The Berean Pursuit
Now Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchijah heard that Jeremiah had been telling all the people: "This is what the LORD says: Whoever stays in this city will die by sword and famine and plague, but whoever surrenders to the Chaldeans will live; he will retain his life like a spoil of war, and he will live. This is what the LORD says: This city will surely be delivered into the hands of the army of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it."
Then the officials said to the king, "This man ought to die, for he is discouraging the warriors who remain in this city, as well as all the people, by speaking such words to them; this man is not seeking the well-being of these people, but their ruin."
"Here he is," replied King Zedekiah. "He is in your hands, since the king can do nothing to stop you."
So they took Jeremiah and dropped him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king's son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah with ropes into the cistern, which had no water but only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.
Now Ebed-melech the Cushite, a court official in the royal palace, heard that Jeremiah had been put into the cistern. While the king was sitting at the Gate of Benjamin, Ebed-melech went out from the king's palace and said to the king, "My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. They have dropped him into the cistern, where he will starve to death, for there is no more bread in the city."
So the king commanded Ebed-melech the Cushite, "Take thirty men from here with you and pull Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies."
Then Ebed-melech took the men with him and went to the king's palace, to a place below the storehouse. From there he took old rags and worn-out clothes and lowered them with ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern.
Ebed-melech the Cushite cried out to Jeremiah, "Put these worn-out rags and clothes under your arms to pad the ropes." Jeremiah did so, and they pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and received him at the third entrance to the house of the LORD. "I am going to ask you something," said the king to Jeremiah. "Do not hide anything from me."
"If I tell you," Jeremiah replied, "you will surely put me to death. And even if I give you advice, you will not listen to me."
But King Zedekiah swore secretly to Jeremiah, "As surely as the LORD lives, who has given us this life, I will not kill you, nor will I deliver you into the hands of these men who are seeking your life."
Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "This is what the LORD God of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: 'If you indeed surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then you will live, this city will not be burned down, and you and your household will survive. But if you do not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city will be delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans. They will burn it down, and you yourself will not escape their grasp.'?"
But King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "I am afraid of the Jews who have deserted to the Chaldeans, for the Chaldeans may deliver me into their hands to abuse me."
"They will not hand you over," Jeremiah replied. "Obey the voice of the LORD in what I am telling you, that it may go well with you and you may live. But if you refuse to surrender, this is the word that the LORD has shown me: All the women who remain in the palace of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon, and those women will say:
'They misled you and overcame you-
those trusted friends of yours.
Your feet sank into the mire,
and they deserted you.'
All your wives and children will be brought out to the Chaldeans. And you yourself will not escape their grasp, for you will be seized by the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned down."
Then Zedekiah warned Jeremiah, "Do not let anyone know about this conversation, or you will die. If the officials hear that I have spoken with you, and they come and demand of you, 'Tell us what you said to the king and what he said to you; do not hide it from us, or we will kill you,' then tell them, 'I was presenting to the king my petition that he not return me to the house of Jonathan to die there.'?"
When all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him, he relayed to them the exact words the king had commanded him to say. So they said no more to him, for no one had overheard the conversation. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured.
In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched 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 breached.
Then all the officials of the king of Babylon entered and sat in the Middle Gate: Nergal-sharezer of Samgar, Nebo-sarsekim the Rabsaris, Nergal-sharezer the Rabmag, 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. Then he put out Zedekiah's eyes and bound him with bronze chains to take him to Babylon.
The Chaldeans set fire to the palace of the king and to the houses of the people, and they broke down the walls of Jerusalem.
Then Nebuzaradan captain of the guard carried away to Babylon the remnant of the people who had remained in the city, along with the deserters who had defected to him. 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 captain of the guard, saying, "Take him, look after him, and do not let any harm come to him; do for him whatever he says."
So Nebuzaradan captain of the guard, Nebushazban the Rabsaris, Nergal-sharezer the Rabmag, 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 Jeremiah 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 delivered into the hands of the men whom 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.'?"
Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother's name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah.
And Zedekiah did evil in the sight of the LORD, just as Jehoiakim had done. For because of the anger of the LORD, all this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until He finally banished them from His presence.
And Zedekiah also rebelled against the king of Babylon.
So in the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army. They encamped outside the city and built a siege wall all around it. And the city was kept under siege until King Zedekiah's eleventh year.
By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so severe that the people of the land had no food. Then the city was breached; and though the Chaldeans had surrounded the city, all the men of war fled the city by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king's garden.
They headed toward the Arabah, but the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was separated from him.
The Chaldeans seized the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced judgment on Zedekiah.
There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also killed all the officials of Judah. Then he put out Zedekiah's eyes, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon, where he kept him in custody until his dying day.
On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign over Babylon, Nebuzaradan captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem. He burned down the house of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem-every significant building. And the whole army of the Chaldeans under the captain of the guard broke down all the walls around Jerusalem.
Then Nebuzaradan captain of the guard carried into exile some of the poorest people and those who remained in the city, along with the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon and the rest of the craftsmen. But Nebuzaradan captain of the guard left behind some of the poorest of the land to tend the vineyards and fields.
Moreover, the Chaldeans broke up the bronze pillars and stands and the bronze Sea in the house of the LORD, and they carried all the bronze to Babylon. They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes, and all the articles of bronze used in the temple service. The captain of the guard also took away the basins, censers, sprinkling bowls, pots, lampstands, pans, and drink offering bowls-anything made of pure gold or fine silver.
As for the two pillars, the Sea, the twelve bronze bulls under it, and the movable stands that King Solomon had made for the house of the LORD, the weight of the bronze from all these articles was beyond measure. Each pillar was eighteen cubits tall and twelve cubits in circumference; each was hollow, four fingers thick. The bronze capital atop one pillar was five cubits high, with a network of bronze pomegranates all around. The second pillar, with its pomegranates, was similar. Each capital had ninety-six pomegranates on the sides, and a total of a hundred pomegranates were above the surrounding network.
The captain of the guard also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of second rank, and the three doorkeepers. Of those still in the city, he took a court official who had been appointed over the men of war, as well as seven trusted royal advisers. He also took the scribe of the captain of the army, who had enlisted the people of the land, and sixty men who were found in the city.
Nebuzaradan captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. There at Riblah in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death. So Judah was taken into exile, away from its own land.
These are the people Nebuchadnezzar carried away:
in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews;
in Nebuchadnezzar's eighteenth year, 832 people from Jerusalem;
in Nebuchadnezzar's twenty-third year, Nebuzaradan captain of the guard carried away 745 Jews.
So in all, 4,600 people were taken away.
On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the first year of the reign of Evil-merodach king of Babylon, he pardoned Jehoiachin king of Judah and released him from prison. And he spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and set his throne above the thrones of the other kings who were with him in Babylon.
So Jehoiachin changed out of his prison clothes, and he dined regularly at the king's table for the rest of his life. And the king of Babylon provided Jehoiachin a daily portion for the rest of his life, until the day of his death.