Jeremiah 38
New American Standard Bible
Jeremiah Thrown into the Cistern
38 Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, 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 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Anyone who (C)stays in this city will die by the (D)sword, by famine, or by plague; but anyone who surrenders to the Chaldeans will live and have his own (E)life as plunder, and stay alive.’ 3 This is what the Lord says: ‘This city will certainly be (F)handed over to the army of the king of Babylon and he will capture it.’” 4 Then the (G)officials said to the king, “Please have this man put to death, since he is [a](H)discouraging the men of war who are left in this city and [b]all the people, by speaking words like these to them; for this man (I)is not seeking the well-being of this people, but rather their harm.” 5 And King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your [c]hands; for the king (J)can do nothing against you.” 6 So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the (K)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 (L)mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud. 7 But (M)Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a [d](N)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 (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 thrown into the cistern; and he 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 [e]under your authority and bring Jeremiah the prophet up from the cistern before he dies.” 11 So Ebed-melech took the men under his [f]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 (Q)courtyard of the guardhouse.
Zedekiah Seeks an Answer from God
14 Then King Zedekiah (R)sent word and [g]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 And 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 [h](V)life for us, I certainly will not put you to death, nor will I hand you over to (W)these men who are seeking your [i]life.”
17 So Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord (X)God of armies, the (Y)God of Israel says: ‘If you will indeed (Z)surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then [j]you will live, this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will [k]survive. 18 But if you do (AA)not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city (AB)will be handed over to the Chaldeans; and they will burn it with fire, and (AC)you yourself will not escape from their hands.’” 19 Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am (AD)in fear of the Jews who have (AE)deserted to the Chaldeans, for they may hand me over to them, and they will (AF)abuse me.” 20 But Jeremiah said, “They will not turn you over. Please [l](AG)obey the Lord in what I am saying to you, so that it may go (AH)well for you and [m](AI)you may live. 21 But if you keep refusing to surrender, this is the word which the Lord has shown me: 22 ‘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 officers of the king of Babylon; and those women will say,
“[n]Your close friends
Have misled and overpowered you;
While your feet were sunk in the mire,
They turned back.”
23 They are also going to 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 one 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 plea 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 stopped speaking with him, since the [o]conversation had not been overheard. 28 So Jeremiah (AP)stayed in the courtyard of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was captured.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 38:4 Lit making slack the hands of
- Jeremiah 38:4 Lit the hands of all
- Jeremiah 38:5 Lit hand
- Jeremiah 38:7 Or high official
- 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 38:20 Lit listen to the voice of
- Jeremiah 38:20 Lit your soul
- Jeremiah 38:22 Lit The men of your peace
- Jeremiah 38:27 Lit word
Jeremiah 38
International Standard Version
Jeremiah is Arrested and Imprisoned
38 Mattan’s son Shephatiah, Pashhur’s son Gedaliah, Shelemiah’s son Jucal, and Malchijah’s son Pashhur heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people: 2 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, by famine, and by the plague, but the one who goes over to the Chaldeans will live. His life will be spared,[a] and he will live.’ 3 This is what the Lord says: ‘This city will surely be given to the army of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.’”
4 Then the officials told the king, “Let this man be put to death because he’s undermining the efforts[b] of the soldiers who remain in this city and that of all the people by speaking words like these to them. Indeed, this man is not seeking the well-being of this people, but rather their harm.”
5 King Zedekiah said, “Look, he’s in your hands, and the king can do nothing to you.” 6 So they threw Jeremiah into a cistern that belonged to the king’s son Malchijah and was located in the courtyard of the guard. When they let Jeremiah down with ropes, because there was no water in the cistern—only mud—Jeremiah sank into the mud.
Jeremiah Rescued from the Cistern
7 Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch[c] in the king’s house, heard that Jeremiah had been put in the cistern. The king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate, 8 so Ebed-melech went out of the palace and spoke to the king: 9 “Your majesty,[d] these men have acted wickedly in all they have done to the prophet Jeremiah by throwing him into the cistern. He will die where he is because of the famine since there is no more bread in the city.”
10 Then the king ordered Ebed-melech the Ethiopian:[e] “Thirty men are at your disposal. Take them with you and bring up Jeremiah the prophet from the cistern before he dies.” 11 So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went to the palace, underneath the storeroom. He took worn out rags and worn out clothes from there, and using ropes he lowered them down to Jeremiah in the cistern.
12 Ebed-melech the Ethiopian told Jeremiah, “Put the worn out rags and clothes under your armpits under the ropes,” and Jeremiah did as he said.[f] 13 They pulled Jeremiah with the ropes and brought him up from the cistern, but Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
Zedekiah Again Seeks Advice from Jeremiah
14 King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and had him brought to him[g] at the third entrance to the Lord’s Temple. The king told Jeremiah, “I’m going to ask you something, and don’t hide anything from me.”
15 Jeremiah told Zedekiah, “When I tell you, you will surely put me to death, won’t you? And when I give you advice, you don’t listen to me.”
16 Then King Zedekiah, in secret, swore an oath to Jeremiah: “As surely as the Lord lives, who gave us this life to live, I won’t have you put to death, nor will I hand you over to these men who are seeking to kill you.”
17 So Jeremiah told Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord God of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you will immediately surrender[h] to the officers[i] of the king of Babylon, then you will live, and this city won’t be burned with fire. Both you and your family will live. 18 But if you don’t surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city will be given to the Chaldeans, and they’ll burn it with fire. You won’t escape from their hands.’”
19 Then King Zedekiah told Jeremiah, “I’m afraid of the Judeans who have gone over to the Chaldeans. The Chaldeans[j] may turn me over to them,[k] and they may treat me harshly.”
20 Jeremiah said, “They won’t turn you over. Obey the Lord in what I’m telling you, and it will go well for you and you will live. 21 But if you refuse to surrender,[l] this is what the Lord has shown me: 22 Look, all the women who are left in the house of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officers of the king of Babylon, and will say,
‘These friends of yours have mislead you
and overcome you.
Your feet have sunk down into the mire,
but they have turned away.’
23 “They’ll bring all your women and children out to the Chaldeans, and you won’t escape from their hand. Indeed, you will be seized by the hand of the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned with fire.”
24 Then Zedekiah told Jeremiah, “Don’t let anyone know about these words and you won’t die. 25 If the officials hear that I’ve spoken with you, and they come to you and say,[m] ‘Tell us what you told the king, and what the king told you; don’t hide it from us, and we won’t put you to death,’ 26 then you are to say to them, ‘I was presenting my request to the king that I not be taken back to the house of Jonathan to die there.’”
27 When all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him, he replied to them exactly as the king had ordered him.[n] So they stopped speaking with him because the conversation had not been overheard. 28 Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 38:2 Lit. He will have his life as a spoil of war
- Jeremiah 38:4 Lit. weakening the hands
- Jeremiah 38:7 Or official
- Jeremiah 38:9 Lit. My lord the king
- Jeremiah 38:10 Lit. Cushite
- Jeremiah 38:12 Lit. did thus
- Jeremiah 38:14 Lit. sent and took Jeremiah the prophet to him
- Jeremiah 38:17 Lit. go out
- Jeremiah 38:17 Or officials
- Jeremiah 38:19 Lit. They
- Jeremiah 38:19 Lit. may give me into their hands
- Jeremiah 38:21 Lit. to go out
- Jeremiah 38:25 Lit. say to you
- Jeremiah 38:27 Lit. according to all these words that the king ordered him
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