Jeremiah Chapter 39

1 Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Ye have not hearkened unto me, to proclaim liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbor: behold, I proclaim unto you a liberty, saith Jehovah, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth.

2 And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, that have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before me, when they cut the calf in twain and passed between the parts thereof;

3 the princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, that passed between the parts of the calf;

4 I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life; and their dead bodies shall be for food unto the birds of the heavens, and to the beasts of the earth.

5 And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, that are gone away from you.

6 Behold, I will command, saith Jehovah, and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.

7 The word which came unto Jeremiah from Jehovah in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,

8 Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak unto them, and bring them into the house of Jehovah, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.

9 Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites;

10 and I brought them into the house of Jehovah, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the threshold.

11 And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups; and I said unto them, Drink ye wine.

12 But they said, We will drink no wine; for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons, for ever:

13 neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any; but all your days ye shall dwell in tents; that ye may live many days in the land wherein ye sojourn.

14 And we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters;

15 nor to build houses for us to dwell in; neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed:

16 but we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.

17 But it came to pass, when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians; so we dwell at Jerusalem.

18 Then came the word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah, saying,

darby (darby) - eBible.org Darby 1890 plaintext

1 And it came to pass when Jerusalem was taken, 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 besieged it.

2 In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth of the month, the city was broken into;

3 and all the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate: Nergal-sharezer, Samgar-nebu, Sarsechim, chief chamberlain, Nergal-sharezer, chief magian, and all the rest of the princes of the king of Babylon.

4 And it came to pass when Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, that they fled, and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the king's garden, by the gate between the two walls; and he went out the way of the plain.

5 And the army of the Chaldeans pursued after them, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and they took him, and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, unto Riblah in the land of Hamath; and he pronounced judgment upon him.

6 And the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes, and the king of Babylon slaughtered all the nobles of Judah;

7 and he put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with chains of brass, to carry him to Babylon.

8 And the Chaldeans burned the king's house and the houses of the people with fire, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem.

9 And Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard carried away captive into Babylon the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the deserters that had deserted to him, with the rest of the people that were left.

10 But Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard left [certain] of the people, the poor who had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.

11 And Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had given charge concerning Jeremiah by Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard, saying,

12 Take him, and keep an eye upon him, and do him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee.

13 So Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard sent, and Nebushazban, chief chamberlain, and Nergal-sharezer, chief magian, and all the king of Babylon's princes,

14 even they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the guard and committed him to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, that he should conduct him away home. And he dwelt among the people.

15 And the word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the guard, saying,

16 Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, theGod of Israel: Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good, and they shall come to pass before thy face in that day.

17 And I will deliver thee in that day, saith Jehovah; and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid;

18 for I will certainly save thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thou shalt have thy life for a prey; for thou hast put thy confidence in me, saith Jehovah.

lxxbrent (lxxbrent) - Septuagint (Brenton 1851) eBible USFM

1 The word that came from the Lord to Jeremias in the tenth year of king Sedekias, this is the eighteenth year of king Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon.

2 And the host of the king of Babylon had made a rampart against Jerusalem: and Jeremias was kept in the court of the prison, which is in the king's house;

3 in which king Sedekias [had] shut him up, saying, Wherefore dost thou prophesy, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I [will] give this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it;

4 and Sedekias shall by no means be delivered out of the hand of the Chaldeans, for he shall certainly be given up into the hands of the king of Babylon, and his mouth shall speak to his mouth, and his eyes shall look upon his eyes;

5 and Sedekias shall go into Babylon, and dwell there?

6 And the Word of the Lord came to Jeremias, saying,

7 Behold, Anameel the son of Salom thy father's brother is coming to thee, saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth: for thou [hast] the right to take [it] as a purchase.

8 So Anameel the son of Salom my father's brother came to me into the court of the prison, and said, Buy thee my field that is in the land of Benjamin, in Anathoth: for thou [hast] a right to buy it, and thou art the elder. So I knew that it was the word of the Lord.

9 And I bought the field of Anameel the son of my father's brother, and I weighed him seventeen shekels of silver.

10 And I wrote [it] in a book, and sealed [it], and took the testimony of witnesses, and weighed the money in the balance.

11 And I took the book of the purchase that was sealed;

12 and I gave it to Baruch son of Nerias, son of Maasæas, in the sight of Anameel my father's brother's son, and in the sight of the men that stood by and wrote in the book of the purchase, and in the sight of the Jews that were in the court of the prison.

13 And I charged Baruch in their presence, saying, Thus saith the Lord Almighty;

14 Take this book of the purchase, and the book that has been read; and thou shalt put it into an earthen vessel, that it may remain many days.

15 For thus saith the Lord; There shall yet be bought fields and houses and vineyards in this land.

16 And I prayed to the Lord after I had given the book of the purchase to Baruch the son of Nerias, saying,

17 O [ever] living Lord! thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power, and with thy high and lofty arm: nothing can be hidden from thee.

18 Granting mercy to thousands, and recompensing the sins of the fathers into the bosoms of their children after them: the great, the strong God;

19 the Lord of great counsel, and mighty in deeds, the great Almighty God, and Lord of great name: thine eyes are upon the ways of the children of men, to give to every one according to his way:

20 who hast wrought signs and wonders in the land of Egypt even to this day, and in Israel, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and thou didst make for thyself a name, as at this day;

21 and thou didst bring out thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, with a mighty hand, and with a high arm, and with great sights;

22 and thou gavest them this land, which thou didst swear [to give] to their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey;

23 and they went in, and took it; but they hearkened not to thy voice, and walked not in thine ordinances; they did none of the things which thou didst command them, and they caused all these calamities to happen to them.

24 Behold, a multitude is come against the city to take it; and the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans that fight against it, by the power of the sword, and the famine: as thou hast spoken, so has it happened.

25 And thou sayest to me, Buy thee the field for money; and I wrote a book, and sealed [it], and took the testimony of witnesses: and the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans.

26 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

27 I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: shall anything be hidden from me!

28 Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel; This city shall certainly be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it:

29 and the Chaldeans shall come to war against this city, and they shall burn this city with fire, and shall burn down the houses wherein they burnt incense on the roofs thereof to Baal, and poured drink-offerings to other gods, to provoke me.

30 For the children of Israel and the children of Juda alone did evil in my sight from their youth.

31 For this city was [obnoxious] to my anger and my wrath, from the day that they built it even to this day; that I should remove it from my presence,

32 because of all the wickedness of the children of Israel and Juda, which they wrought to provoke me, they and their kings, and their princes, and their priests, and their prophets, the men of Juda, and the dwellers in Jerusalem.

33 And they turned the back to me, and not the face: whereas I taught them early in the morning, but they hearkened no more to receive instruction.

34 And they set their pollutions in the house, on which my name was called, by their uncleannesses.

35 And they built to Baal the altars that are in the valley of the son of Ennom, to offer their sons and their daughters to king Moloch; which things I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Juda to sin.

36 And now thus has the Lord God of Israel said concerning this city, of which thou sayest, It shall be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by famine, and banishment.

37 Behold, I [will] gather them out of every land, where I have scattered them in my anger, and my wrath, and great fury; and I will bring them back into this place, and will cause them to dwell safely:

38 and they shall be to me a people, and I will be to them a God.

39 And I will give them another way, and another heart, to fear me continually, and [that] for good to them and their children after them.

40 And I will make with them an everlasting covenant, which I will by no means turn away from them, and I will put my fear into their heart, that they may not depart from me.

41 And I will visit [them] to do them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, and with all my heart, and with all [my] soul.

42 For thus saith the Lord; As I have brought upon this people all these great evils, so will I bring upon them all the good things which I pronounced upon them.

43 And there shall yet be fields bought in the land, of which thou sayest, It shall be destitute of man and beast; and they are delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans.

44 And they shall buy fields for money, and thou shalt write a book, and seal [it], and shalt take the testimony of witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and round about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Juda, and in the cities of the mountain, and in the cities of the plain, and in the cities of the south: for I will turn their captivity.

vul1914 (vul1914) - Vulgate 1914 UTF-8 (sacredbible.org)

1 Anno nono Sedeciæ regis Iuda, mense decimo, venit Nabuchodonosor rex Babylonis, et omnis exercitus eius ad Ierusalem, et obsidebant eam.

2 Undecimo autem anno Sedeciæ, mense quarto, quinta mensis aperta est civitas.

3 Et ingressi sunt omnes principes regis Babylonis, et sederunt in porta media: Neregel, Sereser, Semegarnabu, Sarsachim, Rabsares, Neregel, Sereser, Rebmag, et omnes reliqui principes regis Babylonis.

4 Cumque vidisset eos Sedecias rex Iuda, et omnes viri bellatores, fugerunt: et egressi sunt nocte de civitate per viam horti regis, et per portam, quæ erat inter duos muros, et egressi sunt ad viam deserti.

5 Persecutus est autem eos exercitus Chaldæorum: et comprehenderunt Sedeciam in campo solitudinis Ierichontinæ, et captum adduxerunt ad Nabuchodonosor regem Babylonis in Reblatha, quæ est in Terra Emath: et locutus est ad eum iudicia.

6 Et occidit rex Babylonis filios Sedeciæ in Reblatha, in oculis eius: et omnes nobiles Iuda occidit rex Babylonis.

7 Oculos quoque Sedeciæ eruit: et vinxit eum compedibus ut duceretur in Babylonem.

8 Domum quoque regis, et domum vulgi succenderunt Chaldæi igni, et murum Ierusalem subverterunt.

9 Et reliquias populi, qui remanserant in civitate, et perfugas, qui transfugerant ad eum, et superfluos vulgi, qui remanserant, transtulit Nabuzardan magister militum in Babylonem.

10 Et de plebe pauperum, qui nihil penitus habebant, dimisit Nabuzardan magister militum in Terra Iuda: et dedit eis vineas, et cisternas in die illa.

11 Præceperat autem Nabuchodonosor rex Babylonis de Ieremia Nabuzardan magistro militum, dicens:

12 Tolle illum, et pone super eum oculos tuos, nihilque ei mali facias: sed, ut voluerit, sic facias ei.

13 Misit ergo Nabuzardan princeps militiæ, et Nabusezban, et Rabsares, et Neregel, et Sereser, et Rebmag, et omnes optimates regis Babylonis,

14 miserunt, et tulerunt Ieremiam de vestibulo carceris, et tradiderunt eum Godoliæ filio Ahicam filii Saphan ut intraret in domum, et habitaret in populo.

15 Ad Ieremiam autem factus fuerat sermo Domini cum clausus esset in vestibulo carceris, dicens:

16 Vade, et dic Abdemelech Æthiopi, dicens: Hæc dicit Dominus exercituum Deus Israel: Ecce ego inducam sermones meos super civitatem hanc in malum, et non in bonum: et erunt in conspectu tuo in die illa.

17 Et liberabo te in die illa, ait Dominus: et non traderis in manus virorum, quos tu formidas:

18 Sed eruens liberabo te, et gladio non cades: sed erit tibi anima tua in salutem, quia in me habuisti fiduciam, ait Dominus.

web (web) - WorldEnglish.Bible — CC0 modern update of ASV

1 In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem, and besieged it.

2 In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city.

3 All the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate: Nergal Sharezer, Samgarnebo, Sarsechim the Rabsaris, Nergal Sharezer the Rabmag, with all the rest of the princes of the king of Babylon.

4 When Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, then they fled and went out of the city by night, by the way of the king’s garden, through the gate between the two walls; and he went out toward the Arabah.

5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. When they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; and he pronounced judgment on him.

6 Then the king of Babylon killed Zedekiah’s sons in Riblah before his eyes. The king of Babylon also killed all the nobles of Judah.

7 Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon.

8 The Chaldeans burned the king’s house and the people’s houses with fire and broke down the walls of Jerusalem.

9 Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive into Babylon the rest of the people who remained in the city, the deserters also who fell away to him, and the rest of the people who remained.

10 But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the people, who had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.

11 Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon commanded Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard concerning Jeremiah, saying,

12 “Take him and take care of him. Do him no harm; but do to him even as he tells you.”

13 So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, Nebushazban, Rabsaris, and Nergal Sharezer, Rabmag, and all the chief officers of the king of Babylon

14 sent and took Jeremiah out of the court of the guard, and committed him to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, that he should bring him home. So he lived among the people.

15 Now the LORD’s word came to Jeremiah while he was shut up in the court of the guard, saying,

16 “Go, and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, ‘The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will bring my words on this city for evil, and not for good; and they will be accomplished before you in that day.

17 But I will deliver you in that day,” says the LORD; “and you will not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid.

