Promise of Restoration.

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from THE LORD in the tenth year of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah had been imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard that was attached to the royal palace.
       King Zedekiah had ordered Jeremiah to be confined there, saying, "Why do you continue to prophesy in this manner? According to you, this is what THE LORD says, 'I intend to hand over this city to the king of Babylon, and he will capture it. Nor will King Zedekiah of Judah escape the clutches of the Chaldeans; rather, he will be handed over to the king of Babylon, and he will speak with him face to face and behold him with his own eyes. Then Zedekiah will be taken to Babylon, where he will remain until I am ready to deal with him. If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will experience no success.'"
       Jeremiah replied: This word of THE LORD was delivered to me: Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, will come to you and say, "Purchase for yourself my field at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. As my closest relative, you have the first right of redemption." Then, just as THE LORD had foretold, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard and said, "Buy my field at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of redemption and possession is yours as next of kin. Therefore, purchase it for yourself." I then knew that this was the word of THE LORD.
       Therefore, I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out the money to him--seventeen shekels of silver. I signed the deed, sealed it, had it witnessed, and weighed the money on the scales. Then I took the deed of purchase, both the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions and the unsealed one, and handed them over to Baruch, the son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel and of the witnesses who had signed the deed of purchase and of all the Judeans who then happened to be sitting in the courtyard of the guard.
       In their presence I gave the following instructions to Baruch: Thus says THE LORD OF HOSTS, THE GOD OF ISRAEL: Take the documents of the deed of purchase, both the sealed and the unsealed copies, and place them in an earthenware jar so that they may be preserved for a long period of time. For thus says THE LORD OF HOSTS, THE GOD OF ISRAEL: Houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.
       After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch, the son of Neriah, I offered this prayer to THE LORD, "Ah, LORD GOD, YOU made the heavens and the earth by YOUR great power and YOUR outstretched arm. Nothing is impossible for YOU. YOU show YOUR steadfast love to thousands, but YOU permit children to be punished for the guilt of their parents, O GREAT AND MIGHTY GOD whose name is THE LORD OF HOSTS. Great in counsel and mighty in deed, YOUR eyes observe closely all the ways of men, rewarding each one according to his conduct and as his deeds deserve.
       "YOU performed marvelous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and YOU have continued to do so in Israel and among all mankind, gaining renown that continues to this very day. With a mighty hand and outstretched arm YOU led YOUR people out of Egypt amid signs and wonders and great terror.
       "YOU gave them this land which YOU had promised with an oath to their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey. They entered and took possession of it, but they did not obey YOU or live in accordance with YOUR law. And since they refused to do what YOU had commanded, YOU permitted all these disasters to befall them.
       "Behold, the siege-works are already in position to force YOUR people into submission, and the city, a victim of sword, famine, and pestilence, will be handed over to the Chaldeans who are attacking it. What YOU threatened has come to pass, as YOU YOURSELF can see. And yet, LORD GOD, YOU YOURSELF told me, 'Purchase the field with money and summon witnesses.' However, the city has already succumbed to the power of the Chaldeans."
       Then this word of THE LORD came to Jeremiah: I AM THE LORD, THE GOD OF ALL MANKIND. Is anything impossible for ME to accomplish? Therefore, thus says THE LORD: I intend to hand over this city to the Chaldeans and to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and he will take it. While attacking this city, the Chaldeans will enter it, set it on fire, and burn it to the ground, along with the houses on whose roofs the people provoked ME to anger by burning incense to Baal and by pouring out libations to other gods.
       From their youth the people of Israel and the people of Judah have done nothing but evil in MY sight. Indeed the people of Israel have done nothing but provoke ME with the works of their hands, says THE LORD. From the day this city was built until today, it has so aroused MY anger and MY wrath that I intend to remove it from MY sight, because of all the evil that the people of Israel and the people of Judah have perpetrated to provoke ME. They have turned their backs to ME, not their faces, and although I continued to teach them, they would not listen or accept correction.
       They defiled the house that bears MY name by setting up within it their loathsome idols. They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben-hinnom to immolate their sons and daughters to Molech. I gave them no command to do so, nor did the thought ever enter MY mind that they would do such an abominable deed and thereby cause Judah to sin.
       Now, therefore, thus says THE LORD, THE GOD OF ISRAEL, in regard to this city about which you say, "It has been handed over into the power of the king of Babylon by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence:" Behold, I am determined to gather them together from all the lands to which I banished them in MY furious anger and intense wrath. I will bring them back to this place and allow them to live there in peace. They will be MY people, and I will be their GOD. I will grant them unity of heart and unity of conduct so that they will fear ME always, for their own good as well as for the good of their children after them.
       I will make an everlasting covenant with them never to cease ensuring their welfare, and I will put the fear of ME into their hearts so that they will never turn away from ME. I will delight in doing good to them, and I will plant them firmly in this land with all MY heart and soul.
       For thus says THE LORD: Just as I afflicted this people with such great calamity, so I will grant them all the good things I have promised them. Once again fields will be purchased in this land about which you are saying, "It is a desolate waste, without people or animals, for it has been handed over to the Chaldeans." Fields will be purchased with money; deeds will be signed, sealed, and witnessed in the land of Benjamin, in the districts around Jerusalem, and in the towns of Judah, of the hill country, of the foothills, and of the Negeb. For I will restore their fortunes, says THE LORD.


JEREMIAH: CHAPTER 32

Jerusalem Restored.

While Jeremiah was still imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard, the word of THE LORD came to him a second time: Thus says THE LORD who made the earth, who formed and established it--THE LORD is HIS name: Call to ME and I will answer you and reveal to you great and mysterious secrets about which you are unaware. For thus says THE LORD, THE GOD OF ISRAEL, about the houses of this city and the palaces of the kings of Judah which are in the process of being destroyed by siege-works and the sword in the battle against the Chaldeans: The houses will be filled with the corpses of those whom I will strike down in MY anger and rage, those whose wickedness has caused ME to hide MY face from this city.

       Nevertheless, I intend to treat and assuage the wounds of this city. I will heal the people and grant them an abundance of peace and prosperity. I will restore the fortunes of Judah and Israel and rebuild them as they were formerly. I will cleanse them of all the guilt they incurred by their sins against me, and I will forgive them for their offenses by which they sinned and rebelled against ME. Then Jerusalem will become for ME a name of joy and praise and pride for all the nations of the earth to behold. When they learn of all the good that I will do for her, they will be overcome with fear and trembling because of all the peace and prosperity I have provided.

       Thus says THE LORD: In this place about which you say, "It is a wasteland, without men or animals," and in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are now deserted, inhabited by neither men nor animals, there will once again be heard the cries of joy and the cries of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, and the joyful sounds of those who bring thank offerings to THE LORD, saying,

       "Give thanks to THE LORD OF HOSTS,

          for THE LORD is good;

          HIS love endures forever."

For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were once before, says THE LORD.

       Thus says THE LORD OF HOSTS: In this place that is now a wasteland, without men or animals, and in all its towns, there will again be pastures in which shepherds can rest their flocks. In the towns of the hill country, of the foothills, and of the Negeb, in the land of Benjamin, in the districts around Jerusalem, and in the towns of Judah, flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who counts them, says THE LORD.

       The days are coming, says THE LORD, when I will fulfill the promise of blessings I made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah:

       In those days and at that time

          I will cause a righteous branch

       to spring up from the line of David

          HE will do what is just and upright in the

              land

       In those days Judah will be saved

          and Jerusalem will live in safety.

       This is the name by which the city will be

              called:

          "THE LORD Our Righteousness."

       For thus says THE LORD: Never will David lack a male descendant to succeed to the throne of the house of Israel, nor will the Levitical priests ever fail to have available one of their number to stand before ME to present burnt offerings, to burn cereal offerings, and to offer sacrifices each day.

       The word of THE LORD came to Jeremiah: Thus says THE LORD: If you could break MY covenant with the day and MY covenant with the night so that day and night would no longer occur at their appointed time, then MY covenant with MY servant David could also be broken so that he would not have a son to reign on his throne, and MY covenant with the Levites who minister as priests to ME could also be broken. Just as the host of heaven cannot be numbered and the sands of the sea cannot be counted, so I will increase the descendants of MY servant David and of the Levites who minister to ME.

