Daily Text and Bible Reading: Sunday, August 31 [Press play below]

37.1 And King Zedekiah the son of Josiah began to reign in place of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, for King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon made him king in the land of Judah.
37.2 But he and his servants and the people of the land did not listen to the words of Jehovah spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.
37.3 And King Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest to Jeremiah the prophet, saying: “Please pray in our behalf to Jehovah our God.”
37.4 Jeremiah was moving about freely among the people, for they had not yet put him in prison.
37.5 Now Pharaoh’s army had set out from Egypt, and the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them. So they withdrew from against Jerusalem.
37.6 Then the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah the prophet, saying:
37.7 “This is what Jehovah the God of Israel says, ‘This is what you should say to the king of Judah, who sent you to me to inquire of me: “Look! The army of Pharaoh that is coming to assist you will have to go back to its land, Egypt.
37.8 And the Chaldeans will come back and fight against this city and capture it and burn it with fire.”
37.9 This is what Jehovah says, “Do not deceive yourselves by saying, ‘The Chaldeans will surely go away from against us,’ because they will not go away.
37.10 Even if you were to strike down the entire army of the Chaldeans who are fighting against you and only their wounded men were left, they would still rise up from their tents and burn this city with fire.”’”
37.11 When the Chaldean army had withdrawn from against Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army,
37.12 Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem to the land of Benjamin to receive his portion there among his people.
37.13 But when he reached the Gate of Benjamin, the officer in charge of the guard, whose name was Irijah the son of Shelemiah the son of Hananiah, seized Jeremiah the prophet and said: “You are deserting to the Chaldeans!”
37.14 But Jeremiah said: “It is not true! I am not deserting to the Chaldeans.” But he did not listen to him. So Irijah arrested Jeremiah and brought him in to the princes.
37.15 The princes were furious with Jeremiah, and they beat him and imprisoned him in the house of Jehonathan the secretary, which had been made into a prison.
37.16 Jeremiah was put into the dungeon, into the vaulted rooms, and he remained there many days.
37.17 Then King Zedekiah sent for him, and the king secretly questioned him in his house. He asked, “Is there any word from Jehovah?” Jeremiah said, “There is!” and he continued, “You will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon!”
37.18 Jeremiah also said to King Zedekiah: “How have I sinned against you and against your servants and against this people, so that you have put me into the prison?
37.19 Where, now, are your prophets who prophesied to you, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you and against this land’?
37.20 Now listen, please, O my lord the king. May you grant, please, my request for favor. Do not send me back to the house of Jehonathan the secretary, or I will die there.”
37.21 So King Zedekiah ordered that Jeremiah be put in custody in the Courtyard of the Guard, and he was given a round loaf of bread daily from the street of the bakers until all the bread in the city was gone. And Jeremiah remained in the Courtyard of the Guard.
Chapter 38

