⁴ Then the ^(A)officials said to the king, “Now let this man be put to death, inasmuch as he is ^(B)making the hands of the men of war who remain in this city as well as the hands of all the people limp, by speaking such words to them; for this man ^(C)is not seeking peace for this people but rather calamity.” ⁵ So King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your ^[a]hands; for the king ^(D)can do nothing against you.” ⁶ Then they took Jeremiah and cast him into the ^[b](E)cistern of Malchijah the king’s son, which was in the court of the guard; and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. Now in the cistern there was no water but only ^(F)mire, and Jeremiah sank into the mire.

²⁷ Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him. So he told them in accordance with all these words which the king had commanded; and they ceased speaking with him since the ^[a]conversation had not been overheard.