Jeremiah 37-39 - Prayer Tents

Jeremiah 37

Zedekiah Calls for Jeremiah

37Zedekiah son of Josiah succeeded Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim as the king of Judah. He was appointed by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.H4428H6667H1121H2977H4427H3659H1121H3079H5019H4428H894H4427H776H30632But neither King Zedekiah nor his attendants nor the people who were left in the land listened to what the Lord said through Jeremiah.H5650H5971H776H8085H1697H3068H1696H3027H5030H34143Nevertheless, King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the priest, son of Maaseiah, to ask Jeremiah, “Please pray to the Lord our God for us.”H6667H4428H7971H3081H1121H8018H6846H1121H4641H3548H5030H3414H559H6419H3068H4304Jeremiah had not yet been imprisoned, so he could come and go among the people as he pleased.H3414H935H3318H8432H5971H5414H1004H36285At this time the army of Pharaoh Hophra of Egypt appeared at the southern border of Judah. When the Babylonian army heard about it, they withdrew from their siege of Jerusalem.H6547H2428H3318H4714H3778H6696H3389H8085H8088H5927H33896Then the Lord gave this message to Jeremiah:H1697H3068H5030H3414H5597“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: The king of Judah sent you to ask me what is going to happen. Tell him, ‘Pharaoh’s army is about to return to Egypt, though he came here to help you.H559H3068H430H3478H559H4428H3063H7971H1875H6547H2428H3318H5833H7725H4714H7768Then the Babylonians will come back and capture this city and burn it to the ground.’H3778H7725H3898H5892H3920H8313H7849“This is what the Lord says: Do not fool yourselves into thinking that the Babylonians are gone for good. They aren’t!H559H3068H5377H5315H559H3778H1980H3212H321210Even if you were to destroy the entire Babylonian army, leaving only a handful of wounded survivors, they would still stagger from their tents and burn this city to the ground!”H5221H2428H3778H3898H7604H1856H582H6965H376H168H8313H5892H784

Jeremiah Is Imprisoned

11When the Babylonian army left Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s approaching army,H2428H3778H5927H3389H6440H6547H242812Jeremiah started to leave the city on his way to the territory of Benjamin, to claim his share of the property among his relatives there.H3414H3318H3389H3212H776H1144H2505H8432H597113But as he was walking through the Benjamin Gate, a sentry arrested him and said, “You are defecting to the Babylonians!” The sentry making the arrest was Irijah son of Shelemiah, grandson of Hananiah.H8179H1144H1167H6488H8034H3376H1121H8018H1121H2608H8610H3414H5030H559H5307H377814“That’s not true!” Jeremiah protested. “I had no intention of doing any such thing.” But Irijah wouldn’t listen, and he took Jeremiah before the officials.H559H3414H8267H5307H3778H8085H3376H8610H3414H935H826915They were furious with Jeremiah and had him flogged and imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the secretary. Jonathan’s house had been converted into a prison.H8269H7107H3414H5221H5414H612H1004H3083H5608H6213H360816Jeremiah was put into a dungeon cell, where he remained for many days.H3414H935H1004H953H2588H3414H3427H7227H311717Later King Zedekiah secretly requested that Jeremiah come to the palace, where the king asked him, “Do you have any messages from the Lord?” “Yes, I do!” said Jeremiah. “You will be defeated by the king of Babylon.”H6667H4428H7971H3947H4428H7592H5643H1004H559H1697H3068H3414H559H3426H559H5414H3027H4428H89418Then Jeremiah asked the king, “What crime have I committed? What have I done against you, your attendants, or the people that I should be imprisoned like this?H3414H559H4428H6667H2398H5650H5971H5414H1004H360819Where are your prophets now who told you the king of Babylon would not attack you or this land?H346H5030H5012H559H4428H894H935H77620Listen, my lord the king, I beg you. Don’t send me back to the dungeon in the house of Jonathan the secretary, for I will die there.”H8085H113H4428H8467H5307H6440H7725H1004H3083H5608H419121So King Zedekiah commanded that Jeremiah not be returned to the dungeon. Instead, he was imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace. The king also commanded that Jeremiah be given a loaf of fresh bread every day as long as there was any left in the city. So Jeremiah was put in the palace prison.H6667H4428H6680H6485H3414H2691H4307H5414H3117H3603H3899H644H2351H3899H5892H8552H3414H3427H2691H4307

Jeremiah 38

Jeremiah in a Cistern

38Now Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malkijah heard what Jeremiah had been telling the people. He had been saying,H8203H1121H4977H1436H1121H6583H3116H1121H8018H6583H1121H4441H8085H1697H3414H1696H5971H5592“This is what the Lord says: ‘Everyone who stays in Jerusalem will die from war, famine, or disease, but those who surrender to the Babylonians will live. Their reward will be life. They will live!’H559H3068H3427H5892H4191H2719H7458H1698H3318H3778H2421H5315H7998H2421H24253The Lord also says: ‘The city of Jerusalem will certainly be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon, who will capture it.’”H559H3068H5892H5414H5414H3027H4428H894H2428H39204So these officials went to the king and said, “Sir, this man must die! That kind of talk will undermine the morale of the few fighting men we have left, as well as that of all the people. This man is a traitor!”H8269H559H4428H376H4191H3651H7503H3027H582H4421H7604H5892H3027H5971H1696H1697H376H1875H7965H5971H74515King Zedekiah agreed. “All right,” he said. “Do as you like. I can’t stop you.”H6667H4428H559H3027H4428H3201H16976So the officials took Jeremiah from his cell and lowered him by ropes into an empty cistern in the prison yard. It belonged to Malkijah, a member of the royal family. There was no water in the cistern, but there was a thick layer of mud at the bottom, and Jeremiah sank down into it.H3947H3414H7993H953H4441H1121H4428H2691H4307H7971H3414H2256H953H4325H2916H3414H2883H29167But Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, an important court official, heard that Jeremiah was in the cistern. At that time the king was holding court at the Benjamin Gate,H5663H3569H376H5631H4428H1004H8085H5414H3414H953H4428H3427H8179H11448so Ebed-melech rushed from the palace to speak with him.H5663H3318H4428H1004H1696H4428H5599“My lord the king,” he said, “these men have done a very evil thing in putting Jeremiah the prophet into the cistern. He will soon die of hunger, for almost all the bread in the city is gone.”H113H4428H582H7489H6213H3414H5030H7993H953H4191H6440H7458H8478H3899H589210So the king told Ebed-melech, “Take thirty of my men with you, and pull Jeremiah out of the cistern before he dies.”H4428H6680H5663H3569H559H3947H7970H582H3027H5927H3414H5030H953H419111So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went to a room in the palace beneath the treasury, where he found some old rags and discarded clothing. He carried these to the cistern and lowered them to Jeremiah on a rope.H5663H3947H582H3027H935H1004H4428H214H3947H1094H5499H1094H4418H7971H2256H953H341412Ebed-melech called down to Jeremiah, “Put these rags under your armpits to protect you from the ropes.” Then when Jeremiah was ready,H5663H3569H559H3414H7760H1094H5499H4418H679H3027H2256H3414H621313they pulled him out. So Jeremiah was returned to the courtyard of the guard—the palace prison—where he remained.H4900H3414H2256H5927H953H3414H3427H2691H4307

Zedekiah Questions Jeremiah

14One day King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah and had him brought to the third entrance of the Lord’s Temple. “I want to ask you something,” the king said. “And don’t try to hide the truth.”H6667H4428H7971H3947H3414H5030H7992H3996H1004H3068H4428H559H3414H7592H1697H358215Jeremiah said, “If I tell you the truth, you will kill me. And if I give you advice, you won’t listen to me anyway.”H3414H559H6667H5046H4191H4191H3289H808516So King Zedekiah secretly promised him, “As surely as the Lord our Creator lives, I will not kill you or hand you over to the men who want you dead.”H6667H4428H7650H5643H3414H559H3068H2416H6213H5315H4191H5414H3027H582H1245H531517Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you surrender to the Babylonian officers, you and your family will live, and the city will not be burned down.H559H3414H6667H559H3068H430H6635H430H3478H3318H3318H4428H894H8269H5315H2421H5892H8313H784H2421H100418But if you refuse to surrender, you will not escape! This city will be handed over to the Babylonians, and they will burn it to the ground.’”H3318H4428H894H8269H5892H5414H3027H3778H8313H784H4422H302719“But I am afraid to surrender,” the king said, “for the Babylonians may hand me over to the Judeans who have defected to them. And who knows what they will do to me!”H6667H4428H559H3414H1672H3064H5307H3778H5414H3027H595320Jeremiah replied, “You won’t be handed over to them if you choose to obey the Lord. Your life will be spared, and all will go well for you.H3414H559H5414H8085H6963H3068H1696H3190H5315H242121But if you refuse to surrender, this is what the Lord has revealed to me:H3986H3318H1697H3068H720022All the women left in your palace will be brought out and given to the officers of the Babylonian army. Then the women will taunt you, saying, ‘What fine friends you have! They have betrayed and misled you. When your feet sank in the mud, they left you to your fate!’H802H7604H4428H3063H1004H3318H4428H894H8269H559H582H7965H5496H3201H7272H2883H1206H5472H26823All your wives and children will be led out to the Babylonians, and you will not escape. You will be seized by the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned down.”H3318H802H1121H3778H4422H3027H8610H3027H4428H894H5892H8313H78424Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Don’t tell anyone you told me this, or you will die!H559H6667H3414H376H3045H1697H419125My officials may hear that I spoke to you, and they may say, ‘Tell us what you and the king were talking about. If you don’t tell us, we will kill you.’H8269H8085H1696H935H559H5046H1696H4428H3582H4191H4428H169626If this happens, just tell them you begged me not to send you back to Jonathan’s dungeon, for fear you would die there.”H559H5307H8467H6440H4428H7725H3083H1004H419127Sure enough, it wasn’t long before the king’s officials came to Jeremiah and asked him why the king had called for him. But Jeremiah followed the king’s instructions, and they left without finding out the truth. No one had overheard the conversation between Jeremiah and the king.H935H8269H3414H7592H5046H1697H4428H6680H2790H1697H808528And Jeremiah remained a prisoner in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured.H3414H3427H2691H4307H3117H3389H3920H3389H3920

