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Jeremiah 38
Lexham English Bible

Jeremiah is Thrown into the Pit of Malchiah

38 Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchiah heard the words that Jeremiah was saying to all the people, saying,[a] 2 “Thus says Yahweh, ‘The one who stays in this city will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague. But the one who goes out to the Chaldeans will live. And his life will be for him as booty, and he will live.’ 3 Thus says Yahweh, ‘Surely this city will be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.’”

4 Then the officials said to the king, “Please, this man must be killed, because[b] he is making slack the hands of the soldiers[c] who are left in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking to them words like these, for this man is not seeking for welfare[d] to this people, but only[e] for harm.” 5 And Zedekiah the king said, “Look, he is in your hand, for the king is not able to do a thing against you.” 6 So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the pit[f] of Malchiah, the son of the king, which was in the courtyard of the guard. And they let Jeremiah down by ropes. Now in the pit[g] there was no water,[h] but only[i] mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.

7 When Ebed-melech the Cushite, a eunuch[j] who was in the house of the king, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the pit[k]—now the king was sitting at the Gate of Benjamin— 8 Ebed-melech went out from the house of the king and spoke to the king, saying,[l] 9 “My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, in that they have thrown him into the pit,[m] and he will die there[n] because of[o] starvation, for there is no longer any bread in the city.” 10 Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Cushite, saying,[p] “Take with you[q] these thirty men and pull Jeremiah the prophet up from the pit[r] before[s] he dies.”

11 So Ebed-melech took the men with him[t] and went to the palace of the king, to a place beneath the storehouse, and he took from there rags[u] and worn-out clothes.[v] And he let them down into the pit[w] by ropes to Jeremiah. 12 Then Ebed-melech the Cushite said to Jeremiah, “Please put the rags[x] and worn-out clothes[y] under the joints of your arms under the ropes,” and Jeremiah did so. 13 And they pulled Jeremiah by the ropes and brought him up from the pit.[z] And Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guard.

14 And Zedekiah the king sent and made someone bring Jeremiah the prophet to him, to the third entrance that was at the temple[aa] of Yahweh. And the king said to Jeremiah, “I am asking you something,[ab] you must not hide anything[ac] from me.” 15 And Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, will you not surely kill me? Besides,[ad] if I advise you, you will not listen to me. 16 So Zedekiah the king swore to Jeremiah in secret, saying,[ae] “As Yahweh lives,[af] who has made for us this life, I will not kill you and I will not give you into the hand of these men who are seeking your life.”

17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘If only you will go surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then you[ag] will live, and this city will not be burned with fire, and you will live, you and your house. 18 But if you do not go surrender 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.’”

19 And Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Chaldeans, lest they give me into their hand and they abuse me.” 20 And Jeremiah said, “They will not give you over. Please obey the voice of Yahweh with regard to what I am saying to you, and it will go well with you, and you[ah] will live. 21 But if you are refusing to surrender, this is the thing that Yahweh has shown me. 22 Now look, all the women who remain in the house of the king of Judah are being led out to the officials of the king of Babylon. And look, they are saying,

‘Your trusted friends[ai] have misled you,
and they have prevailed against you.
Your feet are stuck in the mud,
so they turned backward.’

23 And all your wives and your children will be led out to the Chaldeans, and you will not escape from their hand, but by the hand of the king of Babylon you will be seized, and this city will burn with fire.”

24 And Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “No man must know about these words so that you will not die. 25 And if the officials hear that I have spoken with you, and they come to you and say to you, ‘Please tell us what you said to the king. You must not conceal it from us so that we will not kill you. And what did the king say to you?’ 26 Then you shall say to them, ‘I was presenting my plea before[aj] the king, to not cause me to return to the house of Jonathan to die there.’” 27 And all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him, and he informed them like all these words that the king commanded. So they fell silent, for the conversation[ak] was not heard. 28 And Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was captured. And it happened that Jerusalem was captured.[al]

