Growing Your Faith: A Beginner's Journey

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Hebrews Part 2: Selfish Christianity

Faith in Action: How Faith Transforms the Way You Live

What the Bible Says About Your Credit Score

Christosis: Imitating Jesus

Journey Through Exodus 1-19

The Riches of Forgiveness: Devotions for Girls (I Am Available)

Two-Year Chronological Bible Reading Plan (First Year-September)

Still Before God

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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkJER">
 <div class="chapter ch37" data-usfm="JER.37">
 <div class="label">37</div><div class="s1">Jeremiah in Prison</div><div class="p"> 1Zedekiah son of Josiah was made king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he reigned in place of Jehoiachin#37:1 Hebrew Koniah, a variant of Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim. 2Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.</div><div class="p"> 3King Zedekiah, however, sent Jehukal son of Shelemiah with the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah the prophet with this message: &#8220;Please pray to the Lord our God for us.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 4Now Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison. 5Pharaoh&#8217;s army had marched out of Egypt, and when the Babylonians#37:5 Or Chaldeans; also in verses 8, 9, 13 and 14 who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.</div><div class="p"> 6Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet: 7&#8220;This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of me, &#8216;Pharaoh&#8217;s army, which has marched out to support you, will go back to its own land, to Egypt. 8Then the Babylonians will return and attack this city; they will capture it and burn it down.&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 9&#8220;This is what the Lord says: Do not deceive yourselves, thinking, &#8216;The Babylonians will surely leave us.&#8217; They will not! 10Even if you were to defeat the entire Babylonian#37:10 Or Chaldean; also in verse 11 army that is attacking you and only wounded men were left in their tents, they would come out and burn this city down.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 11After the Babylonian army had withdrawn from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh&#8217;s army, 12Jeremiah started to leave the city to go to the territory of Benjamin to get his share of the property among the people there. 13But when he reached the Benjamin Gate, the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, arrested him and said, &#8220;You are deserting to the Babylonians!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 14&#8220;That&#8217;s not true!&#8221; Jeremiah said. &#8220;I am not deserting to the Babylonians.&#8221; But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. 15They were angry with Jeremiah and had him beaten and imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the secretary, which they had made into a prison.</div><div class="p"> 16Jeremiah was put into a vaulted cell in a dungeon, where he remained a long time. 17Then King Zedekiah sent for him and had him brought to the palace, where he asked him privately, &#8220;Is there any word from the Lord?&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;Yes,&#8221; Jeremiah replied, &#8220;you will be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 18Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, &#8220;What crime have I committed against you or your attendants or this people, that you have put me in prison? 19Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, &#8216;The king of Babylon will not attack you or this land&#8217;? 20But now, my lord the king, please listen. Let me bring my petition before you: Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, or I will die there.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 21King Zedekiah then gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and given a loaf of bread from the street of the bakers each day until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkJER">
 <div class="chapter ch38" data-usfm="JER.38">
 <div class="label">38</div><div class="s1">Jeremiah Thrown Into a Cistern</div><div class="p"> 1Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehukal#38:1 Hebrew Jukal, a variant of Jehukal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malkijah heard what Jeremiah was telling all the people when he said, 2&#8220;This is what the Lord says: &#8216;Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague, but whoever goes over to the Babylonians#38:2 Or Chaldeans; also in verses 18, 19 and 23 will live. They will escape with their lives; they will live.&#8217; 3And this is what the Lord says: &#8216;This city will certainly be given into the hands of the army of the king of Babylon, who will capture it.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 4Then the officials said to the king, &#8220;This man should be put to death. He is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, as well as all the people, by the things he is saying to them. This man is not seeking the good of these people but their ruin.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 5&#8220;He is in your hands,&#8221; King Zedekiah answered. &#8220;The king can do nothing to oppose you.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 6So they took Jeremiah and put him into the cistern of Malkijah, the king&#8217;s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah by ropes into the cistern; it had no water in it, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.</div><div class="p"> 7But Ebed-Melek, a Cushite,#38:7 Probably from the upper Nile region an official#38:7 Or a eunuch in the royal palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. While the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate, 8Ebed-Melek went out of the palace and said to him, 9&#8220;My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. They have thrown him into a cistern, where he will starve to death when there is no longer any bread in the city.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 10Then the king commanded Ebed-Melek the Cushite, &#8220;Take thirty men from here with you and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 11So Ebed-Melek took the men with him and went to a room under the treasury in the palace. He took some old rags and worn-out clothes from there and let them down with ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern. 12Ebed-Melek the Cushite said to Jeremiah, &#8220;Put these old rags and worn-out clothes under your arms to pad the ropes.&#8221; Jeremiah did so, 13and they pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.