Jeremiah 39

The Fall of Jerusalem

39In January of the ninth year of King Zedekiah’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar came with his army to besiege Jerusalem.H8671H8141H6667H4428H3063H6224H2320H935H5019H4428H894H2428H3389H6696 2Two and a half years later, on July 18 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign, the Babylonians broke through the wall, and the city fell.H6249H6240H8141H6667H7243H2320H8672H2320H5892H1234 3All the officers of the Babylonian army came in and sat in triumph at the Middle Gate: Nergal-sharezer of Samgar, and Nebo-sarsekim, a chief officer, and Nergal-sharezer, the king’s adviser, and all the other officers.H8269H4428H894H935H3427H8432H8179H5371H5562H8310H7249H5371H7248H7611H8269H4428H894 4When King Zedekiah and all the soldiers saw that the Babylonians had broken into the city, they fled. They waited for nightfall and then slipped through the gate between the two walls behind the king’s garden and headed toward the Jordan Valley.H6667H4428H3063H7200H582H4421H1272H3318H5892H3915H1870H4428H1588H8179H2346H3318H1870H6160 5But the Babylonian troops chased the king and caught him on the plains of Jericho. They took him to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who was at Riblah in the land of Hamath. There the king of Babylon pronounced judgment upon Zedekiah.H3778H2428H7291H310H5381H6667H6160H3405H3947H5927H5019H4428H894H7247H776H2574H1696H4941 6He made Zedekiah watch as they slaughtered his sons and all the nobles of Judah.H4428H894H7819H1121H6667H7247H5869H4428H894H7819H2715H3063 7Then they gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him in bronze chains, and led him away to Babylon.H5786H6667H5869H631H5178H935H894 8Meanwhile, the Babylonians burned Jerusalem, including the palace, and tore down the walls of the city.H3778H8313H4428H1004H1004H5971H784H5422H2346H3389 9Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, sent to Babylon the rest of the people who remained in the city as well as those who had defected to him.H5018H7227H2876H1540H894H3499H5971H7604H5892H5307H5307H3499H5971H7604 10But Nebuzaradan left a few of the poorest people in Judah, and he assigned them vineyards and fields to care for.H5018H7227H2876H7604H1800H5971H3972H776H3063H5414H3754H3010H3117

Jeremiah Remains in Judah

11King Nebuchadnezzar had told Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, to find Jeremiah.H5019H4428H894H6680H3414H3027H5018H7227H2876H559 12“See that he isn’t hurt,” he said. “Look after him well, and give him anything he wants.”H3947H5869H7760H6213H3972H7451H6213H1696 13So Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard; Nebushazban, a chief officer; Nergal-sharezer, the king’s adviser; and the other officers of Babylon’s kingH5018H7227H2876H7971H5021H7249H5371H7248H4428H894H7227 14sent messengers to bring Jeremiah out of the prison. They put him under the care of Gedaliah son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, who took him back to his home. So Jeremiah stayed in Judah among his own people.H7971H3947H3414H2691H4307H5414H1436H1121H296H1121H8227H3318H1004H3427H8432H5971 15The Lord had given the following message to Jeremiah while he was still in prison:H1697H3068H3414H6113H2691H4307H559 16“Say to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: I will do to this city everything I have threatened. I will send disaster, not prosperity. You will see its destruction,H1980H559H5663H3569H559H559H3068H6635H430H3478H935H1697H5892H7451H2896H3117H6440 17but I will rescue you from those you fear so much.H5337H3117H5002H3068H5414H3027H582H6440H3016 18Because you trusted me, I will give you your life as a reward. I will rescue you and keep you safe. I, the Lord, have spoken!’”H4422H4422H5307H2719H5315H7998H982H5002H3068