Jeremiah 38

1Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchiah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people, saying,

2Thus says Yahweh: He who remains in this city will die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live, and his life will be to him as spoil, and he will live.

3Thus says Yahweh: This city will surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.

4Then the officials said to the king, “Please let this man be put to death, for in this way he is weakening the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking to them words like these. For this man is not seeking the welfare of this people, but their harm.”

5Then King Zedekiah said, “Look, he is in your hands, for the king can do nothing against you.”

6So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Malkijah the king’s son, which was in the court of the guard, and they lowered Jeremiah with ropes. Now there was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud.

7Ebed-melech the Cushite, a court official who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern, while the king was sitting at the Benjamin Gate.

8Then Ebed-melech went out from the king’s house and spoke to the king, saying,

9My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they did to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they threw into the cistern, and he will die there because of the famine, for there is no bread left in the city.

10Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Cushite, saying, “Take with you from here thirty men, and bring Jeremiah the prophet up from the cistern before he dies.”

11So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went into the king’s house, to a place below the storeroom, and from there took worn-out rags and worn-out garments, and sent them down by ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern.

12Then Ebed-melech the Cushite said to Jeremiah, “Please put these worn-out rags and torn clothes under your armpits, under the ropes.” And Jeremiah did so.

13So they pulled Jeremiah up with the ropes and brought him up out of the cistern, and Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

14Then King Zedekiah sent and took Jeremiah the prophet to himself, to the third entrance that is in the house of Yahweh, and the king said to Jeremiah, “I am asking you something; do not hide anything from me.”

15Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I advise you, you will not listen to me.”

16Then King Zedekiah swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, “As Yahweh lives, who made this life for us, I will not put you to death, nor will I give you into the hand of these men who are seeking your life.”

17Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: If you indeed go out to the officials of the king of Babylon, your life will be spared, and this city will not be burned with fire; and you and your household will live.”

18But if you do not go out to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city will be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they will burn it with fire, and you will not escape from their hand.

19Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Judeans who have defected to the Chaldeans, lest they hand me over to them and they mistreat me.”

20Jeremiah said, “They will not hand you over. Please listen to the voice of Yahweh in what I am speaking to you, so that it may go well with you and your life may be spared.”

21But if you refuse to go out, this is the word that Yahweh has shown me:

22And behold, 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, ‘The men at peace with you have misled you and overcome you; your feet have sunk into the mud; they have turned back.’

23And all your wives and your sons will be brought out to the Chaldeans, and you yourself will not escape from their hand, for you will be seized by the hand of the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned with fire.

24Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no one know about these things, and you will not die.”

25But if the officials hear that I have spoken with you, and they come to you and say to you, ‘Please tell us what you said to the king; do not hide it from us, and we will not put you to death, and what the king said to you,’

26Then you shall say to them, ‘I was presenting my plea before the king, that he should not send me back to the house of Jonathan to die there.’

27Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him, and he told them all these words that the king had commanded. So they were silent before him, for the matter had not been heard.

28And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured. And it happened when Jerusalem was captured—