Jeremiah 38
New King James Version
Jeremiah in the Dungeon
38 Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, (A)Jucal[a] the son of Shelemiah, and (B)Pashhur the son of Malchiah (C)heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken to all the people, saying, 2 “Thus says the Lord: (D)‘He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes over to the Chaldeans shall live; his life shall be as a prize to him, and he shall live.’ 3 Thus says the Lord: (E)‘This city shall surely be (F)given into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which shall take it.’ ”
4 Therefore the princes said to the king, “Please, (G)let this man be put to death, for thus he [b]weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man does not seek the [c]welfare of this people, but their harm.”
5 Then Zedekiah the king said, “Look, he is in your hand. For the king can do nothing against you.” 6 (H)So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah [d]the king’s son, which was in the court of the prison, and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire. So Jeremiah sank in the mire.
7 (I)Now Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, one of the [e]eunuchs, who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon. When the king was sitting at the Gate of Benjamin, 8 Ebed-Melech went out of the king’s house and spoke 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 he is likely to die from hunger in the place where he is. For there is (J)no more bread in the city.” 10 Then the king commanded Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take from here thirty men with you, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon before he dies.” 11 So Ebed-Melech took the men with him and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took from there old clothes and old rags, and let them down by ropes into the dungeon to Jeremiah. 12 Then Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Please put these old clothes and rags under your armpits, under the ropes.” And Jeremiah did so. 13 So they pulled Jeremiah up with ropes and lifted him out of the dungeon. And Jeremiah remained (K)in the court of the prison.
Zedekiah’s Fears and Jeremiah’s Advice
14 Then Zedekiah the king sent and had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance of the house of the Lord. And the king said to Jeremiah, “I will (L)ask you something. Hide nothing from me.”
15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I declare it to you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.”
16 So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, “As the Lord lives, (M)who made our very souls, I will not put you to death, nor will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life.”
17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘If you surely (N)surrender[f] (O)to the king of Babylon’s princes, then your soul shall live; this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live. 18 But if you do not [g]surrender to the king of Babylon’s princes, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans; they shall burn it with fire, and (P)you shall not escape from their hand.’ ”
19 And Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have (Q)defected to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they (R)abuse me.”
20 But Jeremiah said, “They shall not deliver you. Please, obey the voice of the Lord which I speak to you. So it shall be (S)well with you, and your soul shall live. 21 But if you refuse to [h]surrender, this is the word that the Lord has shown me: 22 ‘Now behold, all the (T)women who are left in the king of Judah’s house shall be surrendered to the king of Babylon’s princes, and those women shall say:
“Your close friends have [i]set upon you
And prevailed against you;
Your feet have sunk in the mire,
And they have [j]turned away again.”
23 ‘So they shall surrender all your wives and (U)children to the Chaldeans. (V)You shall not escape from their hand, but shall be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon. And you shall cause this city to be burned with fire.’ ”
24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no one know of these words, and you shall not die. 25 But if the princes hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you and say to you, ‘Declare to us now what you have said to the king, and also what the king said to you; do not hide it from us, and we will not put you to death,’ 26 then you shall say to them, (W)‘I presented my request before the king, that he would not make me return (X)to Jonathan’s house to die there.’ ”
27 Then all the princes came to Jeremiah and asked him. And he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they stopped speaking with him, for the conversation had not been heard. 28 Now (Y)Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken. And he was there when Jerusalem was taken.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 38:1 Jehucal, Jer. 37:3
- Jeremiah 38:4 Is discouraging
- Jeremiah 38:4 Well-being; lit. peace
- Jeremiah 38:6 Or son of Hammelech
- Jeremiah 38:7 Or officers
- Jeremiah 38:17 Lit. go out
- Jeremiah 38:18 Lit. go out
- Jeremiah 38:21 Lit. go out
- Jeremiah 38:22 Or misled
- Jeremiah 38:22 Deserted you
Jeremiah 38
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Jeremiah in the Cistern
38 Now Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchiah heard the words that Jeremiah was saying to all the people:(A) 2 “Thus says the Lord: Those who stay in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but those who go out to the Chaldeans shall live; they shall have their lives as a prize of war and live.(B) 3 Thus says the Lord: This city shall surely be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon, and he will take it.”(C) 4 Then the officials said to the king, “This man ought to be put to death because he is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city and all the people by speaking such words to them. For this man is not seeking the welfare of this people, but their harm.”(D) 5 King Zedekiah said, “Here he is; he is in your hands, for the king is powerless against you.”(E) 6 So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in the court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down by ropes. Now there was no water in the cistern but only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.(F)
Jeremiah Is Rescued by Ebed-melech
7 Ebed-melech the Cushite, a eunuch in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. The king happened to be sitting at the Benjamin Gate,(G) 8 So Ebed-melech left the king’s house and spoke to the king, 9 “My lord king, these men have acted wickedly in all they did to the prophet Jeremiah by throwing him into the cistern to die there of hunger, for there is no bread left in the city.”(H) 10 Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Cushite, “Take three[a] men with you from here, and pull the prophet Jeremiah up from the cistern before he dies.” 11 So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went to the house of the king, to a wardrobe of[b] the storehouse, and took from there old rags and worn-out clothes, which he let down to Jeremiah in the cistern by ropes. 12 Then Ebed-melech the Cushite said to Jeremiah, “Just put the rags and clothes between your armpits and the ropes.” Jeremiah did so. 13 Then they drew Jeremiah up by the ropes and pulled him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.(I)
Zedekiah Consults Jeremiah Again
14 King Zedekiah sent for the prophet Jeremiah and received him at the third entrance of the temple of the Lord. The king said to Jeremiah, “I have something to ask you; do not hide anything from me.”(J) 15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, you will put me to death, will you not? And if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.”(K) 16 So King Zedekiah swore an oath in secret to Jeremiah, “As the Lord lives, who gave us our lives, I will not put you to death or hand you over to these men who seek your life.”(L)
17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: If you will only surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then your life shall be spared, and this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live.(M) 18 But if you do not surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city shall be handed over to the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and you yourself shall not escape from their hand.”(N) 19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Chaldeans, for I might be handed over to them, and they would abuse me.”(O) 20 Jeremiah said, “That will not happen. Just obey the voice of the Lord in what I say to you, and it shall go well with you, and your life shall be spared.(P) 21 But if you are determined not to surrender, this is what the Lord has shown me: 22 a vision of all the women remaining in the house of the king of Judah being led out to the officials of the king of Babylon and saying,
‘Your trusted friends have seduced you
and have overcome you.
Now that your feet are stuck in the mud,
they desert you.’(Q)
23 “All your wives and your children 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.”(R)
24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Do not let anyone else know of this conversation, or you will die. 25 If the officials should hear that I have spoken with you and come and say to you, ‘Just tell us what you said to the king; do not conceal it from us, or we will put you to death. What did the king say to you?’(S) 26 then you shall say to them, ‘I was presenting my plea to the king not to send me back to the house of Jonathan to die there.’ ”(T) 27 All the officials did come to Jeremiah and questioned him, and he answered them in the very words the king had commanded. So they stopped questioning him, for the conversation had not been overheard.(U) 28 And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.(V)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.