39 2 Nebuchadnezzar beseigeth Jerusalem. 4 Zedekiah fleeing, is taken of the Chaldeans. 6 His sons are slain. 7 His eyes are thrust out. 11 Jeremiah is provided for. 26 Ebed-Melech is delivered from captivity.
1 In (A)the ninth year of Zedekiah King of Judah in the tenth month, came Nebuchadnezzar King of Babel and all his host 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 [a]up.
3 And all the princes of the King of Babel came in, and sat in the middle gate, even Nergal-Sharezer, Samgar-Nebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris, Nergal-Sharezer, Rabmag, with all the residue of the princes of the king of Babel.
4 And when Zedekiah the king of Judah saw them, and all the men of war, then they fled, and went out of the city by night, through the king’s garden, and by the [b]gate between the two walls, and he went toward the wilderness.
5 But the Chaldean’s host pursued after them, and overtook Zedekiah in the desert of Jericho: and when they had taken him, they brought him to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel unto [c]Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he gave judgment upon him.
6 Then the king of Babel slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes: also the king of Babel slew all the nobles of Judah.
7 Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and bound him in chains to carry him to Babel.
8 And the Chaldeans burnt the king’s house, and the houses of the people with fire, and brake down the walls of Jerusalem.
9 Then Nebuzaradan the [d]chief steward carried away captive into Babel the remnant of the people that remained in the city, and those that were fled and fallen unto him, with the rest of the people that remained.
10 But Nebuzaradan the chief steward left the [e]poor that had nothing in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.
11 Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel gave charge concerning Jeremiah [f]unto Nebuzaradan the chief steward, saying,
12 Take him, and [g]look well to him, and do him no harm, but do unto him [h]even as he shall say unto thee.
13 So Nebuzaradan the chief steward sent, and Nebushasban, Rabsaris, and Nergal-Sharezar, Rabmag, and all the King of Babel’s princes:
14 Even they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the prison, and committed him unto [i]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 Ebed-Melech the black Moor, 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 whom thou fearest.
18 For I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey unto thee, because thou [j]hast put thy trust in me, saith the Lord.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 39:2 The gates and walls were broken down.
- Jeremiah 39:4 Which was a postern door, read 2 Kings 25:4.
- Jeremiah 39:5 Which is called Antioch in Syria.
- Jeremiah 39:9 Or, captain of the guard.
- Jeremiah 39:10 For the rich and the mighty which put their trust in their shifts and means, were by God’s just judgments most rigorously handled.
- Jeremiah 39:11 Hebrew, by the hand of.
- Jeremiah 39:12 Hebrew, set thine eyes upon them.
- Jeremiah 39:12 Thus God preserved his prophet by his means, whom he made the scourge to punish the king, and them that were his enemies.
- Jeremiah 39:14 Whom the King of Babel had now appointed governor over the rest of the Jews that he left behind.
- Jeremiah 39:18 Thus God recompensed his zeal and favor, which he showed to his Prophet in his troubles.