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.

And, when Shephatiah son of Mattan and Gedaliah son of Pashhur and Jucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchiah, heard the words which Jeremiah was speaking unto 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 saith Yahweh, He that remaineth in this city shall die, by sword by famine, or by pestilence, —whereas, he that goeth forth unto the Chaldeans, shall live, so shall he have his life for a spoil, and shall live.

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

Thus, saith Yahweh, —This city shall surely be given, into the hand of the force of the king of Babylon, and he shall capture 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 said the princes unto the king, —Let this man we pray thee, be put to death, for in this way, is he weakening the hands of the men of war who are left in this, city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking unto them such words as these; for, this man, is not seeking prosperity for this people but misfortune.

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

Then said King Zedekiah, —Lo! he is in your hand; for the king is not one who is able to 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 son of the king, which was in the guard-court, and they let Jeremiah down with ropes, —now, in the dungeon, was no water only mire, so 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.

When Ebed-melech the Ethiopian one of the eunuchs, he being in the house of the king, heard that they had delivered Jeremiah into the dungeon, —the king being seated in the gate of Benjamin,

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

then went forth Ebed-melech out of the house of the king, and spake unto 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, O King! wickedly, have these men done all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom indeed they have cast into the dungeon, —since he would have died where he was because of the famine, for there is no bread any longer, 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 Ebed-melech the Ethiopian saying, —Take with thee from hence thirty men, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon before he die.

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 Ebed-melech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took thence pieces of cast-off clothes, and old rags, —and let them down unto Jeremiah in the dungeon with the ropes.

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.

Then said Ebed-melech the Ethiopian unto Jeremiah, —Put, I pray thee the pieces of cast-off clothes and the old rags under thine arm-joints, under the ropes, And 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.

Then drew they Jeremiah with the ropes, and lifted him up out of the dungeon, —and Jeremiah remained in the guard-court.

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 King Zedekiah sent and fetched Jeremiah the prophet unto him, in the third entrance, which is in the house of Yahweh, —and the king said unto Jeremiah—I am going to ask thee a thing, do not hide anything 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 said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, When I tell thee, wilt thou not, surely put me to death? And when I counsel thee, thou wilt not hearken unto 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 King Zedekiah aware unto Jeremiah secretly saying, —By the life of Yahweh who made for us, this soul, I will in no wise put thee to death, Neither will I deliver thee into the hand of these men who are seeking thy 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 said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah—Thus, saith Yahweh God of hosts, God of Israel—If thou wilt, indeed go forth, unto the princes of the king of Babylon, then shall thine own soul live, and, this city, shall not be burned with fire, —but thou shalt live, thou and thy 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 thou wilt not go forth unto the princes of the king of Babylon, then shall this city be delivered into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and, thou, shalt 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.”

Then said King Zedekiah unto Jeremiah: I am afraid of the Jews who have fallen away unto the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me, into their hand, and they maltreat 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!—Hearken I pray thee unto the voice of Yahweh in what I am speaking unto thee, that it may be well with thee and thy soul live.

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

But if thou art refusing to go forth, this, is the thing which Yahweh hath shewed 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.’

behold, then, all the women that are left in the house of the king of Judah, brought forth unto the princes of the king of Babylon, —and, those very women, saying, The men thou wast wont to salute, have goaded thee on and prevailed upon thee, —Thy foot having 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.”

Yea thou shalt behold all thy wives and thy children brought forth unto the Chaldeans, and thou, shalt not escape out of their hand, —but by the hand of the king of Babylon, shalt thou be taken, and, this city, shall 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 said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah—Do not let, any man, know of these words, and thou shalt 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, when the princes hear that I have spoken with thee and they come in unto thee and say unto thee—Do tell us we pray thee what thou didst speak unto the king, do not hide it from us so will we not put thee to death, —and what spake the king unto, thee?

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 shalt thou say unto them, —I was causing my supplication to fall prostrate before the king, —that he would not cause me to return to the house of Jonathan, 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 came in all the princes unto Jeremiah and asked him, and he told them according to all these words which the king, had commanded, —so they turned in silence from him, for the matter, had not been reported.

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

So Jeremiah remained in the guard-court, until the day when Jerusalem, was captured; thus it fell out when Jerusalem, was captured.