       This word of THE LORD came to Jeremiah: Have you not noticed what these people say, "The two families that were chosen by THE LORD have been rejected by HIM"? As a result, they look upon MY people with such contempt that they no longer regard them as a nation.

       Thus says THE LORD: If I had not established MY covenant with day and night and fixed the laws governing heaven and earth, then I would reject the descendants of Jacob and of MY servant David and not choose any of David's descendants to serve as rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and have mercy upon them.

JEREMIAH: CHAPTER 33

Zedekiah Condemned.

While Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and his entire army and all the kingdoms of the earth under his dominion and all the people in the empire he ruled were waging war against Jerusalem and all its towns, this word came to Jeremiah from THE LORD: Go forth to Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and say to him: Thus says THE LORD: I intend to hand over this city to the king of Babylon, and he will order that it be burned to the ground. And you yourself will not escape his clutches, for there is no doubt that you will be captured and delivered into his hands. With your own eyes you will see the king of Babylon, and he will speak with you face to face. Then you will go to Babylon.
       But even so, listen to the promise of THE LORD to you, Zedekiah, king of Judah. This is what THE LORD promises in your regard: You will not die by the sword. Rather, you will die a peaceful death. And just as the people burned spices in honor of your ancestors, the kings who preceded you, so they will mourn your passing and burn spices for you, as they lament, "Alas, O king." I MYSELF have made this promise, says THE LORD.
       The prophet Jeremiah revealed all these things to Zedekiah, the king of Judah, in Jerusalem while the army of the king of Babylon was attacking Jerusalem and the remaining cities of Judah that were left, Lachish and Azekah, for these were the only fortified cities of Judah that were still standing.


JEREMIAH: CHAPTER 34, VERSES 1 - 7

The Broken Promise.

       This word came to Jeremiah from THE LORD after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to issue a proclamation of freedom for their slaves. Everyone who had Hebrew slaves, whether male or female, was to grant them freedom, and no one would be allowed to keep a fellow Jew in the state of slavery.

       All of the officials and the people who entered into this agreement, swearing that they would set free their male and female slaves so that they would not again be enslaved, obeyed and granted them their freedom. Afterward, however, they changed their minds and once again forced back into slavery those to whom they had granted their freedom.

       Then this word of THE LORD came to Jeremiah: Thus says THE LORD, THE GOD OF ISRAEL: I made a covenant with your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery, saying, "Every seventh year each one of you must set free any Hebrew who has sold himself to you as a slave and has served you for six years."

       Your fathers, however, did not listen to ME or obey ME. Recently you repented and did what is right in MY sight by proclaiming that freedom was to be given to your brethren and even making a covenant with ME in the house that bears MY name. Now, however, you have renounced that agreement and profaned MY name when each of you took back the male and female slaves to whom you had granted freedom and forced them once again to be your slaves.

       Therefore, thus says THE LORD: Inasmuch as you have not obeyed ME and refused to grant deliverance to your neighbors and kinsmen, now I will proclaim deliverance for you--deliverance to the sword, to plague, and to famine. I will make you an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. As for those who have violated MY covenant and refused to observe the terms of the covenant to which they agreed in MY presence, I will treat them like the calf which they cut in two and then passed between its pieces. The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who walked between the pieces of the calf will be handed over to their enemies who seek their lives. Their corpses will become food for the birds of the air and the animals of the earth.

       As for Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and his officials, I will hand them over to their enemies who seek their lives and to the army of the king of Babylon which has withdrawn from you. I will issue the command, says THE LORD, and I will bring them back to this city. They will attack it and capture it and burn it to the ground. And I will turn the towns of Judah into a desolate wasteland where no one dwells.

JEREMIAH: CHAPTER 34, VERSES 8 - 22

Faithfulness of the Rechabites.

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from THE LORD in the days of King Jehoiakim of Judah, the son of Josiah: Go forth to the clan of the Rechabites and speak to them. Have them accompany you into one of the rooms of the house of THE LORD and offer them wine to drink.

