The Fall of Jerusalem

¹In the tenth month of the ninth year that Zedekiah was king of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia came with his whole army and attacked Jerusalem.

²On the ninth day of the fourth month of Zedekiah's eleventh year as king, the city walls were broken through.

³(When Jerusalem was captured, all the high officials of the king of Babylonia came and took their places at the Middle Gate, including Nergal Sharezer, Samgar Nebo, Sarsechim, and another Nergal Sharezer.)

⁴When King Zedekiah and all his soldiers saw what was happening, they tried to escape from the city during the night. They left by way of the royal garden, went through the gateway connecting the two walls, and escaped in the direction of the Jordan Valley.

⁵But the Babylonian army pursued them and captured Zedekiah in the plains near Jericho. Then they took him to King Nebuchadnezzar, who was in the city of Riblah in the territory of Hamath, and there Nebuchadnezzar passed sentence on him.

⁶At Riblah he put Zedekiah's sons to death while Zedekiah was looking on, and he also had the officials of Judah executed.

⁷After that, he had Zedekiah's eyes put out and had him placed in chains to be taken to Babylonia.

⁸Meanwhile, the Babylonians burned down the royal palace and the houses of the people and tore down the walls of Jerusalem.

⁹Finally Nebuzaradan, the commanding officer, took away as prisoners to Babylonia the people who were left in the city, together with those who had deserted to him.

¹⁰He left in the land of Judah some of the poorest people, who owned no property, and he gave them vineyards and fields.

Jeremiah's Release

¹¹But King Nebuchadnezzar commanded Nebuzaradan, the commanding officer, to give the following order:

¹²“Go and find Jeremiah and take good care of him. Do not harm him, but do for him whatever he wants.”

¹³So Nebuzaradan, together with the high officials Nebushazban and Nergal Sharezer and all the other officers of the king of Babylonia,

¹⁴had me brought from the palace courtyard. They put me under the care of Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, who was to see that I got home safely. And so I stayed there among the people.

Hope for Ebedmelech

¹⁵While I was still imprisoned in the palace courtyard, the Lord told me

¹⁶to tell Ebedmelech the Ethiopian that the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, had said, “Just as I said I would, I am going to bring upon this city destruction and not prosperity. And when this happens, you will be there to see it.

¹⁷But I, the Lord, will protect you, and you will not be handed over to the people you are afraid of.

¹⁸I will keep you safe, and you will not be put to death. You will escape with your life because you have put your trust in me. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

Jeremiah Stays with Gedaliah

¹The Lord spoke to me after Nebuzaradan, the commanding officer, had set me free at Ramah. I had been taken there in chains, along with all the other people from Jerusalem and Judah who were being taken away as prisoners to Babylonia.

²The commanding officer took me aside and said, “The Lord your God threatened this land with destruction,

³and now he has done what he said he would. All this happened because your people sinned against the Lord and disobeyed him.

⁴Now, I am taking the chains off your wrists and setting you free. If you want to go to Babylonia with me, you may do so, and I will take care of you. But if you don't want to go, you don't have to. You have the whole country to choose from, and you may go wherever you wish.”

⁵When I did not answer, Nebuzaradan said, “Go back to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylonia has made governor of the towns of Judah. You may stay with him and live among the people, or you may go anywhere you think you should.” Then he gave me a present and some food to take with me, and let me go on my way.

⁶I went to stay with Gedaliah in Mizpah and lived among the people who were left in the land.

Gedaliah, Governor of Judah

⁷Some of the Judean officers and soldiers had not surrendered. They heard that the king of Babylonia had made Gedaliah governor of the land and had placed him in charge of all those who had not been taken away to Babylonia—the poorest people in the land.

⁸So Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai from Netophah, and Jezaniah from Maacah went with their men to Gedaliah at Mizpah.

⁹Gedaliah said to them, “I give you my word that there is no need for you to be afraid to surrender to the Babylonians. Settle in this land, serve the king of Babylonia, and all will go well with you.

