Jeremiah 38

1 Now it came to the ears of Shephatiah, the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah, the son of Pashhur, and Jucal, the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur, the son of Malchiah, that Jeremiah had said to all the people,

Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehukal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malkijah heard the words that Jeremiah was declaring to all the people. He was saying,

2 These are the words of the Lord: Whoever goes on living in this town will come to his death by the sword or through need of food or by disease: but whoever goes out to the Chaldaeans will keep his life out of the power of the attackers and be safe.

“Yahweh says this: Anyone staying in this city will be killed by sword, famine, and plague. But anyone who goes out to the Chaldeans will survive. He will escape with his own life, and live.

3 The Lord has said, This town will certainly be given into the hands of the army of the king of Babylon, and he will take it.

Yahweh says this: This city will be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.”

4 Then the rulers said to the king, Let this man be put to death, because he is putting fear into the hearts of the men of war who are still in the town, and into the hearts of the people, by saying such things to them: this man is not working for the well-being of the people, but for their damage.

So the officials said to the king, “Let this man die, for in this way he is weakening the hands of the fighting men who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people. He is proclaiming these words, for this man is not working for safety for this people, but disaster.”

5 Then Zedekiah the king said, See, he is in your hands: for the king was not able to do anything against them.

So King Zedekiah said, “Look, he is in your hand since there is no king able to resist you.”

6 So they took Jeremiah and put him into the water-hole of Malchiah, the king's son, in the place of the armed watchmen: and they let Jeremiah down with cords. And in the hole there was no water, but wet earth: and Jeremiah went down into the wet earth.

Then they took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Malkijah, son of the king. The cistern was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah down on ropes. There was no water in the cistern, but it was muddy, and he sank down into the mud.

7 Now it came to the ears of Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, an unsexed servant in the king's house, that they had put Jeremiah into the water-hole; the king at that time being seated in the doorway of Benjamin:

Now Ebed-Melek the Cushite was one of the eunuchs in the king's house. He heard that they had placed Jeremiah in the cistern. Now the king was sitting at the Benjamin Gate.

8 And Ebed-melech went out from the king's house and said to the king,

So Ebed-Melek went from the king's house and spoke with the king. He said,

9 My lord the king, these men have done evil in all they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have put into the water-hole; and he will come to his death in the place where he is through need of food: for there is no more bread in the town.

“My master the king, these men have done evil with the way they have treated Jeremiah the prophet. They threw him into a cistern for him to die in it from hunger, since there is no more food in the city.”

10 Then the king gave orders to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take with you three men from here and get Jeremiah out of the water-hole before death overtakes him.

Then the king gave a command to Ebed-Melek the Cushite. He said, “Take command of thirty men from here and take Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.”

11 So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went into the house of the king, to the place where the clothing was kept, and got from there old clothing and bits of old cloth, and let them down by cords into the water-hole where Jeremiah was.

So Ebed-Melek took command of those men and went to the king's house, to a storeroom for clothing under the house. From there he took rags and worn-out clothing and then let them down by ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern.

12 And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, Put these bits of old cloth under your arms under the cords. And Jeremiah did so.

Ebed-Melek the Cushite said to Jeremiah, “Put the rags and worn-out clothing under your arms and on top of the ropes.” So Jeremiah did so.

13 So pulling Jeremiah up with the cords they got him out of the water-hole: and Jeremiah was kept in the place of the armed watchmen.

Then they pulled Jeremiah by the ropes. In this way they brought him up from the cistern. So Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guard.

14 Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and took him into the rulers' doorway in the house of the Lord: and the king said to Jeremiah, I have a question to put to you; keep nothing back from me.

Then King Zedekiah sent word and brought Jeremiah the prophet to himself, to the third entrance in Yahweh's house. The king said to Jeremiah, “I want to ask you something. Do not keep the answer from me.”

15 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, If I give you the answer to your question, will you not certainly put me to death? and if I make a suggestion to you, you will not give it a hearing.

Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I answer you, will you not certainly kill me? But if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.”

16 So King Zedekiah gave his oath to Jeremiah secretly, saying, By the living Lord, who gave us our life, I will not put you to death, or give you up to these men who are desiring to take your life.

But King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah in private and said, “As Yahweh lives, the one who made us, I will not kill you or give you into the hand of those men who are seeking your life.”

17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, These are the words of the Lord, the God of armies, the God of Israel: If you go out to the king of Babylon's captains, then you will have life, and the town will not be burned with fire, and you and your family will be kept from death:

So Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Yahweh, God of hosts, God of Israel, says this: If you indeed go out to the officials of the king of Babylon then you will live, and this city will not be burned. You and your family will live.

18 But if you do not go out to the king of Babylon's captains, then this town will be given into the hands of the Chaldaeans and they will put it on fire, and you will not get away from them.

But if you do not go out to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city will be given into the hand of the Chaldeans. They will burn it, and you will not escape from their hand.”

19 And King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, I am troubled on account of the Jews who have gone over to the Chaldaeans, for fear that they may give me up to them and they will put me to shame.

King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “But I am afraid of the people of Judah who have deserted to the Chaldeans, because I might be given over into their hand, for them to treat me badly.”

20 But Jeremiah said, They will not give you up: be guided now by the word of the Lord as I have given it to you, and it will be well for you, and you will keep your life.

Jeremiah said, “They will not give you over to them. Obey the message from Yahweh that I am telling you, so that things will go well for you, and so that you will live.

21 But if you do not go out, this is what the Lord has made clear to me:

But if you refuse to go out, this is what Yahweh has shown me.

22 See, all the rest of the women in the house of the king of Judah will be taken out to the king of Babylon's captains, and these women will say, Your nearest friends have been false to you and have got the better of you: they have made your feet go deep into the wet earth, and they are turned away back from you.

Look! All the women who are left in your house, king of Judah, will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon. These women will say to you, 'You have been deceived by your friends; they have ruined you. Your feet are now sunk into the mud, and your friends will run away.'

23 And they will take all your wives and your children out to the Chaldaeans: and you will not get away out of their hands, but will be taken by the hands of the king of Babylon: and this town will be burned with fire.

For all of your wives and children will be brought out to the Chaldeans, and you yourself will not escape from their hand. You will be captured by the hand of the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned.”

24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, Let no man have knowledge of these words, and you will not be put to death.

Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Do not inform anyone about these words, so that you do not die.

25 But if it comes to the ears of the rulers that I have been talking with you, and they come and say to you, Give us word now of what you have said to the king and what the king said to you, keeping nothing back and we will not put you to death;

If the officials hear that I have talked with you, and if they come and say to you, 'Tell us what you said to the king and do not hide it from us, or we will kill you,'

26 Then you are to say to them, I made my request to the king, that he would not send me back to my death in Jonathan's house.

then you must say to them, 'I made a humble plea before the king that he would not return me to the house of Jonathan to die there.'”

27 Then all the rulers came to Jeremiah, questioning him: and he gave them an answer in the words the king had given him orders to say. So they said nothing more to him; for the thing was not made public.

Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him, so he answered them as the king had instructed him. So they stopped talking with him, because they had not heard the conversation between Jeremiah and the king.

28 So Jeremiah was kept in the place of the armed watchmen till the day when Jerusalem was taken.

So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured.