Jeremiah 37-38

New International Reader's Version

Jeremiah Is Put in Prison

37 Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, appointed Zedekiah to be king of Judah. He was the son of Josiah. Zedekiah ruled in place of Jehoiachin, the son of Jehoiakim. ² Zedekiah and his attendants didn’t pay any attention to what the Lord had said through Jeremiah the prophet. And the people of the land didn’t pay any attention either.

³ But King Zedekiah sent Jehukal to Jeremiah the prophet. Zedekiah sent Zephaniah the priest along with him. Jehukal was the son of Shelemiah. Zephaniah was the son of Maaseiah. Jehukal and Zephaniah brought the king’s message to Jeremiah. It said, “Please pray to the Lord our God for us.”

⁴ At that time Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people. Jeremiah had not yet been put in prison. ⁵ The armies of Babylon were attacking Jerusalem. They received a report that Pharaoh’s army had marched out of Egypt to help Zedekiah. So armies of Babylon pulled back from Jerusalem.

⁶ A message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. ⁷ The Lord is the God of Israel. He says, “The king of Judah has sent you to ask me for advice. Tell him, ‘Pharaoh’s army has marched out to help you. But it will go back to its own land. It will return to Egypt. ⁸ Then the armies of Babylon will come back here. They will attack this city. They will capture it. Then they will burn it down.’

⁹ “The Lord says, ‘Do not fool yourselves. You think, “The Babylonians will leave us alone.” But they will not! ¹⁰ Suppose you destroy all the armies of Babylon that are attacking you. Suppose only wounded men are left in their tents. Even then they will come out and burn down this city.’ ”

¹¹ The armies of Babylon had pulled back from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army. ¹² So Jeremiah started to leave the city. He was planning to go to the territory of Benjamin. Jeremiah wanted to get his share of the property among the people there. ¹³ He got as far as the Benjamin Gate. But the captain of the guard arrested him. He said, “You are going over to the side of the Babylonians!” The captain’s name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah. Shelemiah was the son of Hananiah.

¹⁴ Jeremiah said to Irijah, “That isn’t true! I’m not going to the side of the Babylonians.” But Irijah wouldn’t listen to him. Instead, he arrested Jeremiah. He brought Jeremiah to the officials. ¹⁵ They were angry with him. So they had him beaten. Then they took him to the house of Jonathan the secretary. It had been made into a prison. That’s where they put Jeremiah.

¹⁶ Jeremiah was put into a prison cell below ground level. He remained there a long time. ¹⁷ Then King Zedekiah sent for him. King Zedekiah had Jeremiah brought to the palace. There the king spoke to him in private. The king asked, “Do you have a message from the Lord for me?”

“Yes,” Jeremiah replied. “You will be handed over to the king of Babylon.”

¹⁸ Then Jeremiah continued, “Why have you put me in prison? What crime have I committed against you? What have I done to your attendants or these people? ¹⁹ Where are your prophets who prophesied to you? They said, ‘The king of Babylon won’t attack you. He won’t march into this land.’ ²⁰ But now please listen, my king and master. Let me make my appeal to you. Please don’t send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary. If you do, I’ll die there.”

²¹ Then King Zedekiah gave the order. His men put Jeremiah in the courtyard of the guard. They gave him a loaf of bread from the street of the bakers. They did it every day until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.

Jeremiah Is Thrown Into an Empty Well

38 Shephatiah, Gedaliah, Jehukal and Pashhur heard what Jeremiah was telling all the people. Shephatiah was the son of Mattan. Gedaliah was the son of Pashhur. Jehukal was the son of Shelemiah. And Pashhur was the son of Malkijah. These four men heard Jeremiah say, ² “The Lord says, ‘Those who stay in this city will die of war, hunger or plague. But those who go over to the side of the Babylonians will live. They will escape with their lives. They will remain alive.’ ³ The Lord also says, ‘This city will certainly be handed over to the armies of the king of Babylon. They will capture it.’ ”

⁴ Then these officials said to the king, “This man should be put to death. What he says is making the soldiers who are left in this city lose hope. It’s making all the people lose hope too. He isn’t interested in what is best for the people. In fact, he’s trying to destroy them.”

