24 Then Zedekiah warned Jeremiah, “Don’t let anyone know about these things or you will die. 25 If the officials hear that I have spoken with you(A) and come and demand of you, ‘Tell us what you said to the king; don’t hide anything from us and we won’t kill you. Also, what did the king say to you?’ 26 then you will tell them, ‘I was bringing before the king my petition that he not return me to the house of Jonathan to die there.’”(B) 27 When all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him, he reported the exact words to them the king had commanded, and they quit speaking with him because nothing had been heard.

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24 Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “No one is to know about these matters or else you will die. 25 If the officials find out that we met, and they come and say to you, ‘Tell us what you said to the king. Don’t hide anything from us; otherwise, we’ll kill you. So what did the king say to you?’ 26 you should say to them, ‘I was begging the king not to send me back to the house of Jonathan to die there.’”

27 Then all the officials approached Jeremiah to question him. And he responded exactly as the king had instructed him. So they stopped interrogating him because the conversation between the king and Jeremiah[a] hadn’t been overheard.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 38:27 Heb lacks between the king and Jeremiah.

24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Do not let anyone know(A) about this conversation, or you may die. 25 If the officials hear that I talked with you, and they come to you and say, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you; do not hide it from us or we will kill you,’ 26 then tell(B) them, ‘I was pleading with the king not to send me back to Jonathan’s house(C) to die there.’”

27 All the officials did come to Jeremiah and question him, and he told them everything the king had ordered him to say. So they said no more to him, for no one had heard his conversation with the king.

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