38.1 Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people, saying:
38.2 “This is what Jehovah says, ‘The one who remains in this city will die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. But the one who surrenders to the Chaldeans will keep living and will have his life as a spoil and live.’
38.3 This is what Jehovah says, ‘This city will surely be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.’”
38.4 The princes said to the king: “Please have this man put to death, for this is how he is weakening the morale of the soldiers who are left in this city, as well as that of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man seeks, not the peace of this people, but their calamity.”
38.5 King Zedekiah replied: “Look! He is in your hands, for the king cannot do anything to stop you.”
38.6 So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Malchijah the son of the king, which was in the Courtyard of the Guard. They let Jeremiah down by ropes. Now there was no water in the cistern, only mud, and Jeremiah began to sink down into the mud.
38.7 Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. Now the king was sitting in the Gate of Benjamin,
38.8 so Ebed-melech went out of the king’s house and spoke to the king, saying:
38.9 “O my lord the king, what these men have done to Jeremiah the prophet is evil! They have thrown him into the cistern, and he will die there because of the famine, for there is no bread left in the city.”
38.10 Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian: “Take 30 men with you from here, and pull Jeremiah the prophet up out of the cistern before he dies.”
38.11 So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went into the king’s house to a place beneath the treasury, and they took from there some worn-out rags and worn-out pieces of cloth and let them down by ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern.
38.12 Then Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah: “Please put the rags and the pieces of cloth between your armpits and the ropes.” Jeremiah did so,
38.13 and they drew Jeremiah out with the ropes and pulled him up out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the Courtyard of the Guard.
38.14 King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet to come to him at the third entrance, which is in the house of Jehovah, and the king said to Jeremiah: “I have something to ask of you. Do not hide anything from me.”
38.15 Jeremiah then said to Zedekiah: “If I tell you, you will certainly put me to death. And if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.”
38.16 So King Zedekiah secretly swore to Jeremiah, saying: “As surely as Jehovah is alive, who has given us this life, I will not put you to death, and I will not hand you over to these men who are seeking to take your life.”
38.17 Jeremiah then said to Zedekiah: “This is what Jehovah, the God of armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘If you surrender to the princes of the king of Babylon, your life will be spared, and this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will be spared.
38.18 But if you will not surrender to the princes of the king of Babylon, this city will be handed over to the Chaldeans, and they will burn it with fire, and you will not escape out of their hand.’”
38.19 Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah: “I am afraid of the Jews who have deserted to the Chaldeans, for if I am handed over to them, they may deal cruelly with me.”
38.20 But Jeremiah said: “You will not be handed over to them. Obey, please, the voice of Jehovah in what I am telling you, and it will go well with you, and you will continue to live.
38.21 But if you refuse to surrender, this is what Jehovah has revealed to me:
38.22 Look! All the women remaining in the house of the king of Judah are being brought out to the princes of the king of Babylon, and they are saying, ‘The men whom you trusted have deceived you and overcome you. They have caused your foot to sink into the mud. Now they have turned away in retreat.’
38.23 And all your wives and your sons they are bringing out to the Chaldeans, and you will not escape out of their hand, but you will be seized by the king of Babylon, and because of you this city will be burned with fire.”
38.24 Zedekiah then said to Jeremiah: “Do not let anyone know about these things, so that you do not die.
38.25 And if the princes hear that I have spoken with you and they come and say to you, ‘Tell us, please, what you said to the king. Do not hide anything from us, and we will not put you to death. What did the king say to you?’
38.26 you must answer them, ‘I was making a request of the king, that he not send me back to the house of Jehonathan to die there.’”
38.27 In time all the princes came in to Jeremiah and questioned him. He told them everything that the king had commanded him to say. So they said no more to him, for no one had heard the conversation.
38.28 Until the day that Jerusalem was captured, Jeremiah remained in the Courtyard of the Guard; he was still there when Jerusalem was captured.
Chapter 39

39.1 In the ninth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, in the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and all his army came to Jerusalem, and they besieged it.
39.2 In the 11th year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, they broke through the city wall.
39.3 And all the princes of the king of Babylon went in and sat down in the Middle Gate, namely, Nergal-sharezer the Samgar, Nebo-sarsechim the Rabsaris, Nergal-sharezer the Rabmag, and all the rest of the princes of the king of Babylon.
39.4 When King Zedekiah of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled, going out of the city by night by way of the king’s garden, through the gate between the double wall, and they continued by the way of the Arabah.
39.5 But the Chaldean army chased after them, and they overtook Zedekiah in the desert plains of Jericho. They captured him and brought him up to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he passed sentence on him.
39.6 The king of Babylon had the sons of Zedekiah slaughtered before his eyes there at Riblah, and the king of Babylon had all the nobles of Judah slaughtered.
39.7 Then he blinded the eyes of Zedekiah, after which he bound him with copper fetters to bring him to Babylon.
39.8 The Chaldeans then burned down the king’s house and the houses of the people, and they tore down the walls of Jerusalem.
39.9 Nebuzaradan the chief of the guard took into exile to Babylon the rest of the people who were left in the city, the deserters who had defected to him, and anyone who remained.
39.10 But Nebuzaradan the chief of the guard left in the land of Judah some of the poorest people, those who had nothing at all. On that day he also gave them vineyards and fields to work.
39.11 Now King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon gave Nebuzaradan the chief of the guard these orders concerning Jeremiah:
39.12 “Take him and look after him; do him no harm, and grant whatever he asks of you.”
39.13 So Nebuzaradan the chief of the guard, Nebushazban the Rabsaris, Nergal-sharezer the Rabmag, and all the principal men of the king of Babylon sent
39.14 and had Jeremiah taken out of the Courtyard of the Guard and handed him over to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan to be brought to his house. So he lived among the people.
39.15 While Jeremiah was confined in the Courtyard of the Guard, the word of Jehovah came to him, saying:
39.16 “Go and tell Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, ‘This is what Jehovah of armies, the God of Israel, says: “Here I am fulfilling my words on this city for calamity and not for good, and in that day you will see it happen.”’
39.17 “‘But I will rescue you in that day,’ declares Jehovah, ‘and you will not be handed over to the men you fear.’
39.18 “‘For I will surely provide you with escape, and you will not fall by the sword. You will have your life as a spoil, because you trusted in me,’ declares Jehovah.”