Jeremiah 38:6-20

New American Standard Bible

⁶ So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the ^(A)cistern of Malchijah the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guardhouse; and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. Now in the cistern there was no water but only ^(B)mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud. ⁷ But ^(C)Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a ^[a](D)eunuch, while he was in the king’s palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the cistern. Now the king was sitting at the ^(E)Gate of Benjamin; ⁸ and Ebed-melech went out from the king’s palace and spoke to the king, saying, ⁹ “My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet whom they have thrown into the cistern; and he will die right where he is because of the famine, for there is ^(F)no more bread in the city.” ¹⁰ Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take thirty men from here ^[b]under your authority and bring Jeremiah the prophet up from the cistern before he dies.” ¹¹ So Ebed-melech took the men under his ^[c]authority and went into the king’s palace to a place beneath the storeroom, and took from there worn-out clothes and worn-out rags, and let them down by ropes into the cistern to Jeremiah. ¹² Then Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Now put these worn-out clothes and rags under your armpits under the ropes”; and Jeremiah did so. ¹³ So they pulled Jeremiah out with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern, and Jeremiah stayed in the ^(G)courtyard of the guardhouse.

Zedekiah Seeks an Answer from God

¹⁴ Then King Zedekiah ^(H)sent word and ^[d]had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance that is in the house of the Lord; and the king said to Jeremiah, “I am going to ^(I)ask you something; do not hide anything from me.” ¹⁵ And Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “^(J)If I tell you, will you not certainly put me to death? Besides, if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.” ¹⁶ But King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah in ^(K)secret, saying, “As the Lord lives, who made this ^[e](L)life for us, I certainly will not put you to death, nor will I hand you over to ^(M)these men who are seeking your ^[f]life.”

¹⁷ So Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord ^(N)God of armies, the ^(O)God of Israel says: ‘If you will indeed ^(P)surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then ^[g]you will live, this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will ^[h]survive. ¹⁸ But if you do ^(Q)not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city ^(R)will be handed over to the Chaldeans; and they will burn it with fire, and ^(S)you yourself will not escape from their hands.’” ¹⁹ Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am ^(T)in fear of the Jews who have ^(U)deserted to the Chaldeans, for they may hand me over to them, and they will ^(V)abuse me.” ²⁰ But Jeremiah said, “They will not turn you over. Please ^[i](W)obey the Lord in what I am saying to you, so that it may go ^(X)well for you and ^[j](Y)you may live.