⁵ “He’s in your hands,” King Zedekiah answered. “I can’t do anything to oppose you.”

⁶ So they took Jeremiah and put him into an empty well. It belonged to Malkijah. He was a member of the royal court. His well was in the courtyard of the guard. Zedekiah’s men lowered Jeremiah by ropes into the well. It didn’t have any water in it. All it had was mud. And Jeremiah sank down into the mud.

⁷ Ebed-Melek was an official in the royal palace. He was from the land of Cush. He heard that Jeremiah had been put into the well. The king was sitting by the Benjamin Gate at that time. ⁸ Ebed-Melek went out of the palace. He said to the king, ⁹ “My king and master, everything these men have done to Jeremiah the prophet is evil. They have thrown him into an empty well. Soon there won’t be any more bread in the city. Then he’ll starve to death.”

¹⁰ So the king gave an order to Ebed-Melek the Cushite. He said, “Take with you 30 men from here. Lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the well before he dies.”

¹¹ Then Ebed-Melek took the men with him. He went to a room in the palace. It was under the place where the treasures were stored. He got some old rags and worn-out clothes from there. Then he let them down with ropes to Jeremiah in the well. ¹² Ebed-Melek the Cushite told Jeremiah what to do. Ebed-Melek said, “Put these old rags and worn-out clothes under your arms. They’ll pad the ropes.” So Jeremiah did. ¹³ Then the men pulled him up with the ropes. They lifted him out of the well. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.

Zedekiah Questions Jeremiah Again

¹⁴ Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet. The king had him brought to the third entrance to the Lord’s temple. “I want to ask you something,” the king said to Jeremiah. “Don’t hide anything from me.”

¹⁵ Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Suppose I give you an answer. You will kill me, won’t you? Suppose I give you good advice. You won’t listen to me, will you?”

¹⁶ But King Zedekiah promised Jeremiah secretly, “I won’t kill you. And I won’t hand you over to those who want to kill you. That’s just as sure as the Lord is alive. He’s the one who has given us breath.”

¹⁷ So Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “The Lord God who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says, ‘Give yourself up to the officers of the king of Babylon. Then your life will be spared. And this city will not be burned down. You and your family will remain alive. ¹⁸ But what if you do not give yourself up to them? Then this city will be handed over to the Babylonians. They will burn it down. And you yourself will not escape from them.’ ”

¹⁹ King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I’m afraid of some of the Jews. They are the ones who have gone over to the side of the Babylonians. The Babylonians might hand me over to them. And those Jews will treat me badly.”

²⁰ “They won’t hand you over to them,” Jeremiah replied. “Obey the Lord. Do what I tell you to do. Then things will go well with you. Your life will be spared. ²¹ Don’t refuse to give yourself up. The Lord has shown me what will happen if you do. ²² All the women who are left in your palace will be brought out. They’ll be given to the officials of the king of Babylon. Those women will say to you,

²³ “All your wives and children will be brought out to the Babylonians. You yourself won’t escape from them. You will be captured by the king of Babylon. And this city will be burned down.”

²⁴ Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Don’t let anyone know about the talk we’ve had. If you do, you might die. ²⁵ Suppose the officials find out that I’ve talked with you. And suppose they come to you and say, ‘Tell us what you said to the king. Tell us what the king said to you. Don’t hide it from us. If you do, we’ll kill you.’ ²⁶ Then tell them, ‘I was begging the king not to send me back to Jonathan’s house. I don’t want to die there.’ ”

²⁷ All the officials came to Jeremiah. And they questioned him. He told them everything the king had ordered him to say. None of them had heard what he told the king. So they didn’t say anything else to him.

²⁸ Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard. He stayed there until the day Jerusalem was captured.

Jerusalem Is Destroyed

Here is how Jerusalem was captured.