CHAPTER 38
Now Shephatiah
son
of Mattan,
Gedaliah
son
of Pashhur,
Jucal
son
of Shelemiah,
and Pashhur
son
of Malchijah
heard
the words
Jeremiah
was telling
all
the people:
“This is what
the LORD
says:
Whoever stays
in this
city
will die
by sword,
famine,
and plague,
but whoever surrenders
to
the Chaldeans
will live.
He will escape
with his life
as a reward
and will live.
This is what
the LORD
says:
This
city
will surely be handed over
to the army
of the king
of Babylon,
and he will capture it.”
Then the officials
said
to
the king,
“This
man
ought to die,
for
he
is discouraging
the warriors
who remain
in this
city,
as well as all
the people,
by speaking
such
words
to them;
this
man
is not
seeking
the well-being
of these
people,
but
their ruin."
“Here
he is,”
replied
King
Zedekiah.
“He is in your hands,
since
the king
can do nothing
to stop you.”
So they took
Jeremiah
and dropped
him into
the cistern
of Malchiah,
the king’s
son,
which
was in the courtyard
of the guard.
They lowered
Jeremiah
with ropes
into the cistern,
which had no
water
but only
mud,
and Jeremiah
sank down
into the mud.
Now Ebed-melech
the Cushite,
a court official
in the royal
palace,
heard
that Jeremiah
had been put
into
the cistern.
While the king
was sitting
at the Gate
of Benjamin,
“My lord
the king,
these
men
have acted wickedly
in all that
they have done
to Jeremiah
the prophet.
They have dropped
him
into
the cistern,
where
he will starve to death,
for
there is no
more
bread
in the city.”
So the king
commanded
Ebed-melech
the Cushite,
“Take
thirty
men
from
here
with you
and pull
Jeremiah
the prophet
out of the cistern
before
he dies.”
Then Ebed-melech
took
the men
with him
and went
to the king’s
palace,
to
a place below
the storehouse.
From there
he took
old
rags
and worn-out
clothes
and lowered them
with ropes
to
Jeremiah
in
the cistern.
Ebed-melech
the Cushite
cried out
to
Jeremiah,
“Put
these worn-out
rags
and clothes
under your arms
to pad the ropes.”
Jeremiah
did
so,
and they pulled him
up
with the ropes
and lifted
him
out of
the cistern.
And Jeremiah
remained
in the courtyard
of the guard.
Then King
Zedekiah
sent for
Jeremiah
the prophet
and received
him
at
the third
entrance
that is in the house
of the LORD.
“I
am going to ask
you something,”
said
the king
to
Jeremiah.
“Do not
hide
anything
from me.”
“If
I tell you,”
Jeremiah
replied,
“will you not
surely
put me to death?
And even if
I did give you advice,
you would not
listen
to me.”
But King
Zedekiah
swore
to
Jeremiah
secretly,
“As surely as the LORD
lives,
who
has given
us this
life,
I will not
kill you
or hand you over to
these
men
who
are seeking
your life."
Then Jeremiah
said
to
Zedekiah,
“This is what
the LORD,
the God
of Hosts,
the God
of Israel,
says:
‘If
you indeed surrender
to
the officers
of the king
of Babylon,
then you
will live,
this
city
will not
be burned down,
and you
and your household
will survive.
But if
you do not
surrender
to
the officers
of the king
of Babylon,
then this
city
will be handed over to
the Chaldeans.
They will burn it down,
and you
yourself will not
escape
their grasp.’”
But King
Zedekiah
said
to
Jeremiah,
“I
am afraid
of the Jews
who
have deserted
to
the Chaldeans,
for the Chaldeans
may hand me over to
them
to abuse me.”
“They will not
hand you over,”
Jeremiah
replied.
“Obey
the voice
of the LORD
in what
I
am telling you,
so it may go well
with you
and you
may live.
All
the women
who
remain
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:
‘They misled you
and overcame you—
those trusted
friends of yours.
Your feet
sank
into the mire,
and they deserted
you.'"
All
your wives
and
children
will be brought out
to
the Chaldeans.
And you
yourself will not
escape
their grasp,
for
you will be seized
by
the king
of Babylon,
and this
city
will be burned down.’
If
the officials
hear
that
I have spoken
with
you and come
and demand
of you,
‘Tell
us what
you said
to
the king
and what
he
said
to you;
do not
hide it
from us,
or
we will kill you,'
then tell them,
‘I
was presenting
to
the king
my petition
that he not
return
me to the house
of Jonathan
to die
there.’”
When all
the officials
came
to
Jeremiah
and questioned him,
he reported
to them
the exact
words
the king
had commanded.
So they said no more
to him,
for
no one
had overheard
the conversation.