¹Now when Jerusalem was captured ^2ain 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 And when Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, they ^afled and left 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 took him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at ^cRiblah in the land of Hamath, and he ¹passed sentence on him. 6 Then the ^aking of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah ^bbefore his eyes at Riblah; the king of Babylon also slaughtered all the ^cnobles of Judah. 7 He then ^ablinded Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him in ^bshackles of bronze to bring him to ^cBabylon. 8 The Chaldeans also ^aburned the king’s palace and the houses of the people with fire, and they ^btore down the walls of Jerusalem. 9 And as for the rest of the people who were left in the city, the ^adeserters who had deserted to him and ^bthe rest of the people who remained, ^cNebuzaradan the ^dcaptain of the bodyguard took them into exile in Babylon. 10 But some of the ^apoorest people, who had nothing, ^bNebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard left behind in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields ¹at that time.

11 Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave orders regarding ^aJeremiah through Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, saying, 12 “Take him and ¹look after him, and ^ado not do anything 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, Nergal-sar-ezer the ²Rab-mag, and all the leading officers of the king of Babylon; 14 they even sent word and ^atook Jeremiah out of the courtyard 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 courtyard of the guardhouse, saying, 16 “Go and speak to ^aEbed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, ‘This is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: “Behold, I am going 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 ^asave you on that day,” declares the LORD, “and you will not be handed over to the men of whom you are afraid. 18 For I will assuredly rescue you, and you will not fall by the sword; but you will have your own ^alife as plunder, because you have ^btrusted in Me,” declares the LORD.’”