had nothing were left by Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, in the land of Judah, and presented at the same time with vineyards and fields.

11 With regard to Jeremiah, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had instructed Nebuzaradan, the commander 12 of the guard, to do him no harm, but to take and look well after him and treat him according to his own 13 instructions. So a messenger was despatched from Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, and Nebuzaradan, the Rab-saris, and Nergalsharezer, the Rab-mag, and all the chief officers of the king of Babylon.

Provision made for Jeremiah’s safety after the Capture of Jerusalem

14 They sent and had Jeremiah brought from the guard-court, and delivered him to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to be taken to his own home; so he stayed among the people.

Jeremiah’s Gracious Promise to Ebedmelech

15 During Jeremiah’s detention in the guard-court, there had come to him this message from Jehovah: 16 Go and say to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: I will bring upon this city all that I have said – for evil and not for good, and in that day it will be accomplished before thine eyes. 17 But, saith Jehovah, I will deliver thee on that day, and thou shalt not be given into the hands of the men thou dreadest. 18 I will save thee without fail; thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thou shalt escape with thy life, because, saith Jehovah, thou hast put thy trust in Me.