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)
Jeremiah 38
Lexham English Bible
Jeremiah is Thrown into the Pit of Malchiah
38 Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchiah heard the words that Jeremiah was saying to all the people, saying,[a] 2 “Thus says Yahweh, ‘The one who stays in this city will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague. But the one who goes out to the Chaldeans will live. And his life will be for him as booty, and he will live.’ 3 Thus says Yahweh, ‘Surely this city will be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.’”
4 Then the officials said to the king, “Please, this man must be killed, because[b] he is making slack the hands of the soldiers[c] who are left in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking to them words like these, for this man is not seeking for welfare[d] to this people, but only[e] for harm.” 5 And Zedekiah the king said, “Look, he is in your hand, for the king is not able to do a thing against you.” 6 So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the pit[f] of Malchiah, the son of the king, which was in the courtyard of the guard. And they let Jeremiah down by ropes. Now in the pit[g] there was no water,[h] but only[i] mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.
7 When Ebed-melech the Cushite, a eunuch[j] who was in the house of the king, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the pit[k]—now the king was sitting at the Gate of Benjamin— 8 Ebed-melech went out from the house of the king and spoke to the king, saying,[l] 9 “My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, in that they have thrown him into the pit,[m] and he will die there[n] because of[o] starvation, for there is no longer any bread in the city.” 10 Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Cushite, saying,[p] “Take with you[q] these thirty men and pull Jeremiah the prophet up from the pit[r] before[s] he dies.”
11 So Ebed-melech took the men with him[t] and went to the palace of the king, to a place beneath the storehouse, and he took from there rags[u] and worn-out clothes.[v] And he let them down into the pit[w] by ropes to Jeremiah. 12 Then Ebed-melech the Cushite said to Jeremiah, “Please put the rags[x] and worn-out clothes[y] under the joints of your arms under the ropes,” and Jeremiah did so. 13 And they pulled Jeremiah by the ropes and brought him up from the pit.[z] And Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guard.
14 And Zedekiah the king sent and made someone bring Jeremiah the prophet to him, to the third entrance that was at the temple[aa] of Yahweh. And the king said to Jeremiah, “I am asking you something,[ab] you must not hide anything[ac] from me.” 15 And Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, will you not surely kill me? Besides,[ad] if I advise you, you will not listen to me. 16 So Zedekiah the king swore to Jeremiah in secret, saying,[ae] “As Yahweh lives,[af] who has made for us this life, I will not kill you and I will not give you into the hand of these men who are seeking your life.”
17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘If only you will go surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then you[ag] will live, and this city will not be burned with fire, and you will live, you and your house. 18 But if you do not go surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city will be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they will burn it with fire, and you will not escape from their hand.’”
19 And Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Chaldeans, lest they give me into their hand and they abuse me.” 20 And Jeremiah said, “They will not give you over. Please obey the voice of Yahweh with regard to what I am saying to you, and it will go well with you, and you[ah] will live. 21 But if you are refusing to surrender, this is the thing that Yahweh has shown me. 22 Now look, all the women who remain in the house of the king of Judah are being led out to the officials of the king of Babylon. And look, they are saying,
‘Your trusted friends[ai] have misled you,
and they have prevailed against you.
Your feet are stuck in the mud,
so they turned backward.’
23 And all your wives and your children will be led out to the Chaldeans, and you will not escape from their hand, but by the hand of the king of Babylon you will be seized, and this city will burn with fire.”
24 And Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “No man must know about these words so that you will not die. 25 And if the officials hear that I have spoken with you, and they come to you and say to you, ‘Please tell us what you said to the king. You must not conceal it from us so that we will not kill you. And what did the king say to you?’ 26 Then you shall say to them, ‘I was presenting my plea before[aj] the king, to not cause me to return to the house of Jonathan to die there.’” 27 And all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him, and he informed them like all these words that the king commanded. So they fell silent, for the conversation[ak] was not heard. 28 And Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was captured. And it happened that Jerusalem was captured.[al]
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 38:1 Literally “to say”
- Jeremiah 38:4 Literally “unto thus”
- Jeremiah 38:4 Literally “the men of the war”
- Jeremiah 38:4 Or “peace”
- Jeremiah 38:4 Literally “but if”
- Jeremiah 38:6 Or “cistern”
- Jeremiah 38:6 Or “cistern”
- Jeremiah 38:6 Hebrew “waters”
- Jeremiah 38:6 Literally “but if”
- Jeremiah 38:7 Literally “a man of a eunuch”
- Jeremiah 38:7 Or “cistern”
- Jeremiah 38:8 Literally “to say”
- Jeremiah 38:9 Or “cistern”
- Jeremiah 38:9 Literally “in it”
- Jeremiah 38:9 Literally “from the face of”
- Jeremiah 38:10 Literally “to say”
- Jeremiah 38:10 Literally “in your hand”
- Jeremiah 38:10 Or “cistern”
- Jeremiah 38:10 Literally “at not yet”
- Jeremiah 38:11 Literally “in his hand”
- Jeremiah 38:11 Literally “the rags of rags”
- Jeremiah 38:11 Literally “rags of ragged clothes”
- Jeremiah 38:11 Or “cistern”
- Jeremiah 38:12 Literally “rags of the rags”
- Jeremiah 38:12 Literally “ragged clothes”
- Jeremiah 38:13 Or “cistern”
- Jeremiah 38:14 Literally “house”
- Jeremiah 38:14 Literally “a thing”
- Jeremiah 38:14 Literally “a thing”
- Jeremiah 38:15 Literally “And”
- Jeremiah 38:16 Literally “to say”
- Jeremiah 38:16 Literally “Life of Yahweh”
- Jeremiah 38:17 Literally “your life” or “your soul”
- Jeremiah 38:20 Literally “your life” or “your soul”
- Jeremiah 38:22 Literally “The men of your peace”
- Jeremiah 38:26 Literally “to the face of”
- Jeremiah 38:27 Literally “word”
- Jeremiah 38:28 Jeremiah 38:28b in the Hebrew Bible is 39:1a in the English Bible
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