Nebuchadnezzar made Zedekiah king. Nobody listened to anything the Lord said through Jeremiah. Zedekiah sent Jehucal and Zephaniah (the priest) to ask Jeremiah what would happen next, but the two men asked him to pray to the Lord for them. (Jeremiah had not yet been put in prison and was free to go where he pleased.) He sent them back with a message for Zedekiah. God wanted Zedekiah to know that the Babylonians would come back and burn the city down. They left because the Egyptian army was coming and planned to return when the Egyptians went home. Jeremiah decided to go home too, but as he was passing through the gate he was stopped by the officer in charge and arrested for trying to join the Babylonians. They beat him and put him in prison. Finally, Zedekiah had Jeremiah brought to him and he asked him if there was a message from the Lord. Jeremiah said there was and it was that the Lord was going to let the king of Babylon capture Zedekiah. Then Jeremiah asked him why he had imprisoned him? Had he committed a crime? Had he imprisoned those prophets who lied? Jeremiah asked Zedekiah not to put him back in that prison, so Jeremiah was moved to the courtyard of the palace guards.
One day some men overheard Jeremiah tell the people of Judah that they should surrender to the king of Babylon or they would die. So they went to the king and told him that he should kill Jeremiah because he causing the soldiers to lose hope. Zedekiah told them to do whatever they wanted with Jeremiah, so they put him in a cistern and Jeremiah sank down in the mud. Ebedmelech, an official from Ethiopia, noticed what was going on and went to Zedekiah and told him Jeremiah would die in the cistern, so Zedekiah told him to take 30 men and get Jeremiah out. The Ebedmelech got some rags to cushion the ropes so they wouldn't hurt Jeremiah and they got him out of the cistern. After that, Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the palace guards. Zedekiah had Jeremiah brought to him and he wanted the truth. Jeremiah asked him why since he wouldn't listen and he might even have Jeremiah killed. Zedekiah swore to God that he wouldn't have Jeremiah killed, so Jeremiah told him what God said. If Zedekiah would surrender to the Babylonians he would live and so would his family and Jerusalem wouldn't be burned down. If not, the Babylonians would burn down Jerusalem and Zedekiah would be taken prisoner. Zedekiah said he was too scared of the Jews all ready in Babylon. Jeremiah tried to tell him that if he obeyed God all would go well for him, but he wouldn't listen. Zedekiah made Jeremiah promise not to tell anyone what they talked about. Even though they asked, Jeremiah told them exactly what Zedekiah had ordered him to say.
The Babylonians kept Jerusalem surrounded for a year and a half. Then they broke through the wall. Zedekiah and his troops tried to escape, but they got caught. He was found guilty at trial, and was to be punished. He witnessed his sons put to death in front of him as well as the leaders of Judah's ruling families. His eyes were put out and he was put in chains to be taken to Babylon. Meanwhile, Jerusalem was being burned, including the temple. Only the poorest people were left in Judah. Nebuchadnezzar had given orders to his commander to find Jeremiah and keep him safe, take care of him and do whatever he asked. They found Jeremiah and let him stay with the people who were left in Judah. While Jeremiah had been a prisoner in the courtyard, the Lord gave him a message for the Ebedmelech who had saved his life. Because he trusted God, He would protect him from harm and he would be kept alive.
The commander who found Jeremiah took off his chains and told him he could live in Babylon, or in Judah with the new ruler, Gedaliah or wherever he wished. Then he gave him food and let him leave. Jeremiah decided stay near Gedaliah with the people of Judah. When some officers of Judah who had left early heard about Gedaliah they came back to Judah. They had dinner with Gedaliah and killed him and alot of other people. The leader's name was Ishmael and he took the daughters of Zedekiah that had been under Gedaliah's care.
Tomorrow read Jeremiah 41:11-45:5
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