Jeremiah 38
1 Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchiah heard the words Jeremiah was speaking to all the people:
2 “This is what the LORD says: ‘Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine, and plague. But whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans will live; his life will be spared, and he will live.’
3 This is what the LORD says: ‘This city will certainly be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.’”
4 The officials said to the king, “This man should be put to death, because he is weakening the hands of the fighting men who remain in this city and the hands of all the people by speaking these words to them. This man is not seeking the welfare of this people, but their harm.”
5 King Zedekiah said, “He is in your hands. The king can do nothing against you.”
6 So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah with ropes. There was no water in the cistern, only mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud.
7 Ebed-melech the Cushite, a court official who was in the king’s house, heard that Jeremiah had been put in the cistern. The king was sitting at the Benjamin Gate.
8 Ebed-melech left the king’s house and spoke to the king:
9 “My lord the king, these men have done evil in everything they have done to the prophet Jeremiah by throwing him into the cistern. He will die there of hunger, because there is no more bread in the city.”
10 Then the king ordered Ebed-melech the Cushite, “Take thirty men with you from here, and bring the prophet Jeremiah up out of the cistern before he dies.”
11 Ebed-melech took the men with him, went into the king’s house, to the room beneath the treasury, and took from there some old rags and worn-out clothes. He lowered them to Jeremiah in the cistern with ropes.
12 Ebed-melech the Cushite said to Jeremiah, “Please put these old rags and worn-out clothes under your armpits, beneath the ropes.” Jeremiah did so.
13 They pulled Jeremiah up with the ropes and brought him out of the cistern, and Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
14 King Zedekiah sent for the prophet Jeremiah and brought him to him at the third entrance of the house of the LORD. The king said to Jeremiah, “I’m going to ask you something. Don’t hide anything from me.”
15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, won’t you surely put me to death? And if I give you advice, you won’t listen to me.”
16 But King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah in private, “As the LORD lives, who gave us this life, I will not put you to death or hand you over to these men who are seeking your life.”
17 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the LORD, God of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you really go out to the officials of the king of Babylon, your life will be spared, and this city will not be burned with fire. You and your household will live.
18 But if you do not go out to the officials of the king of Babylon, this city will be handed over to the Chaldeans, and they will burn it with fire. You will not escape from their hands.’”
19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I’m afraid of the Jews who have gone over to the Chaldeans. I’m afraid they will hand me over to them, and they will mistreat me.”
20 Jeremiah said, “They will not hand you over. Please listen to the voice of the LORD in what I’m telling you, and it will go well for you, and your life will be spared.
21 But if you refuse to go out, this is what the LORD has shown me:
22 “Look, all the women who remain in the house of the king of Judah are being brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon, and they are saying, ‘Your trusted friends misled you and got the better of you. Your feet sank into the mud, and they turned back.’
23 All your wives and children are being brought out to the Chaldeans, and you will not escape from their hands. You will be captured by the hand of the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned with fire.”
24 Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no one know about these words, and you will not die.
25 If the officials hear that I spoke with you, they may come to you and say, ‘Tell us, please, what you said to the king. Don’t hide it from us, and we won’t kill you. And what did the king say to you?’
26 Then you will say to them, ‘I was presenting my plea before the king, asking him not to send me back to Jonathan’s house to die there.’”
27 All the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him. He told them everything the king had commanded, and they said no more to him, because the conversation had not been overheard.
28 Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured. This is what happened when Jerusalem was captured.
Read and listen to this chapter in the Shalem app, free: narration, chapter video and reading progress. Get the app