Jer 1, Jer 38 | ESV | STEP | The words of Jeremiah , the son of Hilkiah , one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin ,

1 The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one ^aof the priests who were in ^bAnathoth in the land of Benjamin, 2 to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of ^cJosiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in ^dthe thirteenth year of his reign. 3 It came also in the days of ^eJehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, and ^funtil the end of the eleventh year of ^gZedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, ^huntil the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month.

The Call of Jeremiah

4 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

5 ⁱ“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born ^jI consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet ^kto the nations.”
6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, ^lI do not know how to speak, ^mfor I am only a youth.” 7 But the Lord said to me,

“Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’;
for to all to whom I send you, you shall go,
and ⁿwhatever I command you, you shall speak.
8 ^oDo not be afraid of them,
^pfor I am with you to deliver you,

declares the Lord.”
9 ^qThen the Lord put out his hand and ^rtouched my mouth. And the Lord said to me,

“Behold, I have put ^smy words in your mouth.
10 See, I have set you this day ^tover nations and over kingdoms,
^uto pluck up and to break down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.”
11 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ^v“Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see an almond ^{▼▼ Almond sounds like the Hebrew for watching (compare verse 12)} branch.” 12 Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.”

13 The word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see ^xa boiling pot, facing away ^yfrom the north.” 14 Then the Lord said to me, ^z“Out of the north disaster ^{▼▼The Hebrew word can mean evil, harm, or disaster, depending on the context; so throughout Jeremiah} shall be let loose upon all the inhabitants of the land. 15 For behold, ^abI am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares the Lord, ^acand they shall come, and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah. 16 And ^adI will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil ^aein forsaking me. ^afThey have made offerings to other gods and ^agworshiped the works of their own hands. 17 But you, ^ahdress yourself for work; ^{▼▼Hebrew gird up your loins} arise, and ^ajsay to them everything that I command you. ^akDo not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. 18 And I, behold, I make you this day ^ala fortified city, ^aman iron pillar, and ^anbronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. 19 ^aoThey will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for ^apI am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you.”

Jeremiah 38

Jeremiah Cast into the Cistern

1 Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, ^aqJucal the son of Shelemiah, and ^arPashhur the son of Malchiah heard the words that Jeremiah was saying to all the people: 2 “Thus says the Lord: ^asHe who stays in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, ^atbut he who goes out to the Chaldeans shall live. He shall have his life as a prize of war, and live. 3 Thus says the Lord: ^auThis city shall surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and be taken.” 4 Then the officials said to the king, ^av“Let this man be put to death, ^awfor he is weakening the hands of the soldiers who are left in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man is not seeking ^axthe welfare of this people, but their harm.” 5 King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your hands, ^ayfor the king can do nothing against you.” 6 So they took Jeremiah ^azand cast him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in ^bathe court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down ^bbby ropes. ^bcAnd there was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and ^bdJeremiah sank in the mud.

Jeremiah Rescued from the Cistern

7 When ^beEbed-melech ^bfthe Ethiopian, ^bga eunuch who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern—the king was sitting ^bhin the Benjamin Gate— 8 ^biEbed-melech went from the king’s house and said to the king, 9 “My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they did to Jeremiah the prophet by casting him into the cistern, and he will die there of ^bjhunger, ^bkfor there is no bread left in the city.” 10 Then the king commanded ^blEbed-melech the Ethiopian, “Take thirty men with you from here, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.” 11 So ^bmEbed-melech took the men with him and went to the house of the king, to a wardrobe in the storehouse, and took from there old rags and worn-out clothes, which he let down to Jeremiah in the cistern ^bnby ropes. 12 Then ^boEbed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Put the rags and clothes between your armpits and ^bpthe ropes.” Jeremiah did so. 13 Then they drew Jeremiah up with ^bqropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the ^brcourt of the guard.

Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah Again

14 King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and received him at the third entrance of the temple of the Lord. The king said to Jeremiah, “I will ask you a question; hide nothing from me.” 15 Jeremiah 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.” 16 Then King Zedekiah swore ^bssecretly to Jeremiah, ^bt“As the Lord lives, ^buwho made our souls, I will not put you to death or deliver you into the hand of ^bvthese men who seek your life.”

17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: ^bwIf you will surrender to ^bxthe officials of the king of Babylon, ^bythen your life shall be spared, and this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live. 18 But if you do not surrender to ^bzthe officials of the king of Babylon, ^cathen this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, ^cband they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape from their hand.” 19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Judeans ^ccwho have deserted to the Chaldeans, lest I be handed over to them and they deal cruelly with me.” 20 Jeremiah said, “You shall not be given to them. Obey now the voice of the Lord in what I say to you, ^cdand it shall be well with you, and your life shall be spared. 21 But if you refuse to ^cesurrender, this is the vision which the Lord has shown to me: 22 Behold, all the women left in the house of the king of Judah were being led out to the officials of the king of Babylon and were saying,

^cf“‘Your trusted friends have deceived you
and prevailed against you;
now that your feet are sunk in the mud,
they turn away from you.’
23 All your wives and ^cgyour sons shall be led out to the Chaldeans, and you yourself shall not escape from their hand, but shall be seized by the king of Babylon, and this city shall be burned with fire.”

24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no one know of these words, and you shall not die. 25 If ^chthe officials hear that I have spoken with you and come to you and say to you, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you; hide nothing from us and we will not put you to death,’ 26 then you shall say to them, ^ci‘I made a humble plea to the king that he would not send me back to the house of Jonathan to die there.’” 27 Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and asked him, and he answered them as the king had instructed him. So they stopped speaking with him, for the conversation had not been overheard. 28 And Jeremiah remained ^cjin the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.