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Jerusalem Captured

¹ Now regarding the capture of Jerusalem: ^(C1)In the ninth year of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and besieged it; ^(VR1)2 and in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, they ^(C1)breached the wall and broke into the city.³ Then all the ^(C1)officials of the king of Babylon came in and sat in the ^(C2)Middle Gate establishing both military control of the city and their authority to judge the captives: Nergal-sar-ezer, Samgar-nebu, Sar-sekim the Rab-saris (chief of the eunuchs), and ^(F1)Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag (chief of the magicians), with all the rest of the officials of the king of Babylon.⁴ When Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, they ^(C1)fled and escaped from the city at night by way of the king's garden, through the gate ^(C2)between the two walls; and the king went out toward the Arabah (Jordan Valley).⁵ But the ^(C1)Chaldean (Babylonian) army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the ^(C2)plains of Jericho. When they had seized him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at ^(C3)Riblah in the Aramean land of Hamath, where he passed sentence on him.⁶ Then at Riblah the ^(C1)king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah ^(C2)before his eyes; the king of Babylon also killed all the ^(C3)nobles of Judah.⁷ Moreover, he ^(C1)blinded Zedekiah and bound him with bronze ^(C2)shackles to take him to ^(C3)Babylon. ^(VR1)8 The Chaldeans also ^(C1)burned down the king's palace and the houses of the people, and they ^(C2)broke down the walls of Jerusalem.⁹ Then ^(C1)Nebuzaradan the chief executioner and ^(C2)captain of the bodyguard took ^(C3)the rest of the people who remained in the city, along with those who had ^(C4)deserted and surrendered to him, and the rest of the so-called better class of people who were left and carried them into exile in Babylon.¹⁰ But ^(C1)Nebuzaradan the Babylonian captain of the bodyguard left behind in the land of Judah some of the ^(C1)poor people who had nothing, and gave them vineyards and fields at that time.

Jeremiah Spared

¹¹ Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave orders concerning ^(C1)Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, saying,¹² "Take him and look after him; ^(C1)do nothing to harm him, but rather deal with him just as he asks of you."¹³ So Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard sent word, along with Nebushazban the Rab-saris (chief of the high officials), and Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag (chief of the magicians), and all the leading officers of the king of Babylon;¹⁴ they even sent and ^(C1)took Jeremiah out of the court of the guardhouse and entrusted him to ^(C2)Gedaliah a prominent citizen, the son of ^(C3)Ahikam who had once saved Jeremiah's life, the son of Shaphan, to take him home with him to Mizpah. So Jeremiah was released and lived among the people. ^(VR1)

¹⁵ Now the word of the LORD had come to Jeremiah while he was still ^(C1)confined in the court of the guardhouse, saying,¹⁶ "Go and speak to ^(C1)Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Behold, I am about to bring My words of judgment against this city ^(C2)through disaster and not for good; and they will ^(C3)take place before you on that day.¹⁷ "But I will ^(F1)(C1)protect you Ebed-melech on that day," says the LORD, "and you will not be handed over to the men of whom you are afraid. ^(VR1)18 "For I will certainly rescue you; and you will not fall by the sword, but you will have your own ^(C1)life as a reward of battle, because you have placed your ^(C2)trust in Me," says the LORD.'"