Jeremiah 38

1 Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah spoke to all the people, saying,

Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchijah heard what Jeremiah was telling everyone:

2 “The LORD says, ‘He who remains in this city will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, but he who goes out to the Kasdim will live. He will escape with his life and he will live.’

This is what the Lord says: Anyone who remains in this city will die from war and famine and disease, but anyone who goes over to the Babylonians will live. Their reward will be to save their lives.

3 The LORD says, ‘This city will surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he will take it.’”

This is what the Lord says: Be sure of this—Jerusalem will be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon. He is going to capture it.

4 Then the princes 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 harm.”

The officers told the king, “This man deserves to die because he's demoralizing the defenders left in the city, and all the people too, by telling them this. This man isn't trying to help these people, he's only going to destroy them.”

5 Zedekiah the king said, “Behold, he is in your hand; for the king can’t do anything to oppose you.”

“Well, you can do whatever you want to him,” King Zedekiah replied. “I can't stop you.”

6 Then they took Jeremiah and threw him into the dungeon of Malchijah the king’s son, that was in the court of the guard. They let down Jeremiah with cords. In the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire.

So they took Jeremiah and put him in the cistern belonging to Malchiah, the king's son, which was in the guard's courtyard. They lowered Jeremiah down with ropes into the cistern. It didn't have any water, only mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud.

7 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 was then sitting in Benjamin’s gate),

Ebed-melech the Cushite, a royal official in the king's palace, found out that they had put Jeremiah in the cistern. The king was sitting at the Benjamin Gate,

8 Ebedmelech went out of the king’s house, and spoke to the king, saying,

so Ebed-melech left the palace and went to talk to the king

9 “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. He is likely to die in the place where he is, because of the famine; for there is no more bread in the city.”

“My lord the king, all these terrible things these men have done to Jeremiah the prophet are evil. They've put him in the cistern, and he'll starve to death there because there's no more bread left in the city.”

10 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.”

So the king gave the order to Ebed-melech the Cushite, “Take thirty men with you and go and pull Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.”

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

Ebed-melech took the men and went to the storehouse under the palace. He took some rags and old clothes from there and then went to the cistern where he lowered them with ropes to Jeremiah.

12 Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Now put these rags and worn-out garments under your armpits under the cords.” Jeremiah did so.

Ebed-melech the Cushite called down to Jeremiah, “Put these rags and old clothes under your arms to protect you from the ropes.” Jeremiah did so,

13 So they lifted Jeremiah up with the cords, and took him up out of the dungeon; and Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

and using the ropes they pulled him up and took him out of the cistern. Jeremiah stayed there in the guard's courtyard.

14 Then Zedekiah the king sent and took Jeremiah the prophet to himself into the third entry that is in the LORD’s house. Then the king said to Jeremiah, “I will ask you something. Hide nothing from me.”

Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and met him at the third Temple entrance. “I need to ask you something,” the king told Jeremiah. “You mustn't hide anything from me.”

15 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I declare it to you, will you not surely put me to death? If I give you counsel, you will not listen to me.”

“If I tell you then you'll definitely have me killed,” Jeremiah replied. “Even if I were to give you advice, you wouldn't listen to me anyway.”

16 So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, “As the LORD lives, who made our souls, I will not put you to death, neither will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life.”

King Zedekiah solemnly promised Jeremiah in private, “As the Lord lives, who gave us this life, I won't have you killed, and I won't hand you over to those who want to kill you.”

17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “The LORD, the God of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you will go out to the king of Babylon’s princes, then your soul will live, and this city will not be burnt with fire. You will live, along with your house.

Then Jeremiah told Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you hand yourself over to the officers of the king of Babylon, then you'll live. Jerusalem won't be burned down, and you and your family will survive.

18 But if you will not go out to the king of Babylon’s princes, then this city will be given into the hand of the Kasdim, and they will burn it with fire, and you won’t escape out of their hand.’”

But if you don't hand yourself over to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city will be given to the Babylonians. They will burn it down, and you yourself won't escape being captured.”

19 Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have defected to the Kasdim, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me.”

But King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the those people of Judah who have gone over to the Babylonians, because the Babylonians might hand me over the them so they could abuse me.”

20 But Jeremiah said, “They won’t deliver you. Obey, I beg you, the LORD’s voice, in that which I speak to you; so it will be well with you, and your soul will live.

“They won't hand you over,” Jeremiah replied. “If you obey what the Lord says by doing what I tell you, then things will go well for you and you'll live.

21 But if you refuse to go out, this is the word that the LORD has shown me:

But if you refuse to hand yourself over, this is what the Lord has told me:

22 ‘Behold, all the women who are left in the king of Judah’s house will be brought out to the king of Babylon’s princes, and those women will say, “Your familiar friends have turned on you, and have prevailed over you. Your feet are sunk in the mire, they have turned away from you.”

All the women who are left in the palace of the king of Judah will be led out and handed over to the officials of the king of Babylon Those women will say: ‘Those good friends of yours! You were taken in by them and conquered by them. Your feet got stuck in the mid, so they abandoned you.’

23 They will bring out all your wives and your children to the Kasdim. You won’t escape out of their hand, but will be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon. You will cause this city to be burnt with fire.’”

All your wives and children will be handed over to the Chaldeans. And you yourself will not escape, for you will be captured by the king of Babylon, and Jerusalem will be burned down.”

24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no man know of these words, and you won’t die.

Zedekiah warned Jeremiah, “Nobody can find out about this conversation, otherwise you'll die.

25 But if the princes 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; don’t hide it from us, and we will not put you to death; also tell us what the king said to you;’

If the officers find out that I've talked with you, and they come and ask you, ‘Tell us what you and the king were talking about! Don't hide anything from us, or we'll kill you;’

26 then you shall tell them, ‘I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan’s house, to die there.’”

then you are to tell them, ‘I was asking the king to grant my request not to return me to the house of Jonathan to die there.’”

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

When all the officers came to Jeremiah wanting to know, he repeated to them exactly what the king had told him to say. So they didn't ask him anything more because no one had heard what had been said.

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

Jeremiah remained there in the guard's courtyard until the day Jerusalem was captured.