Jeremiah 38:1-13
World English Bible
38 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 spoke to all the people, saying, 2 “Yahweh says, ‘He who remains in this city will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live, and he will escape with his life, and he will live.’ 3 Yahweh says, ‘This city will surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he will take it.’”
4 Then the princes said to the king, “Please let this man be put to death; because he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words to them: for this man doesn’t seek the welfare of this people, but harm.”
5 Zedekiah the king said, “Behold, he is in your hand; for the king can’t do anything to oppose you.”
6 Then they took Jeremiah and threw him into the dungeon of Malchijah the king’s son, that was in the court of the guard. They let down Jeremiah with cords. In the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire.
7 Now when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon (the king was then sitting in Benjamin’s gate), 8 Ebedmelech 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. He is likely 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 Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take from here thirty men with you, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he dies.”
11 So Ebedmelech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took from there rags and worn-out garments, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah. 12 Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Now put these rags and worn-out garments under your armpits under the cords.”
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.
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Jeremiah 38:1-13
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.
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- 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
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