Jeremiah 39
Zedekiah flees but is captured, his sons killed before his eyes, then blinded. Nebuchadnezzar spares Jeremiah and frees him. Ebed-Melech is also spared because he trusted in God, faith rewarded amid catastrophe.
JeremiahChapter 39 of 5218 versesBerean Standard Bible
In this passage: NebuchadnezzarZedekiahJudahBabylonJerusalem
If God speaks to you through Jeremiah 39, record what He said in Doxa and come back to it.
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.’”
Read next
How to Hear God’s Voice: A Practical Guide for BelieversScripture is the record of a God who speaks. This guide covers how to hear Him today and keep what He says.Cross-references for Jeremiah 39
“But I will spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans; yet he will not see it, and there he will die.”
“Blessed is the one who cares for the poor; the LORD will deliver him in the day of trouble.”
“Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.””
“The LORD redeems His servants, and none who take refuge in Him will be condemned.”
““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.”
Cross-references from OpenBible.info, licensed CC BY.
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