CHAPTER 39
In the ninth
year
of Zedekiah
king
of Judah,
in the tenth
month,
King
Nebuchadnezzar
of Babylon
advanced
against
Jerusalem
with his entire
army
and laid siege
to the city.
And on the ninth
day
of the fourth
month
of Zedekiah’s
eleventh
year,
the city
was broken through.
Then all
the officials
of the king
of Babylon
entered
and sat
in the Middle
Gate:
Nergal-sharezer,
Samgar,
Nebusarsechim
the Rab-saris,
Nergal-sharezer
the Rab-mag,
and all
the rest
of the officials
of the king
of Babylon.
When
Zedekiah
king
of Judah
and all
the soldiers
saw them,
they fled.
They left
the city
at night
by way
of the king’s
garden,
through the gate
between
the two walls,
and they went out
along the route
to the Arabah.
But the army
of the Chaldeans
pursued
them
and overtook
Zedekiah
in the plains
of Jericho.
They seized
him
and brought him up
to
Nebuchadnezzar
king
of Babylon
at Riblah
in the land
of Hamath,
where he pronounced
judgment
on him.
There at Riblah
the king
of Babylon
slaughtered
the sons
of Zedekiah
before his eyes,
and he
also killed
all
the nobles
of Judah.
The Chaldeans
set fire to
the palace
of the king
and
to the houses
of the people,
and
they tore down
the walls
of Jerusalem.
Then
Nebuzaradan,
the captain
of the guard,
carried
away to Babylon
the remnant
who had remained
in the city,
along with
the deserters
who
had defected
to
him
and the rest
of the people.
But Nebuzaradan
left behind
in the land
of Judah
some of
the poor
people,
who
had no property,
and at that
time
he gave
them vineyards
and fields.
Now Nebuchadnezzar
king
of Babylon
had given orders
about
Jeremiah
through
Nebuzaradan
the captain
of the guard,
saying,
So Nebuzaradan
the captain
of the guard,
Nebushazban
the Rab-saris,
Nergal-sharezer
the Rab-mag,
and all
the captains
of the king
of Babylon
had Jeremiah
brought
from the courtyard
of the guard,
and they turned him over
to
Gedaliah
son
of Ahikam,
the son
of Shaphan,
to take
him
home.
So he remained
among
his own people.
And while Jeremiah had been
confined
in the courtyard
of the guard,
the word
of the LORD
had come
to
him:
“Go
and tell
Ebed-melech
the Cushite that
this is what
the LORD
of Hosts,
the God
of Israel,
says:
I am about to fulfill
My words
against
this
city
for harm
and not
for good,
and on that
day
they will be fulfilled
before your eyes.
But I will deliver you
on that
day,
declares
the LORD,
and you will not
be handed over to
the men
you
fear.
For
I will surely rescue you
so that you do not
fall
by the sword.
Because
you have trusted in Me,
you will escape
with
your life
like a spoil of war,
declares
the LORD.”