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Jeremiah Warns against Trust in Pharaoh
37 Now (A)Zedekiah the son of Josiah whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had (B)made king in the land of Judah, reigned as king in place of (C)Coniah the son of Jehoiakim. 2 But (D)neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the Lord which He spoke through Jeremiah the prophet.
3 Yet (E)King Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and (F)Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “(G)Please pray to the Lord our God on our behalf.” 4 Now Jeremiah was still coming in and going out among the people, for they had not yet (H)put him in the prison. 5 Meanwhile, (I)Pharaoh’s army had set out from Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who had been besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they (J)lifted the siege from Jerusalem.
6 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, 7 “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘(K)Thus you are to say to the king of Judah, who sent you to Me to inquire of Me: “Behold, (L)Pharaoh’s army which has come out for your assistance is going to return to its own land of Egypt. 8 The Chaldeans will also (M)return and fight against this city, and they will capture it and burn it with fire.”’ 9 Thus says the Lord, ‘Do not (N)deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,” for they will not go. 10 For (O)even if you had defeated the entire army of Chaldeans who were fighting against you, and there were only wounded men left among them, each man in his tent, they would rise up and (P)burn this city with fire.’”
Jeremiah Imprisoned
11 Now it happened when the army of the Chaldeans had lifted the siege from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army, 12 that Jeremiah went out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin in order to (Q)take [a]possession of some property there among the people. 13 While he was at the (R)Gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah the son of Hananiah was there; and he (S)arrested Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are [b]going over to the Chaldeans!” 14 But Jeremiah said, “(T)A lie! I am not [c]going over to the Chaldeans”; yet he would not listen to him. So Irijah arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. 15 Then the officials were (U)angry at Jeremiah and beat him, and they (V)put him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe, which they had made into the prison. 16 For Jeremiah had come into the [d](W)dungeon, that is, the vaulted cell; and Jeremiah stayed there many days.
17 Now King Zedekiah sent and took him out; and in his palace the king (X)secretly asked him and said, “Is there a (Y)word from the Lord?” And Jeremiah said, “There is!” Then he said, “You will be (Z)given into the hand of the king of Babylon!” 18 Moreover Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “(AA)In what way have I sinned against you, or against your servants, or against this people, that you have put me in prison? 19 (AB)Where then are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The (AC)king of Babylon will not come against you or against this land’? 20 But now, please listen, O my lord the king; please let my (AD)petition [e]come before you and do not make me return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, that I may not die there.” 21 Then King Zedekiah gave commandment, and they committed Jeremiah to the (AE)court of the guardhouse and gave him a loaf of (AF)bread daily from the bakers’ street, until all the bread in the city was (AG)gone. So Jeremiah remained in the court of the guardhouse.
Jeremiah Thrown into the Cistern
38 Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the (AH)son of Shelemiah, and (AI)Pashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people, saying, 2 “Thus says the Lord, ‘He who (AJ)stays in this city will die by the (AK)sword and by famine and by pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live and have his own (AL)life as booty and stay alive.’ 3 Thus says the Lord, ‘This city will certainly be (AM)given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and he will capture it.’” 4 Then the (AN)officials said to the king, “Now let this man be put to death, inasmuch as he is [f](AO)discouraging the men of war who are left in this city and [g]all the people, by speaking such words to them; for this man (AP)is not seeking the well-being of this people but rather their harm.” 5 So King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your [h]hands; for the king (AQ)can do nothing against you.” 6 Then they took Jeremiah and cast him into the (AR)cistern of Malchijah the king’s son, which was in the court of the guardhouse; and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. Now in the cistern there was no water but only (AS)mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud. 7 But (AT)Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, [i]a (AU)eunuch, while he was in the king’s palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. Now the king was sitting in the (AV)Gate of Benjamin; 8 and Ebed-melech went out from the king’s palace and spoke to the king, saying, 9 “My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet whom they have cast into the cistern; and he [j]will die right where he is because of the famine, for there is (AW)no more bread in the city.” 10 Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take thirty men from here [k]under your authority and bring up Jeremiah the prophet from the cistern before he dies.” 11 So Ebed-melech took the men under his [l]authority and went into the king’s palace to a place beneath the storeroom and took from there worn-out clothes and worn-out rags and let them down by ropes into the cistern to Jeremiah. 12 Then Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Now put these worn-out clothes and rags under your armpits under the ropes”; and Jeremiah did so. 13 So they pulled Jeremiah up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern, and Jeremiah stayed in the (AX)court of the guardhouse.
14 Then King Zedekiah (AY)sent and [m]had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance that is in the house of the Lord; and the king said to Jeremiah, “I am going to (AZ)ask you something; do not hide anything from me.” 15 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “(BA)If I tell you, will you not certainly put me to death? Besides, if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.” 16 But King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah in (BB)secret saying, “As the Lord lives, who made this [n](BC)life for us, surely I will not put you to death nor will I give you over to the hand of (BD)these men who are seeking your [o]life.”
