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X: 1
T: Ballad of Zedekiah 
C: Words and Music: Stuart D. Gathman
C: Copyright 2026: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0
M: 4/4
L: 1/4
Q: 1/4=130 " swing"
K: Gm
%%MIDI gchord cc
%%MIDI chordname 7#9 0 4 7 10 15
%%MIDI chordname 7b9 0 4 7 10 13
%%MIDI chordname m7b5 0 3 6 10
%%text Jeremiah 21:8,27:6,29:10,38:17-20,39:4-6; 2 Kings 24:10-17 Ezekiel 12:13; 2 Chronicles 36:13
V:1
z3C|:!segno!"Gm7"DCDF|"C9"=E/CCzC/|"Gm7"DCDF|"C9"=E/CCzC/|
w:1.God|said I've giv-en|all these lands in-|to Ne-bu-chad-|nez-zar's hands. The|
w:2.The|kings of Ju-dah|twice re-belled a-|gainst the king of|Ba-by-lon.*|
w:3.|Swear to me you|won't re-bel in~the|name of~the God of|Is-ra-el.  Sub-|
w:6.|Ze-de-ki-ah|made his choice to|sneak a-way at|night. * *  He |
"Cm7"EDEF|"F7"DC"F#dim7"Cz/C/|"Bb6"DDFD|"D7b9"^F^F/Az^F/ |
w:beasts that in the|mea-dows dwell, I|give in-to his|hand as well. You|
w:King Ne-bu-chad-|nez-zar came to|give them one last|chance a-gain. He|
w:mit, and stay in|your own land.  Just|put that tri-bute|in my hand. The|
w:stole out through the|kit-chen gate and|rode off through the|de-sert.* Chal-|
[1,2,6 "Gm7"GFGA|"C9"=G/=E=Ez=E/|"Gm7"GFGA|"C9"=G/=E=Ez=E/|"Cm7"GFGB|
w:ex-iles in a|for-eign land,*|Serve the king of|Ba-by-lon.*|Seven-ty years, no|
w:took Je-ho-i-|chin a-way, His|fam-'ly, and his|staff.* * He|in-ter-viewed men|
w:de-an sol-diers|gave him chase and|in the plains of|Je-ri-cho, they|caught him, brought him|
"F7"AG"F#dim7"Az/^F/|"Gm7"GGBG|"D7b9"AA/czA/ |"Gm7"BABc|
w:more no less, Then|I'll re-store you|to this place. For|seven-ty sab-bath|
w:face to face, And|made one Mat-ta-|ni-ah king. Made|Ze-de-ki-ah|
w:back in chains, to|face the judge-ment|of his Lord. His|sons were killed be-|
"C9"A/GGzG/|"Gm7"BABc|"C9"A/GGzG/|"Cm7"BABc|
w:years you failed to|set the cap-tive|free.** So|you will serve a|
w:his new name.  It|means, "The LORD is|right-eous". And|face to face made|
w:fore his eyes, and|then his eyes were|gauged out.* They|took him back to|
"F7"AG"F#dim7"Az/A/|"Gm7"BBBG|[2 "D7b9"AB/Azz/:|"D7b9"AB/Azc/!coda!|
w:fo-reign king and|thus your own cap-|* * *|ti-vi-ty. The|
w:him to swear his|loy-al-ty to|Ba-by-lon. |* * * *|
w:Ba-by-lon, in|chains of bronze was|* * *|decked out.* And|
"Gm7"d/ddzc/|"C9"d/ddz/z|"Gm7"dddd|"C9"d/ddz/z|
w:Chorus:~way of life. The|way of death.|Choose life that your|soul may live.|
"Cm7"B A B c|"F7"AB/"F#dim7"Azc/|"Bb6"BGBc|"D7b9"de/dz/z|"Gm7"z2"C7":|
w:fu-ture to your|child-ren give, and|praise the LORD with|ev-'ry breath.|
K:Am
"Gm7"D3 F|"E7"D2z>C|:"Am7"ECEG|"D9"^F/DDzD/|"Am7"ECEG|"D9"^F/DDzD/|
w:* *|* 4.But|Ze-de-ki-ah|did re-bel, de-|spite his so-lemn|oath.* * Chal- |
w:* *|* 5.|I sub-mit to|God's com-mand, the|ones who went be-|fore me* will|
"Dm7"FEFG|"G7"ED"Abdim7"Dz/D/|"C6"EEGE|"E7b9"^G^G/BzD/ |
w:de-an sol-diers|once a-gain were|camped a-round Je-|ru-sa-lem. Thus|
w:laugh at my in-|tran-si-gence, and|to be mocked I|can-not stand. Thus|
"Am7"AGAB|"D9"A/^F^Fz^F/|"Am7"AGAB|"D9"A/^F^Fz^F/|
w:says the God of|Is-ra-el, if|you in-deed sur-|ren-der,* Then |
w:says the LORD, they|will not mock, o-|bey the LORD's com-|mand and live. But|
"Dm7"AGAB|"G7"GF"Abdim7"Fz/F/|"C6"GGAG|"E7b9"BB/dzB/ |
w:you will live, the|ci-ty save;* |you and your house|will sur-vive. But|
w:if you don't the|wo-men of Je-|ru-sa-lem will|mock you so:* |
"Am7"cBcc|"D9"B/AAzA/|"Am7"cBcc|"D9"A/AAzA/|
w:if you don't, you'll|not es-cape. Je-|ru-sa-lem will|burn.** In|
w:"They mis-led and|o-ver-came you,|all those trust-ed|friends of yours.*|
"Dm7"cBcd|"G7"cB"Abdim7"Bz/B/|"C6"cccA|"E7b9"Bc/BzB/ :|
w:chains you'll go to|Ba-by-lon, but|you will ne-ver|see it. * If|
w:Now your feet are|sunk in mud; and|those friends have de-|sert-ed you." The|
"Am7"e/eezd/|"D9"e/eez/z|"Am7"eeee|"D9"e/eez/e|
w:CHORUS:way of life. The|way of death.|Choose life that your|soul may live. A|
"Dm7"c B c d|"G7"Bc/"Abdim7"Bzd/|"C6"cAcd|"E7b9"ef/ez/z|"Am7"z4|"D7+9"z4S||
w:fu-ture to your|child-ren give, and|praise the LORD with|ev-'ry breath.|
O|"G" G G G G|"Em6/G"G G G G|"Am7/G"G G G G|"G"G2 "G/F#"z G|
w:7.~then Je-ru-sa-|lem was burned, the|gates were bro-ken|down. The |
"Em" G G G G|"Em6" G G G G|"Am7/E" G G G G|"Cm6/Eb" G G G G|"F#dim7" ^F^F^F^F |
w:peo-ple of the|ci-ty killed, and|all the pro-per-|ty they owned was|gi-ven to the|
"G" G2 zC|:[K:Gm]"Gm7"DB,DF|"C9"=E/CCzC/|"Gm7"DB,DF|"C9"=E/CCzC/|
w:poor. Now|friend, the King of|Earth and Heav'n is|stand-ing at your|gate. He|
w:* |you in-deed sur-|ren-der to the|right-eous King of| all.  Your |
"Cm7"EDEF|"F7"DC"F#dim7"Cz/C/|"Bb6"DDFD|"D7b9"^F^F/AzC/ :|
w:does not bring a|siege ma-chine- knocks|at the door in-|stead. * * If|
w:soul will live, your|life re-claimed. *|You and your house| will be saved! The|
"Gm7"d/ddzc/|"C9"d/ddz/z|"Gm7"dddd|"C9"d/ddz/d|"Cm7"B A B c|
w:way of life. The|way of death.|Choose life that your|soul may live. A|fu-ture to your|
"F7"AB/"F#dim7"Azc/|"Bb6"BGBc|"D7b9"de/dzz/|:"Gm7"z4|"C7"z4:|]
w:child-ren give, and|praise the LORD with|ev-'ry breath. |