¹⁰I myself will stay in Mizpah and be your representative when the Babylonians come here. But you can gather and store up wine, fruit, and olive oil, and live in the villages you occupy.”

¹¹Meanwhile, all the Israelites who were in Moab, Ammon, Edom, and other countries, heard that the king of Babylonia had allowed some Israelites to stay on in Judah and that he had made Gedaliah their governor.

¹²So they left the places where they had been scattered, and returned to Judah. They came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and there they gathered in large amounts of wine and fruit.

Gedaliah Is Murdered

¹³After this, Johanan and the leaders of the soldiers who had not surrendered came to Gedaliah at Mizpah

¹⁴and said to him, “Don't you know that King Baalis of Ammon has sent Ishmael to murder you?” But Gedaliah did not believe it.

¹⁵Then Johanan said privately to him, “Let me go and kill Ishmael, and no one will know who did it. Why should he be allowed to murder you? That would cause all the Jews who have gathered around you to be scattered, and it would bring disaster on all the people who are left in Judah.”

¹⁶But Gedaliah answered, “Don't do it! What you are saying about Ishmael is not true!”

Judith Goes to the Camp of Holofernes

¹When Judith had finished her prayer to the God of Israel,

²she stood up, called her slave woman, and went down into the house as she always did on Sabbaths and festival days.

³She took off the sackcloth and her widow's clothes, took a bath, and put on rich perfumes. She brushed her hair, tied a ribbon around it, and dressed herself in the fine clothes she used to wear on joyful occasions when her husband Manasseh was still alive.

⁴She put on sandals and all her finest jewelry: rings and earrings, and bracelets on her wrists and ankles. She made herself so beautiful that she was sure to attract the attention of any man who saw her.

⁵Judith gave her slave woman a leather bag of wine and a jar of oil to carry. She filled a bag with roasted barley, cakes of dried figs, and several loaves of bread baked according to Jewish food laws. She carefully wrapped all the food and dishes and gave them to her slave.

⁶Then the two women left the house and went to the gates of Bethulia, where they found Uzziah and the town officials, Chabris and Charmis, standing guard.

⁷When the men saw Judith after she had changed clothes and put on make-up, they were struck by her beauty and said to her,

⁸May the God of our ancestors bless you and make your plan successful, so that you may bring glory to Jerusalem and victory to Israel. Judith prayed

⁹and then said, Order the gates to be opened for me. I am on my way to do what we were talking about. Then they ordered the young men to open the gates for her,

¹⁰and Judith and her slave left the city. The men watched her as she went down the mountain into the valley, until she was out of sight.

¹¹As the two women were walking through the valley, an Assyrian patrol met them.

¹²They arrested Judith and questioned her, What is your nationality? Where did you come from, and where are you going? I am a Hebrew, she answered, but I am running away from the Israelites because God is going to let you destroy them.

¹³I am on my way to see Holofernes, the general in command of your army, to give him some reliable information. I can show him how to advance into the mountains and take control of the entire region without a single casualty.

¹⁴The men stared at her because she was so beautiful. They listened to her story and said,

¹⁵You have saved your life by coming down here to see our general. Some of us will take you to his headquarters and present you to him.

¹⁶Do not be afraid of him. Just tell him what you have told us, and he will treat you well.

¹⁷They assigned a hundred men to escort Judith and her slave to the headquarters of Holofernes.

¹⁸There was great commotion in the Assyrian camp as news of Judith's arrival spread from tent to tent. While she stood outside the tent of Holofernes waiting to be presented to him, many Assyrian soldiers came and stood around her.

¹⁹They were greatly impressed by her beauty and wondered what kind of people the Israelites were. Who can have contempt for people whose women are so beautiful? they asked one another. We had better kill all the men, or else these Jews will be able to charm the whole world.

²⁰Then Holofernes' bodyguard and his personal servants came out and led Judith into the tent.

²¹Holofernes was resting on his bed under a mosquito net woven of purple and gold thread and decorated with emeralds and other precious stones.

²²When the men told him that Judith had arrived, he came to the outer part of the tent. Silver lamps were carried ahead of him.

²³When Judith came near him and his servants, they were all astonished at her beauty. She bowed down to the ground before Holofernes, but his servants helped her to her feet.

¹Holofernes said to Judith, Don't worry; there's no need for you to be afraid. I have never hurt anyone who was willing to serve Nebuchadnezzar, king of the whole world.

²Even now, if your people up in the mountains had not insulted me, I would not have declared war on them. They have brought all this trouble on themselves.

³But tell me, why have you left them and come to us? You will be safe here. No need to be afraid! We have spared your life tonight, and you are in no danger for the future.

⁴No one here will harm you; everyone will treat you well, like all other servants of my master, Nebuchadnezzar.

⁵Then Judith said to Holofernes, Allow me to speak to you, my lord, and please listen to what I have to say. I will tell you the truth.

⁶If you follow my advice, God will do something great with you, and my lord will not fail in his plan.

⁷For I swear to you by the life and strength of Nebuchadnezzar, king of the whole world, who sent you to bring order to all the subjects of his kingdom, that not only have you made people serve him, but because of you even the wild animals, the livestock, and the birds obey him. Because of you, Nebuchadnezzar and his entire kingdom will prosper.

⁸We have heard how wise and clever you are. The whole world knows that you are the most competent, skilled, and accomplished general in the whole Assyrian Empire.

⁹Achior was rescued by the men of Bethulia, and has told us what he said at your war council.

¹⁰Please, sir, do not dismiss lightly what Achior told you, but take it seriously, because it is true. No one can harm or conquer our people unless they sin against their God.

¹¹But you will not suffer any setbacks, nor will you fail to achieve your goal. When the Israelites sin and make their God angry, they will die.

¹²Their food supply has already run out, and the water shortage has become serious, so they have decided to kill their livestock and eat foods that God's Law clearly forbids them to eat.

¹³They have decided to eat the wheat set aside from the early harvest and the tithes of wine and oil, which are holy and are reserved for the priests who serve God in Jerusalem. The rest of us are forbidden even to touch this sacred food,

¹⁴but since the people in Jerusalem have already broken this law, the people of our town have sent messengers to the Council there requesting permission to do the same.

¹⁵On the day that they receive permission and actually eat the food, you will be able to destroy them.

¹⁶As soon as I learned about this, I ran away from my people. God has sent me to do something with you that will amaze everyone in the entire world who hears about it.

¹⁷Sir, I am a religious woman; I worship the God of heaven day and night. I will stay here in your camp, and each night I will go out into the valley to pray to God, and he will tell me when the Israelites have sinned.

¹⁸As soon as I find out, I will come and tell you, and you can march out with your whole army. The Israelites will not be able to defend themselves against you.

¹⁹I will guide you through the central part of the land of Judah until we come to Jerusalem, where I will crown you king in the center of the city. You will scatter the people of Jerusalem like sheep without a shepherd. Not even a dog will dare to growl at you. God has revealed these things to me in advance and has sent me to report them to you.

²⁰Holofernes and his personal servants were pleased with what Judith had said, and they admired her wisdom.

²¹She must be the wisest and most beautiful woman in the world, they commented one to another.

²²Then Holofernes said to her, It's a good thing that God has sent you here to bring us victory and to destroy those who have insulted King Nebuchadnezzar.

²³Not only are you beautiful, but you know how to make a speech. If you do as you have promised, your God will be my God. You will live in King Nebuchadnezzar's palace and will be famous throughout the world.

⁹If you want people to like you, forgive them when they wrong you. Remembering wrongs can break up a friendship.

¹⁰An intelligent person learns more from one rebuke than a fool learns from being beaten a hundred times.

¹¹Death will come like a cruel messenger to wicked people who are always stirring up trouble.

¹²It is better to meet a mother bear robbed of her cubs than to meet some fool busy with a stupid project.