Jeremiah 38-39, Jeremiah 52, 1 Peter 2 - NASB Bible Online

Jeremiah 38-39

Jeremiah Thrown into the Cistern

Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the ^ason of Shelemiah, and ^bPashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people, saying, 2 “Thus says the Lord, ‘He who ^astays in this city will die by the ^bsword and by famine and by pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live and have his own ^clife as booty and stay alive.’ 3 Thus says the Lord, ‘This city will certainly be ^agiven into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and he will capture it.’” 4 Then the ^aofficials said to the king, “Now let this man be put to death, inasmuch as he is ¹^bdiscouraging the men of war who are left in this city and ²all the people, by speaking such words to them; for this man ^cis not seeking the well-being of this people but rather their harm.” 5 So King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your ¹hands; for the king ^acan do nothing against you.” 6 Then they took Jeremiah and cast him into the ^acistern of Malchijah the king’s son, which was in the court of the guardhouse; and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. Now in the cistern there was no water but only ^bmud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud. 7 But ^aEbed-melech the Ethiopian, ¹a ^beunuch, while he was in the king’s palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. Now the king was sitting in the ^cGate of Benjamin; 8 and Ebed-melech went out from the king’s palace and spoke to the king, saying, 9 “My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet whom they have cast into the cistern; and he ¹will die right where he is because of the famine, for there is ^ano more bread in the city.” 10 Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take thirty men from here ¹under your authority and bring up Jeremiah the prophet from the cistern before he dies.” 11 So Ebed-melech took the men under his ¹authority and went into the king’s palace to a place beneath the storeroom and took from there worn-out clothes and worn-out rags and let them down by ropes into the cistern to Jeremiah. 12 Then Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Now put these worn-out clothes and rags under your armpits under the ropes”; and Jeremiah did so. 13 So they pulled Jeremiah up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern, and Jeremiah stayed in the ^acourt of the guardhouse.
14 Then King Zedekiah ^asent and ¹had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance that is in the house of the Lord; and the king said to Jeremiah, “I am going to ^bask you something; do not hide anything from me.” 15 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “^aIf I tell you, will you not certainly put me to death? Besides, if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.” 16 But King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah in ^asecret saying, “As the Lord lives, who made this ¹^blife for us, surely I will not put you to death nor will I give you over to the hand of ^cthese men who are seeking your ¹life.”

Interview with Zedekiah

17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the Lord ^aGod of hosts, the ^bGod of Israel, ‘If you will indeed ^cgo out to the officers of the king of Babylon, then ¹you will live, this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will ²survive. 18 But if you will ^anot go out to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city ^bwill be given over to the hand of the Chaldeans; and they will burn it with fire, and ^cyou yourself will not escape from their hand.’” 19 Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I ^adread the Jews who have ¹^bgone over to the Chaldeans, for they may give me over into their hand and they will ^cabuse me.” 20 But Jeremiah said, “They will not give you over. Please ¹^aobey the Lord in what I am saying to you, that it may go ^bwell with you and ²^cyou may live. 21 But if you keep refusing to go out, this is the word which the Lord has shown me: 22 ‘Then behold, all of the ^awomen who have been left in the palace of the king of Judah are going to be brought out to the ¹officers of the king of Babylon; and those women will say,

“²Your close friends

Have misled and overpowered you;

While your feet were sunk in the mire,

They turned back.”

23 They will also bring out all your wives and your ^asons to the Chaldeans, and ^byou yourself will not escape from their hand, but will be seized by the hand of the king of Babylon, and ^bthis city will be burned with fire.’”
24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no man know about these words and you will not die. 25 But if the ^aofficials hear that I have talked with you and come to you and say to you, ‘Tell us now what you said to the king and what the king said to you; do not hide it from us and we will not put you to death,’ 26 then you are to say to them, ‘I was ^apresenting my petition before the king, not to make me return to the house of Jonathan to die there.’” 27 Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him. So he reported to them in accordance with all these words which the king had commanded; and they ceased speaking with him, since the ¹conversation had not been overheard. 28 So Jeremiah ^astayed in the court of the guardhouse until the day that Jerusalem was captured.

