Jeremiah 38
English Standard Version
Jeremiah Cast into the Cistern
38 Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, (A)Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and (B)Pashhur the son of Malchiah heard the words that Jeremiah was saying to all the people: 2 “Thus says the Lord: (C)He who stays in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, (D)but he who goes out to the Chaldeans shall live. He shall have his life as a prize of war, and live. 3 Thus says the Lord: (E)This city shall surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and be taken.” 4 Then the officials said to the king, (F)“Let this man be put to death, (G)for he is weakening the hands of the soldiers who are left in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man is not seeking (H)the welfare of this people, but their harm.” 5 King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your hands, (I)for the king can do nothing against you.” 6 So they took Jeremiah (J)and cast him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king's son, which was in (K)the court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down (L)by ropes. (M)And there was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and (N)Jeremiah sank in the mud.
Jeremiah Rescued from the Cistern
7 When (O)Ebed-melech (P)the Ethiopian, (Q)a eunuch who was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern—the king was sitting (R)in the Benjamin Gate— 8 (S)Ebed-melech went from the king's house and said to the king, 9 “My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they did to Jeremiah the prophet by casting him into the cistern, and he will die there of (T)hunger, (U)for there is no bread left in the city.” 10 Then the king commanded (V)Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, “Take thirty men with you from here, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.” 11 So (W)Ebed-melech took the men with him and went to the house of the king, to a wardrobe in the storehouse, and took from there old rags and worn-out clothes, which he let down to Jeremiah in the cistern (X)by ropes. 12 Then (Y)Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Put the rags and clothes between your armpits and (Z)the ropes.” Jeremiah did so. 13 Then they drew Jeremiah up with (AA)ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the (AB)court of the guard.
Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah Again
14 King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and received him at the third entrance of the temple of the Lord. The king said to Jeremiah, “I will ask you a question; hide nothing from me.” 15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me.” 16 Then King Zedekiah swore (AC)secretly to Jeremiah, (AD)“As the Lord lives, (AE)who made our souls, I will not put you to death or deliver you into the hand of (AF)these men who seek your life.”
17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: (AG)If you will surrender to (AH)the officials of the king of Babylon, (AI)then your life shall be spared, and this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live. 18 But if you do not surrender to (AJ)the officials of the king of Babylon, (AK)then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, (AL)and they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape from their hand.” 19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Judeans (AM)who have deserted to the Chaldeans, lest I be handed over to them and they deal cruelly with me.” 20 Jeremiah said, “You shall not be given to them. Obey now the voice of the Lord in what I say to you, (AN)and it shall be well with you, and your life shall be spared. 21 But if you refuse to (AO)surrender, this is the vision which the Lord has shown to me: 22 Behold, all the women left in the house of the king of Judah were being led out to the officials of the king of Babylon and were saying,
(AP)“‘Your trusted friends have deceived you
and prevailed against you;
now that your feet are sunk in the mud,
they turn away from you.’
23 All your wives and (AQ)your sons shall be led out to the Chaldeans, and you yourself shall not escape from their hand, but shall be seized by the king of Babylon, and this city shall be burned with fire.”
24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no one know of these words, and you shall not die. 25 If (AR)the officials hear that I have spoken with you and come to you and say to you, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you; hide nothing from us and we will not put you to death,’ 26 then you shall say to them, (AS)‘I made a humble plea to the king that he would not send me back to the house of Jonathan to die there.’” 27 Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and asked him, and he answered them as the king had instructed him. So they stopped speaking with him, for the conversation had not been overheard. 28 And Jeremiah remained (AT)in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.
Jeremiah 38
Common English Bible
38 Shephatiah, Mattan’s son; Gedaliah, Pashhur’s son; Jucal, Shelemiah’s son; and Pashhur, Malchiah’s son heard what Jeremiah had been telling the people: 2 The Lord proclaims: Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine, and disease. But whoever surrenders to the Babylonians will live; yes, their lives will be spared. 3 The Lord proclaims: This city will certainly be handed over to the army of Babylon’s king, who will capture it.
4 Then the officials said to the king: “This man must be put to death! By saying such things, he is discouraging the few remaining troops left in the city, as well as all the people. This man doesn’t seek their welfare but their ruin!”
5 “He’s in your hands,” King Zedekiah said, “for the king can do nothing to stop you.” 6 So they seized Jeremiah, threw him into the cistern of the royal prince Malchiah, within the prison quarters, and lowered him down by ropes. Now there wasn’t any water in the cistern, only mud, and Jeremiah began to sink into the mud.
7 Ebed-melech the Cushite, a court official in the royal palace, got word that they had thrown Jeremiah into the cistern. Since the king was sitting at the Benjamin Gate, 8 Ebed-melech left the palace and said to the king: 9 “My master the king, these men have made a terrible mistake in treating the prophet Jeremiah the way they have; they have thrown him into the cistern where he will die of starvation, for there’s no bread left in the city.”
10 Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Cushite, “Take thirty men from here and take Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.” 11 So Ebed-melech took the men and returned to the palace, to an underground supply room, where he found some old rags and scraps of clothing.
Ebed-melech lowered them down the cistern by the ropes 12 and called to Jeremiah, “Put these old rags and scraps of clothing under your arms and hold on to the ropes.” When Jeremiah did this, 13 they pulled him up by the ropes and got him out of the cistern. After that Jeremiah remained in the prison quarters.
14 King Zedekiah ordered that the prophet Jeremiah be brought to him at the third entrance of the Lord’s temple, where the king said to Jeremiah, “I want to ask you something, and don’t hide anything from me.”
15 Jeremiah replied, “If I do, you’ll kill me! And if I tell you what to do, you won’t listen to me!”
16 So King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah behind closed doors, “As the Lord lives, who has given us this life, I won’t put you to death and I won’t hand you over to those who seek to kill you.”
17 So Jeremiah said to Zedekiah: “The Lord of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: If you surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, you and your family will live, and this city will not be burned down. 18 If you don’t surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, the city will be handed over to the Babylonians, who will burn it down, and you won’t escape from them.”
19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I’m afraid that I will fall into the hands of the Judeans who have defected to the Babylonians, and they will torture me.”
20 “That won’t happen,” Jeremiah replied, “if you obey the Lord, whose message I bring. You will survive, and all will go well for you. 21 But if you refuse to surrender, this is what the Lord has shown me: 22 All the women left in the palace of the king of Judah will be led out to the officers of the king of Babylon. And they will say:
‘Your trusted friends have betrayed you;
they have deceived you;
now that your feet are stuck in the mud,
they are nowhere to be found.’
23 “All your wives and children will be led out to the Babylonians, and you yourself won’t escape from them. The king of Babylon will capture you, and this city will be burned down.”
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. 28 Jeremiah remained in the prison quarters until Jerusalem was captured.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 38:27 Heb lacks between the king and Jeremiah.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible