And Zedekiah the son of Josiah, whom Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah, reigned as king instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim.

But he did not listen, neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land, to the words of Jehovah, which He spoke through Jeremiah the prophet.

And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Pray to Jehovah our God for us.

Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people, for they had not yet put him in prison.

And the army of Pharaoh had come out of Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news of them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.

Then the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah the prophet, saying,

Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel, Thus you shall say to the king of Judah, who sent you to Me to inquire of Me: Pharaoh's army, which came out to you to help, is now returning to its own land of Egypt.

The Chaldeans will again return and fight against this city, and they will capture it and burn it with fire.

Thus says Jehovah, Do not deceive yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans will surely go away from us; for they will not go away.

For even if you had struck down the whole army of the Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and only wounded men remained among them, they would rise up each one in his tent and burn this city with fire.

And when the army of the Chaldeans had withdrawn from Jerusalem at the presence of the army of Pharaoh,

Jeremiah tried to go out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to receive a portion there among the people.

When he was at the Gate of Benjamin, there was a captain of the guard there whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, and he seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, You are deserting to the Chaldeans!

And Jeremiah said, It is false! I am not deserting to the Chaldeans. But he did not listen to him. And Irijah seized Jeremiah and brought him to the princes.

And the princes were angry with Jeremiah and struck him and put him in prison, in the house of Jonathan the scribe; for they had made it into a prison.

When Jeremiah came to the dungeon and to the cells, Jeremiah remained there many days.

And Zedekiah the king sent and took him out; and the king questioned him in his house secretly and said, Is there any word from Jehovah? And Jeremiah said, There is. And he said, You will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.

And Jeremiah also said to Zedekiah the king, In what have I sinned against you or against your servants or against this people, that you have put me in prison?

And where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, The king of Babylon will not come against you or against this land?

And now hear, O my lord the king; let my supplication come before you, and do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there.

So Zedekiah the king commanded, and they placed Jeremiah in the court of the guard, and gave him a loaf of bread daily from the bakers' street, until all the bread was gone from the city. So Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

And Shephatiah the son of Mattan and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur and Jucal the son of Shelemiah and Pashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people, saying,

Thus says Jehovah, He who remains in this city will die by sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live and have his own life as spoil and live.

Thus says Jehovah, This city will surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.

Then the princes said to the king, Now let this man be put to death, because of the way he is weakening the hands of the men of war who are left in this city and the hands of all the people by speaking such words to them; for this man is not seeking the welfare of this people, but their harm.

Then King Zedekiah said, He is now in your hand, for the king can do nothing against you.

So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the  ¹pit of Malchijah, the king's son, which was in the court of the guard; and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. Now in the pit there was no water but only mire, and Jeremiah sank into the mire.

When Ebed-melech the Cushite, a eunuch, heard, while he was in the king's house, that they had put Jeremiah into the pit (now the king was sitting at the Gate of Benjamin),

Ebed-melech went out from the king's house and spoke to the king, saying,

O my lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the pit; and he will die in the place where he is because of the famine, for there is no more bread in the city.

Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Cushite, saying, Take from here thirty men with you, and bring Jeremiah the prophet up out of the pit before he dies.

So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went to the king's house under the treasury and took old rags and worn-out garments from there, and let them down with ropes into the pit to Jeremiah.

And Ebed-melech the Cushite said to Jeremiah, Put the old rags and garments under your armpits below the ropes. And Jeremiah did so.

So they drew Jeremiah up with the ropes and lifted him out of the pit, and Jeremiah stayed in the court of the guard.

Then King Zedekiah sent men and had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance which is in the house of Jehovah; and the king said to Jeremiah, I am going to ask you something; do not hide anything from me.

And Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, If I tell you, indeed will you not put me to death? And if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me.

Then King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah secretly, saying, As Jehovah lives, who made these lives of ours, I will not put you to death or give you into the hand of those who seek your life.

Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, Thus says Jehovah the God of hosts, the God of Israel, If you will indeed surrender to the princes of the king of Babylon, you will live, and this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your house will live.

But if you do not surrender to the princes of the king of Babylon, this city will be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they will burn it with fire, and you will not escape out of their hand.

Then Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews who have deserted to the Chaldeans, that they will give me into their hand and they will abuse me.

And Jeremiah said, They will not give you up. Listen now to the voice of Jehovah in what I am speaking to you, and it will be well with you, and your soul will live.

But if you refuse to surrender, this is the word that Jehovah has shown me:

Then all the women who have been left in the house of the king of Judah will be brought out to the princes of the king of Babylon, and the women will say concerning the king,
Your familiar friends
Have deceived you and prevailed over you;
While your feet sank in the mire,
They turned away from you.

And they will lead out all your wives and your sons to the Chaldeans, and you yourself will not escape from their hand but will be seized by the hand of the king of Babylon, and you will cause this city to be burned with fire.

Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, Let no one know of these words, and you will not die.

But if the princes hear that I have spoken with you and they come to you and say to you, Tell us now what you said to the king; do not hide it from us, and we will not put you to death; now what did the king say to you?

Then you shall say to them, I made my supplication before the king that he would not send me back to the house of Jonathan to die there.

Then all the princes came to Jeremiah and asked him. And he told them according to all these words which the king commanded. So they ceased to speak with him, for the matter had not been heard.

So Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was captured.

And when Jerusalem was captured (in the ninth year of Zedekiah the king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon and his whole army came to Jerusalem and besieged it;

In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city),

All the princes of the king of Babylon came and sat down in the middle gate: Nergal-sharezer, Samgar-nebu, Sar-sechim the Rab-saris, Nergal-sharezer the Rab-mag, and all the rest of the princes of the king of Babylon.

And when Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, they fled and went out from the city by night by way of the king's garden through the gate between the two walls; and he went out by the way toward the  ¹Arabah.

And the army of the Chaldeans pursued after them, and they overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he pronounced judgments on him.

Then the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes at Riblah; the king of Babylon also slaughtered all the nobles of Judah.

And he  ¹put out Zedekiah's eyes and bound him with bronze fetters to bring him to Babylon.

And the Chaldeans burned the king's house and the houses of the people with fire and broke down the walls of Jerusalem.

And the rest of the people who remained in the city, both the deserters who deserted to him and the rest of the people who remained, Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard carried away into exile to Babylon.

But some of the poorest people who had nothing, Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard left in the land of Judah and gave them vineyards and fields at that time.

And Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon commanded concerning Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, saying,

Take him and look after him, and do no evil to him, but deal with him just as he tells you.

So Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard sent men, and Nebushazban the Rab-saris and Nergal-sharezer the Rab-mag and all the chief officers of the king of Babylon

Also sent men and took Jeremiah from the court of the guard and gave him to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to take him home. And he dwelt among the people.

Now the word of Jehovah had come to Jeremiah when he was shut up in the court of the guard, saying,

Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Cushite, saying, Thus says Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, I am about to bring My words against this city for evil and not for good; and they will come to pass before you on that day.

But I will deliver you on that day, declares Jehovah, and you will not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid.

For I will surely save you, and you will not fall by the sword, but you will have your own life as spoil, because you have put your trust in Me, declares Jehovah.