Jerusalem Captured

¹Now when Jerusalem was captured ²^ain the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it; 2 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the city wall was ^abreached. 3 Then all the ^aofficials of the king of Babylon came in and sat down at the ^bMiddle Gate: Nergal-sar-ezer, Samgar-nebu, Sar-sekim the ¹Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the ²Rab-mag, and 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 ^afled and went out of the city at night by way of the king’s garden through the gate ^bbetween the two walls; and he went out toward the ¹Arabah. 5 But the army of the ^aChaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the ^bplains of Jericho; and they seized him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at ^cRiblah in the land of Hamath, and he passed sentence on him. 6 Then the ^aking of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah ^bbefore his eyes at Riblah; the king of Babylon also slew all the ^cnobles of Judah. 7 He then ^ablinded Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him in ^bfetters of bronze to bring him to ^cBabylon. 8 The Chaldeans also ^aburned with fire the king’s palace and the houses of the people, and they ^bbroke down the walls of Jerusalem. 9 As for the rest of the people who were left in the city, the ¹^adeserters who had gone over to him and ^bthe rest of the people who remained, ^cNebuzaradan the ^dcaptain of the bodyguard carried them into exile in Babylon. 10 But some of the ^apoorest people who had nothing, ^aNebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard left behind in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields ¹at that time.

Jeremiah Spared

11 Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave orders about ^aJeremiah through Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, saying, 12 “Take him and ¹look after him, and ^ado nothing harmful to him, but rather deal with him just as he tells you.” 13 So Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard sent word, along with Nebushazban the ¹Rab-saris, and Nergal-sar-ezer the ²Rab-mag, and all the leading officers of the king of Babylon; 14 they even sent and ^atook Jeremiah out of the court of the guardhouse and entrusted him to ^bGedaliah, the son of ^cAhikam, the son of Shaphan, to take him home. So he stayed among the people.
15 Now the word of the Lord had come to Jeremiah while he was ^aconfined in the court of the guardhouse, saying, 16 “Go and speak to ^aEbed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Behold, I am about to bring My words on this city ^bfor disaster and not for ¹prosperity; and they will ^ctake place before you on that day. 17 But I will ^adeliver you on that day,” declares the Lord, “and you will not be given into the hand of the men whom you dread. 18 For I will certainly rescue you, and you will not fall by the sword; but you will have your own ^alife as booty, because you have ^btrusted in Me,” declares the Lord.’”

Jeremiah 52

The Fall of Jerusalem

^aZedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was ¹^bHamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of ^cLibnah. 2 He did ^aevil in the sight of the Lord like all that ^bJehoiakim had done. 3 For through the ^aanger of the Lord this came about in Jerusalem and Judah until He cast them out from His presence. And Zedekiah ^brebelled against the king of Babylon. 4 ^aNow it came about in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, camped against it and built a ^bsiege wall all around ¹it. 5 ^aSo the city was under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 6 On the ninth day of the ^afourth month the ^bfamine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. 7 Then the city was ^abroken into, and all the ^bmen of war fled and went forth from the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls which was by the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were ¹^call around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah. 8 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and ^aovertook Zedekiah in the ¹plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. 9 Then they captured the king and ^abrought him up to the king of Babylon at ^bRiblah in the land of ^cHamath, and he ¹passed sentence on him. 10 The king of Babylon ^aslaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also slaughtered all the ¹princes of Judah in Riblah. 11 Then he ^ablinded the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon and put him in prison until the day of his death.
12 ^aNow on the tenth day of the fifth month, which was the ^bnineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, ^cNebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, ¹who was in the service of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 13 He ^aburned the house of the Lord, the ^bking’s house and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every large house he burned with fire. 14 So all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard ^abroke down all the walls around Jerusalem. 15 Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard ^acarried away into exile some of the poorest of the people, the rest of the people who were left in the city, the ¹^bdeserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon and the rest of the artisans. 16 But ^aNebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and ¹plowmen.
17 Now the bronze ^apillars which belonged to the house of the Lord and the ^bstands and the bronze ^csea, which were in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried all their bronze to Babylon. 18 They also took away the ^apots, the shovels, the snuffers, the basins, the ¹pans and all the bronze vessels which were used in temple service. 19 The captain of the guard also took away the ^abowls, the firepans, the basins, the pots, the lampstands, the ¹pans and the drink offering bowls, what was fine gold and what was fine silver. 20 The two pillars, the one sea, and the twelve bronze bulls that were under ¹the sea, and the stands, which King Solomon had made for the house of the Lord⁠—the bronze of all these vessels was ^abeyond weight. 21 As for the pillars, the ^aheight of each pillar was eighteen ¹cubits, and ²it was twelve cubits in ^acircumference and four fingers in thickness, and hollow. 22 Now a ^acapital of bronze was on it; and the height of each capital was five cubits, with network and ^bpomegranates upon the capital all around, all of bronze. And the second pillar was like these, including pomegranates. 23 There were ninety-six ¹exposed pomegranates; all ^athe pomegranates numbered a hundred on the network all around.
24 Then the captain of the guard took ^aSeraiah the chief priest and ^bZephaniah the second priest, with the three ¹^cofficers of the temple. 25 He also took from the city one official who was overseer of the men of war, and seven ¹of the ^aking’s advisers who were found in the city, and the scribe of the commander of the army who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the midst of the city. 26 Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and ^abrought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27 Then the king of Babylon ^astruck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was ^bled away into exile from its land.
28 These are the people whom ^aNebuchadnezzar carried away into exile: in the ¹seventh year 3,023 Jews; 29 in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar 832 persons from Jerusalem; 30 in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, ^aNebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile 745 Jewish people; there were 4,600 persons in all.
31 ^aNow it came about in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth of the month, that ¹Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, ²^bshowed favor to Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison. 32 ^aThen he spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the thrones of the kings who were with him in Babylon. 33 So ¹Jehoiachin ^achanged his prison clothes, and ²^bhad his meals in ³the king’s presence regularly all the days of his life. 34 For his allowance, a ^aregular allowance was given him by the king of Babylon, a daily portion all the days of his life until the day of his death.

1 Peter 2

As Newborn Babes

Therefore, ^aputting aside all ¹malice and all deceit and ²hypocrisy and ²envy and all ²^bslander, 2 ^alike newborn babies, long for the ¹^bpure ²milk of the word, so that by it you may ^cgrow ³in respect to salvation, 3 if you have ^atasted ¹^bthe kindness of the Lord.

As Living Stones

4 And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been ^arejected by men, but is ¹choice and precious in the sight of God, 5 ^ayou also, as living stones, ¹are being built up as a ^bspiritual house for a holy ^cpriesthood, to ^doffer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For this is contained in ¹Scripture:

“^aBehold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a ^bprecious corner stone,

And he who believes in ²Him will not be ³disappointed.”

7 ^aThis precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve,

“^bThe stone which the builders ^crejected,

This became the very corner stone,”

8 and,

“^aA stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”;

^bfor they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, ^cand to this doom they were also appointed.
9 But you are ^aa chosen race, a royal ^bpriesthood, a ^choly nation, ^da people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you ^eout of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 ^afor you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
11 ^aBeloved, ^bI urge you as ^caliens and strangers to abstain from ^dfleshly lusts which wage ^ewar against the soul. 12 ^aKeep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they ^bslander you as evildoers, they may ¹because of your good deeds, as they observe them, ^cglorify God ^din the day of ²visitation.

Honor Authority

13 ^aSubmit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, 14 or to governors as sent ¹by him ^afor the punishment of evildoers and the ^bpraise of those who do right. 15 For ¹^asuch is the will of God that by doing right you may ^bsilence the ignorance of foolish men. 16 Act as ^afree men, and ¹do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as ^bbondslaves of God. 17 ^aHonor all people, ^blove the brotherhood, ^cfear God, ^dhonor the ¹king.
18 ^aServants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and ^bgentle, but also to those who are ¹unreasonable. 19 For this finds ¹favor, if for the sake of ^aconscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if ^awhen you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds ¹favor with God.

Christ Is Our Example

21 For ^ayou have been called for this purpose, ^bsince Christ also suffered for you, leaving you ^can example for you to follow in His steps, 22 who ^acommitted no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; 23 ¹and while being ^areviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; 24 and He Himself ¹^abore our sins in His body on the ²^bcross, so that we ^cmight die to ³sin and live to righteousness; for ^dby His ⁴wounds you were ^ehealed. 25 For you were ^acontinually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the ^bShepherd and ¹Guardian of your souls.

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995
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