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Jeremiah 38:19
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17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘If you surely asurrender bto the king of Babylon’s princes, then your soul shall live; this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live.  
18 But if you do not surrender to the king of Babylon’s princes, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans; they shall burn it with fire, and ayou shall not escape from their hand.’ ”  
19 And Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have adefected to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they babuse me.”  
20 But Jeremiah said, “They shall not deliver you. Please, obey the voice of the Lord which I speak to you. So it shall be awell with you, and your soul shall live.  
21 But if you refuse to surrender, this is the word that the Lord has shown me:  
22 ‘Now behold, all the awomen who are left in the king of Judah’s house shall be surrendered to the king of Babylon’s princes, and those women shall say:
“Your close friends have1 set upon you
And prevailed against you;
Your feet have sunk in the mire,
And they have1 turned away again.”  
23 ‘So they shall surrender all your wives and achildren to the Chaldeans. bYou shall not escape from their hand, but shall be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon. And you shall cause this city to be burned with fire.’ ”  
24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no one know of these words, and you shall not die.
25 But if the princes hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you and say to you, ‘Declare to us now what you have said to the king, and also what the king said to you; do not hide it from us, and we will not put you to death,’
Commentaries:
Matthew Henry
<< Jeremiah 38:18   Jeremiah 38:20 >>


Jeremiah 38:1-28

Jeremiah is cast into a dungeon, from whence he is delivered by an Ethiopian. (1-13) He advises the king to surrender to the Chaldeans. (14-28)

Verses 1-13 Jeremiah went on in his plain preaching. The princes went on in their malice. It is common for wicked people to look upon God's faithful ministers as enemies, because they show what enemies the wicked are to themselves while impenitent. Jeremiah was put into a dungeon. Many of God's faithful witnesses have been privately made away in prisons. Ebed-melech was an Ethiopian; yet he spoke to the king faithfully, These men have done ill in all they have done to Jeremiah. See how God can raise up friends for his people in distress. Orders were given for the prophet's release, and Ebed-melech saw him drawn up. Let this encourage us to appear boldly for God. Special notice is taken of his tenderness for Jeremiah. What do we behold in the different characters then, but the same we behold in the different characters now, that the Lord's children are conformed to his example, and the children of Satan to their master?

Verses 14-28 Jeremiah was not forward to repeat the warnings, which seemed only to endanger his own life, and to add to the king's guilt, but asked whether he feared to do the will of God. The less men fear God, the more they fear men; often they dare not act according to their own judgments and consciences.


 
<< Jeremiah 38:18   Jeremiah 38:20 >>

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