Jeremiah 38

1 [Four officials, ] Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malkijah, heard what I had been telling all the people.

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 [I had been telling them] that Yahweh was saying, “Everyone who stays in Jerusalem will die. They will be killed by [their enemies’] swords or from famines or from diseases. But those who surrender to the Babylonian army, they will be spared. They will not be killed.

"Thus says Jehovah, 'He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; but he who goes forth to the Chaldeans shall live, and his life shall be to him for a prey, and he shall live.'

3 Yahweh also says that the army of the King of Babylon will certainly capture this city [DOU].”

Thus says Jehovah, 'This city shall surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it.'"

4 So those officials [went] to the king and said, “This man [Jeremiah] should be executed! Because of what he is saying, he is discouraging our soldiers who remain in the city. He is also discouraging the people. He is not saying things that will help us; he is saying things that will defeat us.”

Then the officials 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 the hurt."

5 King Zedekiah said, “All right, do to him what you want to; I do not have the power to stop you.”

Zedekiah the king said, "Look, he is in your hand; for the king is not he who can do anything against you."

6 So those officials took me from my cell and lowered me by ropes into a well in the courtyard. The well belonged to Malkijah, who was a son of the king. There was no water in the well, but there was [a lot of] mud, so I sank [down deep] into the mud.

Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the king's son, that was in the court of the guard: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. In the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire.

7 But Ebed-Melech, a palace official from Ethiopia, heard [someone say] that I was in the well. [At that time] the king was deciding/judging people’s cases at the Benjamin Gate.

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 then sitting in the Benjamin Gate),

8 Ebed-Melech went out of the palace and said to the king,

Ebedmelech went forth out of the king's house, and spoke to the king, saying,

9 “Your majesty, those men have done a very evil thing. They have put the prophet Jeremiah in a well. [Almost] all the food in the city is gone, [so they will not be able to bring him any food] and as a result he will die from hunger!”

"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 in the place where he is, because of the famine; for there is no more bread in the city."

10 So the king told Ebed-Melech, “Take thirty of my men/soldiers with you, and pull Jeremiah out of the well, in order that he does not die!”

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 Ebed-Melech took thirty men with him and they went into a room in the palace below the room where they stored very valuable things. There they found some old rags and discarded clothing. They took those things and went to the well. They fastened them to a rope and lowered the rope to me.

So Ebedmelech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took there rags and worn-out garments, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah.

12 Then Ebed-Melech called down to me, “Put these rags underneath your armpits, to protect you from [being injured by] the ropes!” So I did that.

Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, "Put now these rags and worn-out garments under your armpits under the cords." Jeremiah did so.

13 Then they pulled me out of the well. I [returned] to the courtyard where the palace guards stayed, and I stayed there.

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.

14 [One day] King Zedekiah summoned me, and I was brought to the king, [who was waiting for me] at the entrance of the temple. He said to me, “I want to ask you something. I want you [to answer me truthfully, and] and to not conceal anything.”

Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took Jeremiah the prophet to him into the third entry that is in the house of Jehovah: and the king said to Jeremiah, "I will ask you something. Hide nothing from me."

15 I replied, “If I tell you [the truth], you will [command that I] be executed. And if I give you [good] advice, you will not pay attention to what I say.”

Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "If I declare it to you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me."

16 But King Zedekiah secretly promised me, “[Tell me the truth]! And as surely as Yahweh lives, I will not [cause] you to be executed, and I will not hand you over to those who are wanting to kill you.”

So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, "As Jehovah lives, who made us this soul, I will not put you to death, neither will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life."

17 [So] then I said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom [we] Israelis [worship], says: ‘If you surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, you and your family will (be spared/not be killed), and this city will not be burned.

Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "Thus says Jehovah, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: 'If you will go forth to the king of Babylon's officers, then your soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and you shall live, and your house.

18 But if you refuse to surrender to them, you will not escape. And the army from Babylonia will capture this city and completely burn it.’”

But if you will not go forth to the king of Babylon's officers, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape out of their hand.'"

19 The king replied, “But I am afraid [to surrender to the soldiers from Babylon], because their officers may hand me over to the people of Judah who have already joined the soldiers from Babylonia, and those people from Judah will mistreat me.”

Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, "I am afraid of the Jews who are fallen away to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me."

20 I replied, “If you obey Yahweh by doing what I tell you to do, they will not hand you over to our people. Things will go well for you, and you will remain alive.

But Jeremiah said, "They shall not deliver you. Obey, I beg you, the voice of Jehovah, in that which I speak to you: so it shall be well with you, and your soul shall live.

21 But if you refuse to surrender, this is what Yahweh has revealed to me:

But if you refuse to go forth, this is the word that Jehovah has shown me:

22 All the women who remain in your palace will be brought out and given to the officers of the king of Babylon. Then those women will say to you: ‘You had friends whom [you thought] you could trust, but they have deceived you and caused you to make a wrong decision. Now [it is as though] you are stuck in mud, and your friends have abandoned you.’

look, all the women who are left in the king of Judah's house shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon's officers, and those women shall say, 'Your familiar friends have set you on, and have prevailed over you. Your feet are sunk in the mire, they have turned away back.'

23 All of your wives and children [in the city] will be led out to the soldiers from Babylonia, and you also will not escape. [The soldiers of] the King of Babylon will seize you, and they will burn down this city.”

They shall bring out all your wives and your children to the Chaldeans; and you shall not escape out of 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 me, “Do not tell anyone what you told me; if you tell anyone, my officials may kill you.

Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "Let no man know of these words, and you shall not die.

25 If my officials find out that I talked to you, perhaps they will come to you and say, ‘Tell us what you and the king were talking about. If you do not tell us, we will kill you.’

But if the officials hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you, and tell you, 'Declare to us now what you have said to the king; do not hide it from us, and we will not put you to death; also what the king said to you':

26 If that happens, [just] tell them that you pleaded with me not to send you back to the [dungeon/cell in] Jonathan’s house, [because you were afraid that] you would die [if you were put there again].”

then you shall tell them, 'I presented my petition before the king, that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan's house, to die there.'"

27 And [that is what happened]. The king’s officials came to me and asked [why the king had summoned me. But] I told them what the king told me to tell them. So they did not ask me any more [questions], because no one had heard what the king and I had said to each other.

Then all the officials came to Jeremiah, and asked him; and he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they left off speaking with him; for the matter was not perceived.

28 So I remained being guarded in the courtyard [of the palace], until the day that [the army of Babylonia] captured Jerusalem.

So Jeremiah stayed in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.