From: "FamilyNet" 

Bible Reading for August 16

Jeremiah 37
[1] And king Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son
of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of
Judah.
[2] But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, did
hearken unto the words of the LORD, which he spake by the prophet Jeremiah.
[3] And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah
the son of Maaseiah the priest to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now
unto the LORD our God for us.
[4] Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people: for they had not
put him into prison.
[5] Then Pharoah's army was come forth out of Egypt: and when the Chaldeans
that besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they departed from
Jerusalem. [6] Then came the word of the LORD unto the prophet Jeremiah,
saying, [7] Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say to
the king of Judah, that sent you unto me to inquire of me; Behold,
Pharaoh's army, which is come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into
their own land. [8] And the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against
this city, and take it, and burn it with fire.
[9] Thus saith the LORD; Deceive not yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans
shall surely depart from us: for they shall not depart. [10] For though ye
had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and
there remained but wounded men among them, yet should they rise up every
man in his tent, and burn this city with fire. [11] And it came to pass,
that when the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem for fear
of Pharaoh's army, [12] Then Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go
into the land of Benjamin, to separate himself thence in the midst of the
people. [13] And when he was in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the ward
was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of
Hananiah; and he took Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Thou fallest away to
the Chaldeans. [14] Then said Jeremiah, It is false; I fall not away to the
Chaldeans. But he hearkened not to him: so Irijah took Jeremiah, and
brought him to the princes.
[15] Wherefore the princes were wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him, and put
him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe: for they had made that
the prison.
[16] When Jeremiah was entered into the dungeon, and into the cabins, and
Jeremiah had remained there many days; [17] Then Zedekiah the king sent,
and took him out: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said,
Is there any word from the LORD? And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said he,
thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.
[18] Moreover Jeremiah said unto king Zedekiah, What have I offended
against thee, or against thy servants, or against this people, that ye have
put me in prison?
[19] Where are now your prophets which prophesied unto you, saying, The
king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land? [20]
Therefore hear now, I pray thee, O my lord the king: let my supplication, I
pray thee, be accepted before thee; that thou cause me not to return to the
house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there. [21] Then Zedekiah the king
commanded that they should commit Jeremiah into the court of the prison,
and that they should give him daily a piece of bread out of the bakers'
street, until all the bread in the city were spent. Thus Jeremiah remained
in the court of the prison.

Jeremiah 38
[1] Then Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and
Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur the son of Malchiah, heard the words
that Jeremiah had spoken unto all the people, saying, [2] Thus saith the
LORD, He that remaineth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine,
and by the pestilence: but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live;
for he shall have his life for a prey, and shall live. [3] Thus saith the
LORD, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of
Babylon's army, which shall take it. [4] Therefore the princes said unto
the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he
weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the
hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man
seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt.
[5] Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand: for the king
is not he that can do any thing against you. [6] Then took they Jeremiah,
and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in
the court of the prison: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the
dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire.
[7] Now when Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs which was in the
king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon; the king
then sitting in the gate of Benjamin;
[8] Ebed-melech went forth out of the king's house, and spake to the king, saying,
[9] My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done
to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon; and he is
like to die for hunger in the place where he is: for there is no more bread
in the city.
[10] Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from
hence thirty men with thee, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the
dungeon, before he die.
[11] So Ebed-melech took the men with him, and went into the house of the
king under the treasury, and took thence old cast clouts and old rotten
rags, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah. [12] And
Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, Put now these old cast clouts
and rotten rags under thine armholes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so.
[13] So they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up out of the
dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison. [14] Then
Zedekiah the king sent, and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him into the
third entry that is in the house of the LORD: and the king said unto
Jeremiah, I will ask thee a thing; hide nothing from me. [15] Then Jeremiah
said unto Zedekiah, If I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me
to death? and if I give thee counsel, wilt thou not hearken unto me?
[16] So Zedekiah the king sware secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, As the LORD
liveth, that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, neither will
I give thee into the hand of these men that seek thy life. [17] Then said
Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of
Israel; If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon's princes,
then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and
thou shalt live, and thine house: [18] But if thou wilt not go forth to the
king of Babylon's princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of
the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape
out of their hand. [19] And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am
afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me
into their hand, and they mock me.
[20] But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver thee. Obey, I beseech thee,
the voice of the LORD, which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well unto
thee, and thy soul shall live.
[21] But if thou refuse to go forth, this is the word that the LORD hath shewed me:
[22] And, behold, all the women that are left in the king of Judah's house
shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon's princes, and those women
shall say, Thy friends have set thee on, and have prevailed against thee:
thy feet are sunk in the mire, and they are turned away back. [23] So they
shall bring out all thy wives and thy children to the Chaldeans: and thou
shalt not escape out of their hand, but shalt be taken by the hand of the
king of Babylon: and thou shalt cause this city to be burned with fire.
[24] Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words, and
thou shalt not die.
[25] But if the princes hear that I have talked with thee, and they come
unto thee, and say unto thee, Declare unto us now what thou hast said unto
the king, hide it not from us, and we will not put thee to death; also what
the king said unto thee:
[26] Then thou shalt say unto them, I presented my supplication before the
king, that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan's house, to die
there.
[27] Then came all the princes unto Jeremiah, and asked him: and he told
them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they left
off speaking with him; for the matter was not perceived. [28] So Jeremiah
abode in the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken:
and he was there when Jerusalem was taken.

Jeremiah 39
[1] 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
beseiged it.
[2] And in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth
day of the month, the city was broken up. [3] And all the princes of the
king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate, even Nergal-sharezer,
Samgar-nebo, Sarsechim, Rab-saris, Nergal-sharezer, Rabmag, with all the
residue of the princes of the king of Babylon.
[4] And it came to pass, that when Zedekiah the king of Judah saw them, and
all the men of war, then they fled, and went forth out of the city by
night, by the way of the king's garden, by the gate betwixt the two walls:
and he went out the way of the plain.
[5] But the Chaldeans' army pursued after them, and overtook Zedekiah in
the plains of Jericho: and when they had taken him, they brought him up to
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he
gave judgment upon him.
[6] Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his
eyes: also the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah. [7] Moreover
he put out Zedekiah's eyes, and bound him with chains, to carry him to
Babylon.
[8] And the Chaldeans burned the king's house, and the houses of the
people, with fire, and brake down the walls of Jerusalem. [9] Then
Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carried away captive into Babylon the
remnant of the people that remained in the city, and those that fell away,
that fell to him, with the rest of the people that remained. [10] But
Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the people, which
had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at
the same time.
[11] Now Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to
Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard, saying, [12] Take him, and look well
to 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 guard sent, and Nebushasban,
Rab-saris, and Nergal-sharezer, Rabmag, and all the king of Babylon's
princes;
[14] Even they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the prison, and
committed him unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, that he
should carry him home: so he dwelt among the people. [15] Now the word of
the LORD came unto Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the
prison, saying,
[16] Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith the LORD
of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring my words upon this city
for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished in that day
before thee.
[17] But I will deliver thee in that day, saith the LORD: and thou shalt
not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid. [18] For I
will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thy
life shall be for a prey unto thee: because thou hast put thy trust in me,
saith the LORD.

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