18 For I will surely save you. You won’t fall by the sword, but you will escape with your life, because you have put your trust in me,” says the LORD.’”

ylt (ylt) - Bible.com YLT98 plain UTF-8

1 In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, come hath Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and all his force unto Jerusalem, and they lay siege against it;

2 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, in the ninth of the month, hath the city been broken up;

3 and come in do all the heads of the king of Babylon, and they sit at the middle gate, Nergal-Sharezer, Samgar-Nebo, Sarsechim, chief of the eunuchs, Nergal-Sharezer, chief of the Mages, and all the rest of the heads of the king of Babylon.

4 And it cometh to pass, when Zedekiah king of Judah, and all the men of war, have seen them, that they flee and go forth by night from the city, the way of the king's garden, through the gate between the two walls, and he goeth forth the way of the plain.

5 And the forces of the Chaldeans pursue after them, and overtake Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and they take him, and bring him up unto Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, to Riblah, in the land of Hamath, and he speaketh with him--judgments.

6 And the king of Babylon slaughtereth the sons of Zedekiah, in Riblah, before his eyes, yea, all the freemen of Judah hath the king of Babylon slaughtered.

7 And the eyes of Zedekiah he hath blinded, and he bindeth him with brazen fetters, to bring him in to Babylon.

8 And the house of the king, and the house of the people, have the Chaldeans burnt with fire, and the walls of Jerusalem they have broken down.

9 And the remnant of the people who are left in the city, and those falling who have fallen to him, and the remnant of the people who are left, hath Nebuzar-Adan, chief of the executioners, removed <FI>to<Fi> Babylon.

10 And of the poor people, who have nothing, hath Nebuzar-Adan, chief of the executioners, left in the land of Judah, and he giveth to them vineyards and fields on the same day.

11 And Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon giveth a charge concerning Jeremiah, by the hand of Nebuzar-Adan, chief of the executioners, saying,

12 `Take him, and place thine eyes upon him, and do no evil thing to him, but as he speaketh unto thee, so do with him.'

13 And Nebuzar-Adan, chief of the executioners sendeth, and Nebushazban, chief of the eunuchs, and Nergal-Sharezer, chief of the Mages, and all the chiefs of the king of Babylon;

14 yea, they send and take Jeremiah out of the court of the prison, and give him unto Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, to carry him home, and he dwelleth in the midst of the people.

15 And unto Jeremiah hath a word of Jehovah been--in his being detained in the court of the prison--saying:

16 `Go, and thou hast spoken to Ebed-Melech the Cushite, saying: Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Lo, I am bringing in My words unto this city for evil, and not for good, and they have been before thee in that day.

17 And I have delivered thee in that day--an affirmation of Jehovah--and thou art not given into the hand of the men of whose face thou art afraid,

18 for I do certainly deliver thee, and by sword thou fallest not, and thy life hath been to thee for a spoil, for thou hast trusted in Me--an affirmation of Jehovah.'

Explanations by Age Level

Explain Like I'm 5

A long, long time ago, there was nothing at all - no earth, no sky, no animals, no people. It was all dark and empty. But God was there! God is so powerful that He can make anything just by speaking. So God said "Let there be light!" and BOOM! There was light everywhere! God saw that the light was beautiful and good. He called the light "day" and the darkness "night." This was the very first day when God started making our wonderful world!

Explain Like I'm 10

Before anything existed - no planets, stars, or life - God decided to create the universe. The earth started out as a dark, empty place covered with water. But God's Spirit was there, ready to bring order and beauty to everything. When God spoke and said "Let there be light," light immediately appeared because God's words have incredible power. God looked at the light and was pleased with what He had made. He organized time by separating light (day) from darkness (night), creating the first 24-hour period. This shows us that God is organized and purposeful in everything He does.

Explain Like I'm 15

Genesis 1:1-5 establishes fundamental theological truths about God and creation. The Hebrew word "bara" (created) indicates creation from nothing (ex nihilo), demonstrating God's absolute sovereignty and power. The phrase "without form and void" (tohu wa-bohu) describes a state of chaos that God transforms into order. The Spirit of God "hovering" or "brooding" over the waters suggests active, caring involvement in creation. The creation of light before the sun (created on day 4) indicates that God Himself is the ultimate source of light and energy. The establishment of day and night creates the framework of time, showing that God operates within orderly patterns while transcending them. This passage refutes both atheistic materialism and pantheism, establishing that God is both transcendent (separate from creation) and immanent (actively involved in it).