       Therefore, I took Jaazaniah, the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, his brothers and all his sons, the entire clan of the Rechabites, and I brought them into the house of THE LORD, to the room of the sons of Hanan, son of Igdaliah, the man of GOD. This room adjoins the chamber of the princes and is above the room of Maaserah, the son of Shallum, the guardian of the threshold.

       Then I set pitchers full of wine and some cups before the Rechabites, and I said to them, "Have some wine to drink." However, they replied, "We never drink wine. Our ancestor Jonadab, the son of Rechab, gave us this command, 'Neither you nor your children will ever drink wine. Nor will you build houses or sow seed or plant vineyards or even own them. Rather, you will dwell in tents all the days of your life, so that you may live for a long time on the land where you are sojourners.'

       "We have carefully followed all the commands given to us by our ancestor Jonadab, the son of Rechab. Throughout our lives we have never consumed wine, nor have our wives, our sons, or our daughters. We have not built houses to live in, and we have no vineyards or fields or seed. On the contrary, we have lived in tents and scrupulously obeyed everything commanded by our father Jonadab. But when Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, invaded this land, we said, 'Let us go to Jerusalem so that we may escape the armies of the Chaldeans and the Arameans.' That is the reason why we are living in Jerusalem."

       Then the word of THE LORD came to Jeremiah: Thus says THE LORD OF HOSTS, THE GOD OF ISRAEL: Go forth and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Will you never come to your senses and obey MY words? says THE LORD. The command of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, to his descendants never to drink wine has been observed to this very day; in obedience to their ancestor, they have drunk no wine. But despite the fact that I have repeated this command to you countless times, you have not obeyed ME.

       I have continued to send to you all MY servants the prophets who warned you repeatedly, "Turn back, every one of you, from your evil conduct, and cease to follow other gods to serve them. Then you will continue to live in the land that I gave to you and your ancestors." But you did not pay attention and you refused to listen to ME. The descendants of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, have honored the command that their ancestors gave them. You, however, have not heeded MY warnings.

       Therefore, thus says THE LORD, THE GOD OF HOSTS, THE GOD OF ISRAEL: I am determined to bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem every disaster with which I threatened them because they would not listen when I spoke to them and did not answer when I called to them.

       However, to the clan of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, "Thus says THE LORD OF HOSTS, THE GOD OF ISRAEL: Because you have obeyed the command of your father Jonadab, followed all of his instructions, and did everything that he ordered you to do, therefore, thus says THE LORD OF HOSTS, THE GOD OF ISRAEL: There will never fail to be a descendant of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, to stand before ME forever."

JEREMIAH: CHAPTER 35

Baruch Writes the Prophecies on a Scroll.

In the fourth year of King Jehoiakim of Judah, the son of Josiah, this word came to Jeremiah from THE LORD: Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you against Israel, Judah, and all the nations, from the day when I first spoke to you, during the reign of Josiah, until today. Perhaps when the house of Judah hears about all the disasters that I intend to inflict upon them, they will all turn back from their evil ways. Then I will forgive their wickedness and their sins.

       Then Jeremiah summoned Baruch, the son of Neriah, and dictated everything that THE LORD had spoken to him so that Baruch might write it all on a scroll. He also gave Baruch the following instruction. "Inasmuch as I am prevented from entering the house of THE LORD, you yourself must go there, and on a fast day, in the hearing of all the people in THE LORD's house, you shall read from the scroll the words of THE LORD that you wrote at my dictation.

       "You shall read them also in the hearing of all the people of Judah who travel there from their towns. Perhaps they will then plead before THE LORD, and all of them will turn from their evil ways. For great is the anger and wrath that THE LORD has threatened against this people." Then Baruch, the son of Neriah, prepared to do everything that the prophet Jeremiah had ordered him about reading from the scroll the words of THE LORD in THE LORD's house.

       In the ninth month of the fifth year of the reign of King Jehoiakim of Judah, the son of Josiah, a fast before THE LORD was proclaimed for all the people of Jerusalem and all those who came from the towns of Judah to Jerusalem. Then Baruch read the words of Jeremiah from the scroll, in the room of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan the scribe, which was in the upper court, at the entrance of the New Gate of THE LORD's house, in the hearing of all the people.

