< Jeremiah 39 >
1 In the tenth month of the ninth year of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his whole army arrived at Jerusalem and besieged it.
2 On the ninth day of the fourth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah's reign, the city wall was broken through.
3 All the officials of the king of Babylon came in and took over the city, making their headquarters at the Middle Gate. They were Nergal-sharezer of Samgar, Nebo-sarsekim the Rabsaris, Nergal-sharezer the Rabmag, and all the other officials of the king of Babylon.
4 When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the defenders saw them there, they ran away. They escaped from the city during the night through the king's garden, passing through the gate between the two walls, and took the road to the Arabah.
5 But the Babylonian army chased after them and caught up with Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. They captured him and brought him before Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he put him on trial and punished him.
6 The king of Babylon had Zedekiah's sons killed as Zedekiah watched, and he also executed all of Judah's leaders there in Riblah.
7 Then he had Zedekiah's eyes gouged out, and had him bound with bronze chains and taken away to Babylon.
8 The Babylonians burned down the king's palace and the people's houses, and they demolished Jerusalem's city walls.
9 Then Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried off to Babylon the rest of the people who had stayed in the city, together with those who had deserted and gone over to him.
10 But he left behind in the land of Judah some of the poorest people who didn't have any property. He gave them vineyards and fields at that time.
11 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had given orders to Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard regarding Jeremiah, saying,
12 “Go and get Jeremiah and watch out that nothing bad happens to him. Do whatever he wants.”
13 So Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard, Nebushazban the Rabsaris, Nergal-sharezer the Rabmag, and all the army captains of the king of Babylon
14 took Jeremiah from the guard's courtyard, and they handed him over to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to take him home. Jeremiah stayed there with his own people.
15 During the time that Jeremiah had been kept prisoner in the guard's courtyard, a message from the Lord had come to him:
16 “Go and tell Ebed-melech the Cushite that this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I am about to keep my promise I made against this city—to harm it and not to help it—you'll see it for yourself when it happens.
17 But when that day comes I'm going to save you, declares the Lord. You won't be handed over to the people you're afraid of.
18 I promise to rescue you so that you're won't be killed. Your reward will be your life, because you trusted in me, declares the Lord.”
