Jer 21, Jer 37-38 | ESV | STEP | This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord , when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchiah and Zephaniah the priest , the son of Maaseiah , saying ,

1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when King Zedekiah sent to him ^aPashhur the son of Malchiah and ^bZephaniah the priest, the son of ^cMaaseiah, saying, 2 ^d“Inquire of the Lord for us, ^efor Nebuchadnezzar ^{▼▼Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, an alternate spelling of Nebuchadnezzar (king of Babylon) occurring frequently from Jeremiah 21–52; this latter spelling is used throughout Jeremiah for consistency} king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to ^gall his wonderful deeds and will make him withdraw from us.”

3 Then Jeremiah said to them: “Thus you shall say to Zedekiah, 4 ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ^hBehold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls. ⁱAnd I will bring them together into the midst of this city. 5 I myself will fight against you ^jwith outstretched hand and strong arm, ^kin anger and in fury and in great wrath. 6 And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence. 7 Afterward, declares the Lord, ^lI will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives. He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword. ^mHe shall not pity them or spare them or have compassion.’

8 “And to this people you shall say: ⁿ‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, ^oI set before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 He who stays in this city shall die ^pby the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out and ^qsurrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live ^rand shall have his life as a prize of war. 10 For ^sI have set my face against this city for harm and ^tnot for good, declares the Lord: ^uit shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.’

Message to the House of David

11 “And to the house of the king of Judah say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, 12 O house of David! Thus says the Lord:

^v“‘Execute justice ^win the morning,
and deliver from the hand of the oppressor
him who has been robbed,
^xlest my wrath go forth like fire,
and burn with none to quench it,
because of your evil deeds.’”
13 ^y“Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley,
O rock of the plain,

declares the Lord;
you who say, ^z‘Who shall come down against us,
or who shall enter our habitations?’
14 ^aaI will punish you according to ^abthe fruit of your deeds,

declares the Lord;
^acI will kindle a fire in her forest,
^adand it shall devour all that is around her.”

Jeremiah 37

Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah

1 ^aeZedekiah the son of Josiah, ^afwhom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah, reigned instead of ^agConiah the son of Jehoiakim. 2 ^ahBut neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the Lord that he spoke through Jeremiah the prophet.

3 King Zedekiah sent ^aiJehucal the son of ^ajShelemiah, and ^akZephaniah the priest, the son of ^alMaaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “Please ^ampray for us to the Lord our God.” 4 ^anNow Jeremiah was still going in and out among the people, ^aofor he had not yet been put in prison. 5 ^apThe army of Pharaoh had come out of Egypt. And when ^aqthe Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news about them, ^arthey withdrew from Jerusalem.

6 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet: 7 “Thus says the Lord, God of Israel: Thus shall you say to the king of Judah who ^assent you to me to inquire of me, ‘Behold, ^atPharaoh’s army that came to help you is about to ^aureturn to Egypt, to its own land. 8 And ^avthe Chaldeans shall come back and fight against this city. ^awThey shall capture it and burn it with fire. 9 Thus says the Lord, Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,” for they will not go away. 10 ^axFor even if you should defeat the whole army of Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and there remained of them only wounded men, every man in his tent, they would rise up and ^ayburn this city with fire.’”

Jeremiah Imprisoned

11 Now when ^azthe Chaldean army had withdrawn from Jerusalem at the approach of Pharaoh’s army, 12 Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem to go to ^bathe land of Benjamin ^bbto receive his portion there ^bcamong the people. 13 When he was at ^bdthe Benjamin Gate, a sentry there named Irijah the son of ^beShelemiah, son of Hananiah, seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, ^bf“You are deserting to the Chaldeans.” 14 And Jeremiah said, “It is a lie; I am not deserting to the Chaldeans.” But Irijah would not listen to him, and seized Jeremiah and brought him to ^bgthe officials. 15 And the officials were enraged at Jeremiah, and they beat him ^bhand imprisoned him in the house of Jonathan the secretary, for it had been made a prison.

16 ^biWhen Jeremiah had come to the dungeon cells and remained there many days, 17 King Zedekiah sent for him and received him. The king questioned him ^bjsecretly in his house and said, “Is there any word from the Lord?” Jeremiah said, “There is.” Then he said, ^bk“You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.” 18 Jeremiah also said to King Zedekiah, “What wrong have I done to you or your servants or this people, ^blthat you have put me in prison? 19 ^bmWhere are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you and against this land’? 20 Now hear, please, O my lord the king: ^bnlet my humble plea come before you and ^bodo not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, lest I die there.” 21 So King Zedekiah gave orders, and they committed Jeremiah to ^bpthe court of the guard. And a loaf of bread was given him daily from the bakers’ street, ^bquntil all the bread of the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in ^brthe court of the guard.

Jeremiah 38

Jeremiah Cast into the Cistern

1 Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, ^bsJucal the son of Shelemiah, and ^btPashhur the son of Malchiah heard the words that Jeremiah was saying to all the people: 2 “Thus says the Lord: ^buHe who stays in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, ^bvbut 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: ^bwThis 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, ^bx“Let this man be put to death, ^byfor 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 ^bzthe welfare of this people, but their harm.” 5 King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your hands, ^cafor the king can do nothing against you.” 6 So they took Jeremiah ^cband cast him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in ^ccthe court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down ^cdby ropes. ^ceAnd there was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and ^cfJeremiah sank in the mud.

Jeremiah Rescued from the Cistern

7 When ^cgEbed-melech ^chthe Ethiopian, ^cia eunuch who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern—the king was sitting ^cjin the Benjamin Gate— 8 ^ckEbed-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 ^clhunger, ^cmfor there is no bread left in the city.” 10 Then the king commanded ^cnEbed-melech the Ethiopian, “Take thirty men with you from here, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.” 11 So ^coEbed-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 ^cpby ropes. 12 Then ^cqEbed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Put the rags and clothes between your armpits and ^crthe ropes.” Jeremiah did so. 13 Then they drew Jeremiah up with ^csropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the ^ctcourt 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 ^cusecretly to Jeremiah, ^cv“As the Lord lives, ^cwwho made our souls, I will not put you to death or deliver you into the hand of ^cxthese men who seek your life.”

17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: ^cyIf you will surrender to ^czthe officials of the king of Babylon, ^dathen 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 ^dbthe officials of the king of Babylon, ^dcthen this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, ^ddand 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 ^dewho 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, ^dfand it shall be well with you, and your life shall be spared. 21 But if you refuse to ^dgsurrender, 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,

^dh“‘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 ^diyour 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 ^djthe 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, ^dk‘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 ^dlin the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.