Jeremiah 38

Officials Demand Jeremiah’s Death

1Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people, saying, 2“Thus says the LORD: Whoever remains in this city will die by sword, famine, or plague, but whoever goes out to the Chaldeans will live. His life will be to him as plunder, and he will live. 3Thus says the LORD: This city will surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.” 4Then the officials said to the king, “Please let this man be put to death, for in this way he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city and the hands of all the people by speaking such words to them. For this man does not seek the peace of this people but their harm.” 5King Zedekiah said, “Look, he is in your hand, for the king can do nothing against you.”

Jeremiah Is Lowered into the Cistern

6So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malchijah the king’s son, which was in the court of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah with ropes. There was no water in the cistern, only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud. 7Ebed-Melech the Cushite, a court official who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the cistern. The king was sitting at the Benjamin Gate. 8Ebed-Melech went out from the king’s house and spoke to the king, saying, 9“My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they did to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they cast into the cistern. He will die there from hunger, for there is no more bread in the city.” 10Then the king commanded Ebed-Melech the Cushite, saying, “Take thirty men with you from here and bring Jeremiah the prophet up from the cistern before he dies.”

Ebed-Melech Rescues Jeremiah

11So Ebed-Melech took the men with him and went into the king’s house, beneath the treasury, and took from there worn-out rags and worn-out clothes and lowered them by ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern. 12Ebed-Melech the Cushite said to Jeremiah, “Please put these worn-out rags and clothes between your armpits and the ropes.” Jeremiah did so. 13Then they pulled Jeremiah up with the ropes and brought him up from the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

Zedekiah Secretly Questions Jeremiah

14King Zedekiah sent and had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance that is in the house of the LORD. The king said to Jeremiah, “I am asking you a matter. Do not hide anything from me.” 15Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me.” 16Then King Zedekiah swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, “As the LORD lives, who made this life for us, I will not put you to death, nor will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life.”

Surrender and Live

17Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Hosts, the God of Israel: If you will surely go out to the officials of the king of Babylon, then your life will live, and this city will not be burned with fire. You and your household will live. 18But 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, and they will burn it with fire, and you will not escape from their hand.” 19King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Judeans who have fallen away to the Chaldeans, lest they give me into their hand and they abuse me.” 20Jeremiah said, “They will not give you over. Please listen to the voice of the LORD in what I am speaking to you, and it will be well with you, and your life will live. 21But if you refuse to go out, this is the word that the LORD has shown me: 22Look, all the women who remain in the house of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon, and they will say:

‘Your trusted friends have enticed you
and prevailed over you.
Your feet have sunk in the mud,
and they have turned away from you.’ 23All your wives and your sons will be brought out to the Chaldeans, and you yourself will not escape from their hand, but will be seized by the hand of the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned with fire.”

Keep the Conversation Secret

24Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no one know of these words, and you will not die. 25If the officials hear that I have spoken with you and come to you and say, ‘Tell us what you spoke to the king. Do not hide it from us, and we will not put you to death; and what did the king say to you?’ 26then you shall say to them, ‘I was presenting my plea before the king, that he would not send me back to Jonathan’s house to die there.’” 27Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him, and he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they stopped speaking with him, for the conversation had not been heard. 28Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured.

And it happened when Jerusalem was captured—