</div><div class="s1">Zedekiah Questions Jeremiah Again</div><div class="p"> 14Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and had him brought to the third entrance to the temple of the Lord. &#8220;I am going to ask you something,&#8221; the king said to Jeremiah. &#8220;Do not hide anything from me.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 15Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, &#8220;If I give you an answer, will you not kill me? Even if I did give you counsel, you would not listen to me.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 16But King Zedekiah swore this oath secretly to Jeremiah: &#8220;As surely as the Lord lives, who has given us breath, I will neither kill you nor hand you over to those who want to kill you.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 17Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, &#8220;This is what the Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: &#8216;If you surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, your life will be spared and this city will not be burned down; you and your family will live. 18But if you will not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be given into the hands of the Babylonians and they will burn it down; you yourself will not escape from them.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 19King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, &#8220;I am afraid of the Jews who have gone over to the Babylonians, for the Babylonians may hand me over to them and they will mistreat me.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 20&#8220;They will not hand you over,&#8221; Jeremiah replied. &#8220;Obey the Lord by doing what I tell you. Then it will go well with you, and your life will be spared. 21But if you refuse to surrender, this is what the Lord has revealed to me: 22All the women left in the palace of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon. Those women will say to you:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;They misled you and overcame you&#8212;</div><div class="q2">those trusted friends of yours.</div><div class="q1">Your feet are sunk in the mud;</div><div class="q2">your friends have deserted you.&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 23&#8220;All your wives and children will be brought out to the Babylonians. You yourself will not escape from their hands but will be captured by the king of Babylon; and this city will#38:23 Or and you will cause this city to be burned down.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 24Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, &#8220;Do not let anyone know about this conversation, or you may die. 25If the officials hear that I talked with you, and they come to you and say, &#8216;Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you; do not hide it from us or we will kill you,&#8217; 26then tell them, &#8216;I was pleading with the king not to send me back to Jonathan&#8217;s house to die there.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 27All the officials did come to Jeremiah and question him, and he told them everything the king had ordered him to say. So they said no more to him, for no one had heard his conversation with the king.</div><div class="p"> 28And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured.</div><div class="s1">The Fall of Jerusalem</div><div class="p">This is how Jerusalem was taken:</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkJER">
 <div class="chapter ch39" data-usfm="JER.39">
 <div class="label">39</div><div class="nb"> 1In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army and laid siege to it. 2And on the ninth day of the fourth month of Zedekiah&#8217;s eleventh year, the city wall was broken through. 3Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came and took seats in the Middle Gate: Nergal-Sharezer of Samgar, Nebo-Sarsekim a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer a high official and all the other officials of the king of Babylon. 4When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled; they left the city at night by way of the king&#8217;s garden, through the gate between the two walls, and headed toward the Arabah.#39:4 Or the Jordan Valley</div><div class="p"> 5But the Babylonian#39:5 Or Chaldean army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. They captured him and took him to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced sentence on him. 6There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes and also killed all the nobles of Judah. 7Then he put out Zedekiah&#8217;s eyes and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon.</div><div class="p"> 8The Babylonians#39:8 Or Chaldeans set fire to the royal palace and the houses of the people and broke down the walls of Jerusalem. 9Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard carried into exile to Babylon the people who remained in the city, along with those who had gone over to him, and the rest of the people. 10But Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people, who owned nothing; and at that time he gave them vineyards and fields.</div><div class="p"> 11Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had given these orders about Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard: 12&#8220;Take him and look after him; don&#8217;t harm him but do for him whatever he asks.&#8221; 13So Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard, Nebushazban a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer a high official and all the other officers of the king of Babylon 14sent and had Jeremiah taken out of the courtyard of the guard. They turned him over to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to take him back to his home. So he remained among his own people.</div><div class="p"> 15While Jeremiah had been confined in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the Lord came to him: 16&#8220;Go and tell Ebed-Melek the Cushite, &#8216;This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I am about to fulfill my words against this city&#8212;words concerning disaster, not prosperity. At that time they will be fulfilled before your eyes. 17But I will rescue you on that day, declares the Lord; you will not be given into the hands of those you fear. 18I will save you; you will not fall by the sword but will escape with your life, because you trust in me, declares the Lord.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkJER">
 <div class="chapter ch40" data-usfm="JER.40">
