Jeremiah 38

38 ¹ Now Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people:

² "This is what our Father says: Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, by famine, and by plague, but whoever surrenders to the Chaldeans will live; he will keep his life as plunder and survive." ³ "This is what our Father says: This city will surely be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it."

⁴ Then the officials said to the king, "Let this man be put to death, for he is discouraging the soldiers who remain in this city, and all the people, by saying such things to them. This man is not seeking the welfare of this people, but their harm."

⁵ King Zedekiah said, "Look, he is in your hands; the king can do nothing to oppose you."

⁶ So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king's son, which was in the courtyard of the guard, lowering him down by ropes. There was no water in the cistern, only mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud.

⁷ But Ebed-Melech the Cushite, an official in the royal palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. While the king was sitting at the Benjamin Gate, ⁸ Ebed-Melech went out from the palace and spoke to the king: ⁹ "My lord the king, these men have been very wrong in everything they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. They have thrown him into the cistern, where he will die of hunger, for there is no more bread in the city."

¹⁰ Then the king commanded Ebed-Melech the Cushite, "Take thirty men with you from here, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies."

¹¹ So Ebed-Melech took the men with him and went to the palace, to a room beneath the treasury. He took some worn-out rags and worn-out clothes from there and let them down with ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern. ¹² Ebed-Melech the Cushite said to Jeremiah, "Put these worn-out rags and clothes under your armpits, beneath the ropes." Jeremiah did so, ¹³ and they pulled Jeremiah up by the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.

The King Hears the Father's Word

¹⁴ Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and had him brought to the third entrance of the house of our Father. The king said to Jeremiah, "I am going to ask you something; do not hide anything from me."

¹⁵ Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "If I tell you, won't you certainly put me to death? And even if I give you advice, you will not listen to me."

¹⁶ But King Zedekiah swore secretly to Jeremiah, "As surely as our Father lives, who gave us this life, I will not put you to death or hand you over to these men who are seeking your life."

¹⁷ Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "This is what the Father of heaven's armies, the Father of Israel says: If you will surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then your life will be spared and this city will not be burned with fire; you and your household will live." ¹⁸ "But if you will not surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city will be handed over to the Chaldeans, and they will burn it with fire, and you yourself will not escape their hand."

¹⁹ King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Chaldeans, for I may be handed over to them, and they will abuse me."

²⁰ Jeremiah said, "You will not be handed over to them. Obey the voice of our Father in what I am telling you, so that things will go well for you and your life will be spared." ²¹ "But if you refuse to surrender, this is the word that our Father has shown me:"

²² "Look, all the women left in the palace of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon, and those women will say: 'Your trusted friends misled you and overpowered you; now that your feet are sunk in the mud, they have turned their backs on you.'"

²³ "All your wives and your children will be brought out to the Chaldeans, and you yourself will not escape their hand. You will be seized by the hand of the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned with fire."

²⁴ Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "Let no one know about this conversation, or you may die." ²⁵ "If the officials hear that I have spoken with you and they come to you and say, 'Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you; do not hide it from us, or we will put you to death,' ²⁶ then say to them, 'I was pleading with the king not to send me back to the house of Jonathan to die there.'"

²⁷ When all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him, he answered them exactly as the king had commanded. So they said no more to him, for the conversation had not been overheard. ²⁸ And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured. And this was the situation when Jerusalem fell.