       When Micaiah, the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of THE LORD that had been read from the scroll, he went down to the king's palace and entered the scribe's chamber, where all the officials were in session: Elishama the scribe, Delaiah, the son of Shemaiah, Elnathan, the son of Achbor, Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah, the son of Hananiah, and all the other officials.

       After Micaiah had reported to them all that he had heard when Baruch read from the scroll to the people, the officials then sent Jehudi, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shemaliah, the son of Cushi, to say to Baruch, "Come to us and bring with you the scroll that you read publicly to the people." Holding the scroll in his hand, Baruch, the son of Neriah, came into their presence.

       "Sit down," they said to him, "and read it to us." Baruch read it to them, and when they had heard all the words, they turned to one another in alarm and said to Baruch, "We must certainly report this to the king."

       They then asked Baruch, "Please tell us how you came to write all these words. Were they dictated to you by Jeremiah?" Baruch replied, "Jeremiah dictated all these words, and I wrote them down in ink on the scroll." Then the officials said to Baruch, "You and Jeremiah must go into hiding, and be extremely careful not to let anyone know where you are."

       Leaving the scroll in the room of Elishama the scribe, the officials then went to the court of the king, and they reported all that had occured. The king sent Jehudi for the scroll, and he brought it from the room of Elishama the scribe and read it to the king and all the officials standing beside him.

       Since it was the ninth month of the year, the king was sitting in his winter residence, and there was a fire burning in a brazier in front of him. Each time Jehudi had read three or four columns of the scroll, the king would cut them off with a scribe's knife and throw them into the fire in the brazier until the entire scroll was finally consumed in the brazier's flames.

       However, despite hearing all these words, neither the king nor any of his officials showed the slightest alarm, nor did they tear their garments. And although Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah pleaded with the king not to burn the scroll, he refused to listen to them. Then the king ordered his son Jerahmeel, and Seraiah, the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah, the son of Abdeel, to arrest the scribe Baruch and the prophet Jeremiah. However, THE LORD had hidden them.

       After the king had burned the scroll with all the words that Baruch had written at Jeremiah's dictation, this word of THE LORD came to Jeremiah: Take another scroll and inscribe on it everything that was written on the first scroll which King Jehoiakim of Judah has burned. Also state clearly to Jehoiakim, the king of Judah: Thus says THE LORD: You have dared to burn that scroll, saying: Why did you write in it that the king of Babylon without question will come and destroy this land and leave it devoid of men and animals?

       Therefore, thus says THE LORD about King Jehoiakim of Judah: He will have no descendant to succeed him on the throne of David, and his dead body will be exposed to the blazing heat of the day and icy frost at night. I will punish him and his offspring and his attendants for their wickedness, and I will bring down on them and on the citizens of Jerusalem and on the people of Judah all the disasters with which I threatened them, because they paid no heed to MY warnings.

       Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch, the son of Neriah, who wrote on it at Jeremiah's dictation all the words of the scroll that King Jehoiakim of Judah had burned in the fire, in addition to many more words than there had been previously.

JEREMIAH: CHAPTER 36

Jeremiah's Arrest.

 Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, was appointed by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to be king in the land of Judah, succeeding Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim. However, neither he nor his officials nor the people of the land paid any heed to the words of THE LORD that HE spoke through the prophet Jeremiah.
       Even so, King Zedekiah sent Jehucal, the son of Shelamiah, and the priest Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah, to the prophet Jeremiah with this message, "Please pray to THE LORD, our GOD, for us." At that time Jeremiah had not been imprisoned, and he was still able to move freely among the people. Meanwhile, Pharaoh's army had set forth from Egypt, and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem learned of this, they withdrew from there.
       Then the word of THE LORD came to the prophet Jeremiah: Thus says THE LORD, THE GOD OF ISRAEL: Give this reply to the king of Judah who sent you to consult ME: Pharaoh's army which has set out to help you will withdraw to its own country of Egypt, and the Chaldeans will then resume their attack upon this city. They will capture it and burn it to the ground.
       Thus says THE LORD: Do not deceive yourselves with the belief that the Chaldeans will cease their attack on you, for they will not disappear. Even if you managed to defeat the entire force of the Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and only those who were wounded were still left, they would rise up and burn this city to the ground.
       When the Chaldean army had withdrawn from their attack on Jerusalem after they learned of the approach of Pharaoh's army, Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem for the territory of Benjamin to take possession of his share of a piece of property that he had inherited. However, when he reached the Benjamin Gate, he encountered there the captain of the guard whose name was Irijah, the son of Shemaliah, the son of Hananiah. Irijah arrested the prophet Jeremiah, saying, "You are deserting to the Chaldeans." Jeremiah answered him, "That is a lie. I am not deserting to the Chaldeans." But Irijah refused to listen to him, and he arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials.
       The officials were enraged at Jeremiah. After having him beaten, they ordered him to be confined in the house of Jonathan the scribe, which had been converted into a jail. Jeremiah was placed in a cell in the dungeon where he remained for a lengthy period of time.
       Later, King Zedekiah had Jeremiah brought to him, and he questioned him privately in his palace, asking him, "Is there any word from THE LORD?" "There is," Jeremiah replied. "You will be handed over to the king of Babylon." Jeremiah then asked King Zedekiah, "In what way have I wronged you or your ministers or this people that caused you to order me to be thrown into prison? Where are your prophets now who prophesied to you that the king of Babylon would not attack you or this land?
       "Therefore, I beg you, my lord king, to grant my petition. Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe. If you do, I will die there." Therefore, King Zedekiah issued an order that Jeremiah was to be confined to the court of the guard, and that a loaf of bread was to be given to him each day from the Street of the Bakers until there was no more bread remaining in the city. And so Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

JEREMIAH: CHAPTER 37

Jeremiah in the Muddy Cistern.

Shephatiah, the son of Mattan, Gedaliah, the son of Pashhur, Jucal, the son of Shemaliah, and Pashhur, the son of Malchiah, heard Jeremiah speaking these words to all the people, "Thus says THE LORD: Whoever remains in this city will die by the sword, or famine, or pestilence. However, anyone who leaves it and surrenders to the Chaldeans will live; his life will be spared and he will live. Thus says THE LORD: Without any doubt this city will be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon who will capture it."

       Then the officials said to the king, "This man should be put to death. There is no question that he is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city as well as all the people by saying such things to them. For this man is not interested in the welfare of these people but rather is seeking their ruin."

       King Zedekiah replied, "He is in your power." For the king was powerless to oppose them. Therefore, they took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king's son, which was in the court of the guard, letting him down with ropes. There was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud.

       However, it so happened that an Ethiopian, Ebed-melech, who was a eunuch in the king's palace, heard that Jeremiah had been put into the cistern. Therefore, he decided to report this to the king, and he left the palace to speak to the king who at that moment was seated at the Benjamin Gate. "My lord king," he said, "these men have acted wickedly in their treatment of the prophet Jeremiah. They threw him into a cistern and left him there to die of hunger, for there is no more bread left in the city."

       The king instructed Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, to take three men along with him and lift the prophet Jeremiah out of the cistern before he perished. Ebed-melech went to the palace with the men after first taking from a storage closet in the palace some old tattered rags and worn-out clothes which he lowered with ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern. Then Ebed-melech the Ethiopian called down to Jeremiah, "Put those old rags and clothes under your armpits to pad the ropes." Jeremiah did so, and then they pulled him up with the ropes out of the cistern. But Jeremiah continued to remain in the court of the guard.

       King Zedekiah summoned the prophet Jeremiah and received him at the third entrance to the temple of THE LORD. "I have something to ask you," the king said to Jeremiah. "Do not conceal anything from me." Jeremiah replied to Zedekiah, "If I speak in a straightforward manner, you will have me put to death, won't you? And if I give you advice, you will not listen to me." But King Zedekiah then swore this oath secretly to Jeremiah, "As THE LORD lives who gave us the breath of life, I will not put you to death, nor will I hand you over to those who seek your life."

       Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "Thus says THE LORD, THE GOD OF HOSTS, THE GOD OF ISRAEL: If you surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, your life will be spared, and this city will not be burned to the ground, and you and your family will live. However, if you do not surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, this city will fall into the hands of the Chaldeans, who will destroy it with fire, and you yourself will not be able to escape their clutches."

       King Zedekiah then said to Jeremiah, "I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Chaldeans. It very well might be that I will be handed over to them and they will be ruthless in their treatment of me." Jeremiah replied, "You will not be handed over to them. If you obey THE LORD by doing everything I tell you, all will go well with you, and your life will be spared. But if you refuse to surrender, this is what THE LORD has shown me. HE has given me a vision of all the women left in the palace of the king of Judah being led off to the officials of the king of Babylon and saying,

       'They have misled you and triumphed over

              you,

          your trusted friends.

       Now that your feet are stuck in the mud,

          they have deserted you.'

       "All your wives and your children will be led off to the Chaldeans, and you yourself will not escape their clutches. Rather, you will be handed over to the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned to the ground."

       Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "Do not let anyone know of this conversation, or you will die. If the officials learn that I have spoken with you, and they say to you, 'Tell us what you said to the king and what he said to you; do not hold anything back from us or we will put you to death,' give them this answer, 'I was simply pleading with the king not to send me back to the house of Jonathan to die there.' "

       All the officials did come to Jeremiah to interrogate him, and he replied to them in the very same words that the king had commanded. therefore, they ceased to question him, for no one had heard their conversation. And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was captured.

JEREMIAH: CHAPTER 38

Jeremiah and Gedaliah.

In the tenth month of the ninth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, marched into battle against Jerusalem with his entire army and laid siege to it. Then, in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, on the ninth day of the fourth month, a breach was made in the wall of the city. Thereupon, all of the officials of the king of Babylon came forward and took their seats at the middle gate: Nergal-sharezer, Samgar-nebo, Sarsechim, who was a high dignitary, another Nergal-sharezer, who was the chief astrologer, and all of the other dignitaries in the king's service.

       When King Zedekiah of Judah beheld them, he and all of his soldiers fled, departing from the city during the night by way of the king's garden through the gate between the two walls, and they set off in the direction of the Arabah. However, the army of the Chaldeans set off in pursuit of them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. After they had captured him, they took him to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, at Riblah in the land of Hamath, who passed sentence on him.

       The king of Babylon ordered the sons of Zedekiah to be slaughtered at Riblah before their father's eyes, and he also sentenced all the nobles of Judah to be put to death. Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah and ordered him to be taken to Babylon bound in chains.

       The Chaldeans burned to the ground the royal palace and the houses of the people, and they demolished the walls of Jerusalem. Then Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, deported to Babylon the rest of the people who were left in the city, those who had deserted to him, and the remaining workmen. However Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people who owned nothing, and at the same time, he gave them vineyards and fields.

       Concerning Jeremiah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon gave the following orders to Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, "Take him and look after him. Do him no harm, but grant him whatever he requests." Then Nebuzaradan, the commander, the commander of the guard, and Nebushazban, a high-ranking dignitary, and Nergal-sharezar, an important official, and all the chief officers of the king of Babylon ordered Jeremiah to be taken from the court of the guard and entrusted to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to be brought safely home. Thus he remained among his own people.

JEREMIAH: CHAPTER 39, VERSES 1 - 14

A Blessing for Ebed-melech.

       While Jeremiah was confined in the court of the guard, the word of THE LORD came to him. "Go and tell Ebed-melech the Ethiopian: Thus says THE LORD OF HOSTS, THE GOD OF ISRAEL: Behold, I am now going to fulfill the words I have spoken against this city for its ruin and not for its prosperity, and those promises will be fulfilled before your very eyes.

       "However, I will rescue you on that day, says THE LORD. You will not be handed over to those whom you so greatly fear. For I will save you. You will not fall by the sword, but you will escape with your life because you have placed your trust in ME, says THE LORD."

JEREMIAH: CHAPTER 39, VERSES 15 - 18