 <div class="label">40</div><div class="s1">Jeremiah Freed</div><div class="p"> 1The word came to Jeremiah from the Lord after Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had released him at Ramah. He had found Jeremiah bound in chains among all the captives from Jerusalem and Judah who were being carried into exile to Babylon. 2When the commander of the guard found Jeremiah, he said to him, &#8220;The Lord your God decreed this disaster for this place. 3And now the Lord has brought it about; he has done just as he said he would. All this happened because you people sinned against the Lord and did not obey him. 4But today I am freeing you from the chains on your wrists. Come with me to Babylon, if you like, and I will look after you; but if you do not want to, then don&#8217;t come. Look, the whole country lies before you; go wherever you please.&#8221; 5However, before Jeremiah turned to go,#40:5 Or Jeremiah answered Nebuzaradan added, &#8220;Go back to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the towns of Judah, and live with him among the people, or go anywhere else you please.&#8221;</div><div class="p">Then the commander gave him provisions and a present and let him go. 6So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah and stayed with him among the people who were left behind in the land.</div><div class="s1">Gedaliah Assassinated</div><div class="p"> 7When all the army officers and their men who were still in the open country heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam as governor over the land and had put him in charge of the men, women and children who were the poorest in the land and who had not been carried into exile to Babylon, 8they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah&#8212;Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah#40:8 Hebrew Jezaniah, a variant of Jaazaniah the son of the Maakathite, and their men. 9Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, took an oath to reassure them and their men. &#8220;Do not be afraid to serve the Babylonians,#40:9 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 10&#8221; he said. &#8220;Settle down in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you. 10I myself will stay at Mizpah to represent you before the Babylonians who come to us, but you are to harvest the wine, summer fruit and olive oil, and put them in your storage jars, and live in the towns you have taken over.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 11When all the Jews in Moab, Ammon, Edom and all the other countries heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, as governor over them, 12they all came back to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, from all the countries where they had been scattered. And they harvested an abundance of wine and summer fruit.</div><div class="p"> 13Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers still in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah 14and said to him, &#8220;Don&#8217;t you know that Baalis king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to take your life?&#8221; But Gedaliah son of Ahikam did not believe them.</div><div class="p"> 15Then Johanan son of Kareah said privately to Gedaliah in Mizpah, &#8220;Let me go and kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and no one will know it. Why should he take your life and cause all the Jews who are gathered around you to be scattered and the remnant of Judah to perish?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 16But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, &#8220;Don&#8217;t do such a thing! What you are saying about Ishmael is not true.&#8221;</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkJER">
 <div class="chapter ch41" data-usfm="JER.41">
 <div class="label">41</div><div class="p"> 1In the seventh month Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was of royal blood and had been one of the king&#8217;s officers, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah. While they were eating together there, 2Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, killing the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land. 3Ishmael also killed all the men of Judah who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, as well as the Babylonian#41:3 Or Chaldean soldiers who were there.</div><div class="p"> 4The day after Gedaliah&#8217;s assassination, before anyone knew about it, 5eighty men who had shaved off their beards, torn their clothes and cut themselves came from Shechem, Shiloh and Samaria, bringing grain offerings and incense with them to the house of the Lord. 6Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went. When he met them, he said, &#8220;Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam.&#8221; 7When they went into the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men who were with him slaughtered them and threw them into a cistern. 8But ten of them said to Ishmael, &#8220;Don&#8217;t kill us! We have wheat and barley, olive oil and honey, hidden in a field.&#8221; So he let them alone and did not kill them with the others. 9Now the cistern where he threw all the bodies of the men he had killed along with Gedaliah was the one King Asa had made as part of his defense against Baasha king of Israel. Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with the dead.</div><div class="p"> 10Ishmael made captives of all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah&#8212;the king&#8217;s daughters along with all the others who were left there, over whom Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive and set out to cross over to the Ammonites.</div><div class="p"> 11When Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him heard about all the crimes Ishmael son of Nethaniah had committed, 12they took all their men and went to fight Ishmael son of Nethaniah. They caught up with him near the great pool in Gibeon. 13When all the people Ishmael had with him saw Johanan son of Kareah and the army officers who were with him, they were glad. 14All the people Ishmael had taken captive at Mizpah turned and went over to Johanan son of Kareah. 15But Ishmael son of Nethaniah and eight of his men escaped from Johanan and fled to the Ammonites.</div><div class="s1">Flight to Egypt</div><div class="p"> 16Then Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him led away all the people of Mizpah who had survived, whom Johanan had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after Ishmael had assassinated Gedaliah son of Ahikam&#8212;the soldiers, women, children and court officials he had recovered from Gibeon. 17And they went on, stopping at Geruth Kimham near Bethlehem on their way to Egypt 18to escape the Babylonians.#41:18 Or Chaldeans They were afraid of them because Ishmael son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land.</div>
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