Jer 38 | NASB1995 | STEP | Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan , and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur , and Jucal the son of Shelemiah , and Pashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people , saying ,

Jeremiah 38

Jeremiah Thrown into the Cistern

1 Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the ^ason of Shelemiah, and ^bPashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people, saying, 2 “Thus says the Lord, ‘He who ^cstays in this city will die by the ^dsword and by famine and by pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live and have his own ^elife as booty and stay alive.’ 3 “Thus says the Lord, ‘This city will certainly be ^fgiven into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and he will capture it.’” 4 Then the ^gofficials said to the king, “Now let this man be put to death, inasmuch as he is ^{▼▼ Lit weakening the hands of
,} ⁱdiscouraging the men of war who are left in this city and ^{▼▼ Lit the hands of all}all the people, by speaking such words to them; for this man ^kis not seeking the well-being of this people but rather their harm.” 5 So King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your ^{▼▼ Lit hand}hands; for the king ^mcan do nothing against you.” 6 Then they took Jeremiah and cast him into the ⁿcistern of Malchijah the king’s son, which was in the court of the guardhouse; and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. Now in the cistern there was no water but only ^omud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud. 7 But ^pEbed-melech the Ethiopian, ^{▼▼ Or an official}a ^reunuch, while he was in the king’s palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. Now the king was sitting in the ^sGate of Benjamin; 8 and Ebed-melech went out from the king’s palace and spoke to the king, saying, 9 “My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet whom they have cast into the cistern; and he ^{▼▼ M.T. reads has died}will die right where he is because of the famine, for there is ^uno more bread in the city.” 10 Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take thirty men from here ^{▼▼ Lit in your hand}under your authority and bring up Jeremiah the prophet from the cistern before he dies.” 11 So Ebed-melech took the men under his ^{▼▼ Lit hand}authority and went into the king’s palace to a place beneath the storeroom and took from there worn-out clothes and worn-out rags and let them down by ropes into the cistern to Jeremiah. 12 Then Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Now put these worn-out clothes and rags under your armpits under the ropes”; and Jeremiah did so. 13 So they pulled Jeremiah up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern, and Jeremiah stayed in the ^xcourt of the guardhouse.

14 Then King Zedekiah ^ysent and ^{▼▼ Lit took Jeremiah the prophet to him}had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance that is in the house of the Lord; and the king said to Jeremiah, “I am going to ^aaask you something; do not hide anything from me.” 15 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, ^ab“If I tell you, will you not certainly put me to death? Besides, if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.” 16 But King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah in ^acsecret saying, “As the Lord lives, who made this ^{▼▼ Lit soul
,} ^aelife for us, surely I will not put you to death nor will I give you over to the hand of ^afthese men who are seeking your ^{▼▼ Lit soul}life.”

Interview with Zedekiah

17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the Lord ^ahGod of hosts, the ^aiGod of Israel, ‘If you will indeed ^ajgo out to the officers of the king of Babylon, then ^{▼▼ Lit your soul}you will live, this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will ^{▼▼ Lit live}survive. 18 ‘But if you will ^amnot go out to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city ^anwill be given over to the hand of the Chaldeans; and they will burn it with fire, and ^aoyou yourself will not escape from their hand.’” 19 Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I ^apdread the Jews who have ^{▼▼ Lit fallen
,} ^argone over to the Chaldeans, for they may give me over into their hand and they will ^asabuse me.” 20 But Jeremiah said, “They will not give you over. Please ^{▼▼ Lit listen to the voice of
,} ^auobey the Lord in what I am saying to you, that it may go ^avwell with you and ^{▼▼ Lit your soul
,} ^axyou may live. 21 “But if you keep refusing to go out, this is the word which the Lord has shown me: 22 ‘Then behold, all of the ^aywomen who have been left in the palace of the king of Judah are going to be brought out to the ^{▼▼ Or princes}officers of the king of Babylon; and those women will say, ^{▼▼ Lit The men of your peace}“Your close friends
Have misled and overpowered you;
While your feet were sunk in the mire,
They turned back.”

23 ‘They will also bring out all your wives and your ^bbsons to the Chaldeans, and ^bcyou yourself will not escape from their hand, but will be seized by the hand of the king of Babylon, and ^bdthis city will be burned with fire.’”

24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no man know about these words and you will not die. 25 “But if the ^beofficials hear that I have talked with you and come to you and say to you, ‘Tell us now what you said to the king and what the king said to you; do not hide it from us and we will not put you to death,’ 26 then you are to say to them, ‘I was ^bfpresenting my petition before the king, not to make me return to the house of Jonathan to die there.’” 27 Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him. So he reported to them in accordance with all these words which the king had commanded; and they ceased speaking with him, since the ^{▼▼ Lit word}conversation had not been overheard. 28 So Jeremiah ^bhstayed in the court of the guardhouse until the day that Jerusalem was captured.