Jeremiah 38
American Standard Version
38 And Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah, heard the words that Jeremiah spake unto all the people, saying, 2 Thus saith Jehovah, He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey, and he shall live. 3 Thus saith Jehovah, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it. 4 Then the princes said unto the king, Let this man, we pray thee, be put to death; forasmuch as he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt. 5 And Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand; for the king is not he that can do anything against you. 6 Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the [a]dungeon of Malchijah [b]the king’s son, that was in the court of the guard: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire.
7 Now when Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon (the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin), 8 Ebed-melech went forth out of the king’s house, and spake to the king, saying, 9 My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon; and [c]he is like to die in the place where he is, because of the famine; for there is no more bread in the city. 10 Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from hence thirty men with thee, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die. 11 So Ebed-melech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took thence rags and worn-out garments, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah. 12 And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, Put now these rags and worn-out garments under thine armholes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so. 13 So they drew up Jeremiah with the cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.
14 Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him into the third entry that is in the house of Jehovah: and the king said unto Jeremiah, I will ask thee a thing; hide nothing from me. 15 Then Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, If I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death? and if I give thee counsel, thou wilt not hearken unto me. 16 So Zedekiah the king sware secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, As Jehovah liveth, that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee into the hand of these men that seek thy life.
17 Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: If thou wilt go forth unto the king of Babylon’s princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thy house. 18 But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand. 19 And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen away to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me. 20 But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver thee. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of Jehovah, in that which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well with thee, and thy soul shall live. 21 But if thou refuse to go forth, this is the word that Jehovah hath showed me: 22 Behold, all the women that are left in the king of Judah’s house shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, and those women shall say, [d]Thy familiar friends have [e]set thee on, and have prevailed over thee: now that thy feet are sunk in the mire, they are turned away back. 23 And they shall bring out all thy wives and thy children to the Chaldeans; and thou shalt not escape out of their hand, but shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon: and [f]thou shalt cause this city to be burned with fire.
24 Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words, and thou shalt not die. 25 But if the princes hear that I have talked with thee, and they come unto thee, and say unto thee, Declare unto us now what thou hast said unto the king; hide it not from us, and we will not put thee to death; also what the king said unto thee: 26 then thou shalt say unto them, I [g]presented my supplication before the king, that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan’s house, to die there. 27 Then came all the princes unto Jeremiah, and asked him; and he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they left off speaking with him; for the matter was not [h]perceived. 28 So Jeremiah abode in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.
And it came to pass when Jerusalem was taken
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 38:6 Or, pit
- Jeremiah 38:6 Or, the son of Hammelech
- Jeremiah 38:9 Hebrew he is dead.
- Jeremiah 38:22 Hebrew The men of thy peace.
- Jeremiah 38:22 Or, deceived thee
- Jeremiah 38:23 Hebrew thou shalt burn etc.
- Jeremiah 38:26 Hebrew caused to fall.
- Jeremiah 38:27 Or, reported
Jeremiah 38
New American Standard Bible 1995
Jeremiah Thrown into the Cistern
38 Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the (A)son of Shelemiah, and (B)Pashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people, saying, 2 “Thus says the Lord, ‘He who (C)stays in this city will die by the (D)sword and by famine and by pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live and have his own (E)life as booty and stay alive.’ 3 Thus says the Lord, ‘This city will certainly be (F)given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and he will capture it.’” 4 Then the (G)officials said to the king, “Now let this man be put to death, inasmuch as he is [a](H)discouraging the men of war who are left in this city and [b]all the people, by speaking such words to them; for this man (I)is not seeking the well-being of this people but rather their harm.” 5 So King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your [c]hands; for the king (J)can do nothing against you.” 6 Then they took Jeremiah and cast him into the (K)cistern of Malchijah the king’s son, which was in the court of the guardhouse; and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. Now in the cistern there was no water but only (L)mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud. 7 But (M)Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, [d]a (N)eunuch, while he was in the king’s palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. Now the king was sitting in the (O)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 cast into the cistern; and he [e]will die right where he is because of the famine, for there is (P)no more bread in the city.” 10 Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take thirty men from here [f]under your authority and bring up Jeremiah the prophet from the cistern before he dies.” 11 So Ebed-melech took the men under his [g]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 up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern, and Jeremiah stayed in the (Q)court of the guardhouse.
14 Then King Zedekiah (R)sent and [h]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 (S)ask you something; do not hide anything from me.” 15 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “(T)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 (U)secret saying, “As the Lord lives, who made this [i](V)life for us, surely I will not put you to death nor will I give you over to the hand of (W)these men who are seeking your [j]life.”
Interview with Zedekiah
17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the Lord (X)God of hosts, the (Y)God of Israel, ‘If you will indeed (Z)go out to the officers of the king of Babylon, then [k]you will live, this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will [l]survive. 18 But if you will (AA)not go out to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city (AB)will be given over to the hand of the Chaldeans; and they will burn it with fire, and (AC)you yourself will not escape from their hand.’” 19 Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I (AD)dread the Jews who have [m](AE)gone over to the Chaldeans, for they may give me over into their hand and they will (AF)abuse me.” 20 But Jeremiah said, “They will not give you over. Please [n](AG)obey the Lord in what I am saying to you, that it may go (AH)well with you and [o](AI)you may live. 21 But if you keep refusing to go out, this is the word which the Lord has shown me: 22 ‘Then behold, all of the (AJ)women who have been left in the palace of the king of Judah are going to be brought out to the [p]officers of the king of Babylon; and those women will say,
“[q]Your close friends
Have misled and overpowered you;
While your feet were sunk in the mire,
They turned back.”
23 They will also bring out all your wives and your (AK)sons to the Chaldeans, and (AL)you yourself will not escape from their hand, but will be seized by the hand of the king of Babylon, and (AM)this city will be burned with fire.’”
24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no man know about these words and you will not die. 25 But if the (AN)officials hear that I have talked with you and come to you and say to you, ‘Tell us now what you said to the king and what the king said to you; do not hide it from us and we will not put you to death,’ 26 then you are to say to them, ‘I was (AO)presenting my petition before the king, not to make me return to the house of Jonathan to die there.’” 27 Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him. So he reported to them in accordance with all these words which the king had commanded; and they ceased speaking with him, since the [r]conversation had not been overheard. 28 So Jeremiah (AP)stayed in the court of the guardhouse until the day that Jerusalem was captured.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 38:4 Lit weakening the hands of
- Jeremiah 38:4 Lit the hands of all
- Jeremiah 38:5 Lit hand
- Jeremiah 38:7 Or an official
- Jeremiah 38:9 M.T. reads has died
- Jeremiah 38:10 Lit in your hand
- Jeremiah 38:11 Lit hand
- Jeremiah 38:14 Lit took Jeremiah the prophet to him
- Jeremiah 38:16 Lit soul
- Jeremiah 38:16 Lit soul
- Jeremiah 38:17 Lit your soul
- Jeremiah 38:17 Lit live
- Jeremiah 38:19 Lit fallen
- Jeremiah 38:20 Lit listen to the voice of
- Jeremiah 38:20 Lit your soul
- Jeremiah 38:22 Or princes
- Jeremiah 38:22 Lit The men of your peace
- Jeremiah 38:27 Lit word
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New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
