to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon; and he is like to die for hunger in the
place where he is: for there is no more bread in the city.
[10] Then the king commanded Ebed-melech
the Ethiopian, saying, Take from hence thirty men with thee, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of
the dungeon, before he die.
[11] So Ebed-melech took the men with him, and went into the house of the
king under the treasury, and took thence old cast clouts and old rotten rags, and let them down by cords
into the dungeon to Jeremiah.
[12] And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, Put now these
old cast clouts and rotten rags under thine armholes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so.
[13] So they
drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court
of the prison.
[14] Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him into the third
entry that is in the house of the LORD: and the king said unto Jeremiah, I will ask thee a thing; hide nothing
from me.
[15] Then Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, If I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me
to death? and if I give thee counsel, wilt thou not hearken unto me?
[16] So Zedekiah the king sware
secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, As the LORD liveth, that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death,
neither will I give thee into the hand of these men that seek thy life.
[17] Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah,
Thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of
Babylon's princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live,
and thine house:
[18] But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon's princes, then shall this city be
given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of
their hand.
[19] And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the
Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me.
[20] But Jeremiah said, They shall
not deliver thee. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the LORD, which I speak unto thee: so it shall be
well unto thee, and thy soul shall live.
[21] But if thou refuse to go forth, this is the word that the LORD
hath shewed me:
[22] And, behold, all the women that are left in the king of Judah's house shall be brought
forth to the king of Babylon's princes, and those women shall say, Thy friends have set thee on, and
have prevailed against thee: thy feet are sunk in the mire, and they are turned away back.
[23] So they
shall bring out all thy wives and thy children to the Chaldeans: and thou shalt not escape out of their
hand, but shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon: and thou shalt cause this city to be burned
with fire.
[24] Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words, and thou shalt not
die.
[25] But if the princes hear that I have talked with thee, and they come unto thee, and say unto thee,
Declare unto us now what thou hast said unto the king, hide it not from us, and we will not put thee to
death; also what the king said unto thee:
[26] Then thou shalt say unto them, I presented my supplication
before the king, that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan's house, to die there.
[27] Then came
all the princes unto Jeremiah, and asked him: and he told them according to all these words that the king
had commanded. So they left off speaking with him; for the matter was not perceived.
[28] So Jeremiah
abode in the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken: and he was there when Jerusalem
was taken.
Jer.39
[1] In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon
and all his army against Jerusalem, and they beseiged it.
[2] And in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in
the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, the city was broken up.
[3] And all the princes of the king
of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate, even Nergal-sharezer, Samgar-nebo, Sarsechim, Rab-
saris, Nergal-sharezer, Rabmag, with all the residue of the princes of the king of Babylon.
[4] And it came
to pass, that when Zedekiah the king of Judah saw them, and all the men of war, then they fled, and
went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the king's garden, by the gate betwixt the two walls: and
he went out the way of the plain.
[5] But the Chaldeans' army pursued after them, and overtook Zedekiah
in the plains of Jericho: and when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he gave judgment upon him.
[6] Then the king of Babylon
slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes: also the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah.
[7]
Moreover he put out Zedekiah's eyes, and bound him with chains, to carry him to Babylon.
[8] And the
Chaldeans burned the king's house, and the houses of the people, with fire, and brake down the walls
of Jerusalem.
[9] Then Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carried away captive into Babylon the
remnant of the people that remained in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to him, with the rest of