Interview with Zedekiah
17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the Lord (BE)God of hosts, the (BF)God of Israel, ‘If you will indeed (BG)go out to the officers of the king of Babylon, then [p]you will live, this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will [q]survive. 18 But if you will (BH)not go out to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city (BI)will be given over to the hand of the Chaldeans; and they will burn it with fire, and (BJ)you yourself will not escape from their hand.’” 19 Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I (BK)dread the Jews who have [r](BL)gone over to the Chaldeans, for they may give me over into their hand and they will (BM)abuse me.” 20 But Jeremiah said, “They will not give you over. Please [s](BN)obey the Lord in what I am saying to you, that it may go (BO)well with you and [t](BP)you may live. 21 But if you keep refusing to go out, this is the word which the Lord has shown me: 22 ‘Then behold, all of the (BQ)women who have been left in the palace of the king of Judah are going to be brought out to the [u]officers of the king of Babylon; and those women will say,
“[v]Your close friends
Have misled and overpowered you;
While your feet were sunk in the mire,
They turned back.”
23 They will also bring out all your wives and your (BR)sons to the Chaldeans, and (BS)you yourself will not escape from their hand, but will be seized by the hand of the king of Babylon, and (BT)this city will be burned with fire.’”
24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no man know about these words and you will not die. 25 But if the (BU)officials hear that I have talked with you and come to you and say to you, ‘Tell us now what you said to the king and what the king said to you; do not hide it from us and we will not put you to death,’ 26 then you are to say to them, ‘I was (BV)presenting my petition before the king, not to make me return to the house of Jonathan to die there.’” 27 Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him. So he reported to them in accordance with all these words which the king had commanded; and they ceased speaking with him, since the [w]conversation had not been overheard. 28 So Jeremiah (BW)stayed in the court of the guardhouse until the day that Jerusalem was captured.
Instructions to Those Who Minister
6 (A)All who are under the yoke as slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor so (B)that the name of God and our doctrine will not be [a]spoken against. 2 Those who have believers as their masters must not be disrespectful to them because they are (C)brethren, but must serve them all the more, because those who [b]partake of the benefit are believers and beloved. (D)Teach and [c]preach these principles.
3 If anyone (E)advocates a different doctrine and does not [d]agree with (F)sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine (G)conforming to godliness, 4 he is (H)conceited and understands nothing; but he [e]has a morbid interest in (I)controversial questions and (J)disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction between (K)men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who (L)suppose that [f]godliness is a means of gain. 6 (M)But godliness actually is a means of (N)great gain when accompanied by (O)contentment. 7 For (P)we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. 8 If we (Q)have food and covering, with these we shall be content. 9 (R)But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and (S)a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For (T)the love of money is a root of all [g]sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have (U)wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
11 But (V)flee from these things, you (W)man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, (X)faith, (Y)love, [h]perseverance and gentleness. 12 (Z)Fight the good fight of (AA)faith; (AB)take hold of the eternal life (AC)to which you were called, and you made the good (AD)confession in the presence of (AE)many witnesses. 13 (AF)I charge you in the presence of God, who [i]gives life to all things, and of (AG)Christ Jesus, who testified the (AH)good confession (AI)before Pontius Pilate, 14 that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the (AJ)appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which He will [j]bring about at (AK)the proper time—He who is (AL)the blessed and (AM)only Sovereign, (AN)the King of [k]kings and (AO)Lord of [l]lords, 16 (AP)who alone possesses immortality and (AQ)dwells in unapproachable light, (AR)whom no man has seen or can see. (AS)To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.
17 Instruct those who are rich in (AT)this present world (AU)not to be conceited or to (AV)fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, (AW)who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. 18 Instruct them to do good, to be rich in (AX)good [m]works, (AY)to be generous and ready to share, 19 (AZ)storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may (BA)take hold of that which is life indeed.
20 O (BB)Timothy, guard (BC)what has been entrusted to you, avoiding (BD)worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge”— 21 which some have professed and thus (BE)gone astray [n]from (BF)the faith.
(BG)Grace be with you.
38 But You have (A)cast off and (B)rejected,
You have been full of wrath [a]against Your (C)anointed.
39 You have (D)spurned the covenant of Your servant;
You have (E)profaned (F)his crown [b]in the dust.
40 You have (G)broken down all his walls;
You have (H)brought his strongholds to ruin.
41 (I)All who pass along the way plunder him;
He has become a (J)reproach to his neighbors.
42 You have (K)exalted the right hand of his adversaries;
You have (L)made all his enemies rejoice.
43 You also turn back the edge of his sword
And have (M)not made him stand in battle.
44 You have made his [c](N)splendor to cease
And cast his throne to the ground.
45 You have (O)shortened the days of his youth;
You have (P)covered him with shame. Selah.
46 (Q)How long, O Lord?
Will You hide Yourself forever?
Will Your (R)wrath burn like fire?
47 (S)Remember [d]what my span of life is;
For what (T)vanity [e]You have created all the sons of men!
48 What man can live and not (U)see death?
Can he (V)deliver his soul from the [f]power of [g]Sheol? Selah.
49 Where are Your former lovingkindnesses, O Lord,
Which You (W)swore to David in Your faithfulness?
50 Remember, O Lord, the (X)reproach of Your servants;
[h]How I bear in my bosom the reproach of all the many peoples,
51 With which (Y)Your enemies have reproached, O Lord,
With which they have reproached the footsteps of (Z)Your anointed.
52 (AA)Blessed be the Lord forever!
Amen and Amen.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.