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 38:1 Literally “to say”
  2. Jeremiah 38:4 Literally “unto thus”
  3. Jeremiah 38:4 Literally “the men of the war”
  4. Jeremiah 38:4 Or “peace”
  5. Jeremiah 38:4 Literally “but if”
  6. Jeremiah 38:6 Or “cistern”
  7. Jeremiah 38:6 Or “cistern”
  8. Jeremiah 38:6 Hebrew “waters”
  9. Jeremiah 38:6 Literally “but if”
  10. Jeremiah 38:7 Literally “a man of a eunuch”
  11. Jeremiah 38:7 Or “cistern”
  12. Jeremiah 38:8 Literally “to say”
  13. Jeremiah 38:9 Or “cistern”
  14. Jeremiah 38:9 Literally “in it”
  15. Jeremiah 38:9 Literally “from the face of”
  16. Jeremiah 38:10 Literally “to say”
  17. Jeremiah 38:10 Literally “in your hand”
  18. Jeremiah 38:10 Or “cistern”
  19. Jeremiah 38:10 Literally “at not yet”
  20. Jeremiah 38:11 Literally “in his hand”
  21. Jeremiah 38:11 Literally “the rags of rags”
  22. Jeremiah 38:11 Literally “rags of ragged clothes”
  23. Jeremiah 38:11 Or “cistern”
  24. Jeremiah 38:12 Literally “rags of the rags”
  25. Jeremiah 38:12 Literally “ragged clothes”
  26. Jeremiah 38:13 Or “cistern”
  27. Jeremiah 38:14 Literally “house”
  28. Jeremiah 38:14 Literally “a thing”
  29. Jeremiah 38:14 Literally “a thing”
  30. Jeremiah 38:15 Literally “And”
  31. Jeremiah 38:16 Literally “to say”
  32. Jeremiah 38:16 Literally “Life of Yahweh”
  33. Jeremiah 38:17 Literally “your life” or “your soul”
  34. Jeremiah 38:20 Literally “your life” or “your soul”
  35. Jeremiah 38:22 Literally “The men of your peace”
  36. Jeremiah 38:26 Literally “to the face of”
  37. Jeremiah 38:27 Literally “word”
  38. Jeremiah 38:28 Jeremiah 38:28b in the Hebrew Bible is 39:1a in the English Bible
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Jeremiah 38
New International Version

Jeremiah Thrown Into a Cistern

38 Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur(A), Jehukal[a](B) son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malkijah heard what Jeremiah was telling all the people when he said, 2 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague,(C) but whoever goes over to the Babylonians[b] will live. They will escape with their lives; they will live.’(D) 3 And this is what the Lord says: ‘This city will certainly be given into the hands of the army of the king of Babylon, who will capture it.’”(E)

4 Then the officials(F) said to the king, “This man should be put to death.(G) He is discouraging(H) the soldiers who are left in this city, as well as all the people, by the things he is saying to them. This man is not seeking the good of these people but their ruin.”

5 “He is in your hands,”(I) King Zedekiah answered. “The king can do nothing(J) to oppose you.”

6 So they took Jeremiah and put him into the cistern of Malkijah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard.(K) They lowered Jeremiah by ropes(L) into the cistern; it had no water in it,(M) only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.(N)

7 But Ebed-Melek,(O) a Cushite,[c] an official[d](P) in the royal palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. While the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate,(Q) 8 Ebed-Melek went out of the palace and said to him, 9 “My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. They have thrown him into a cistern,(R) where he will starve to death when there is no longer any bread(S) in the city.”

10 Then the king commanded Ebed-Melek the Cushite, “Take thirty men from here with you and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.”

11 So Ebed-Melek took the men with him and went to a room under the treasury in the palace. He took some old rags and worn-out clothes from there and let them down with ropes(T) to Jeremiah in the cistern. 12 Ebed-Melek the Cushite said to Jeremiah, “Put these old rags and worn-out clothes under your arms to pad the ropes.” Jeremiah did so, 13 and they pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.(U)

Zedekiah Questions Jeremiah Again

14 Then King Zedekiah sent(V) for Jeremiah the prophet and had him brought to the third entrance to the temple of the Lord. “I am going to ask you something,” the king said to Jeremiah. “Do not hide(W) anything from me.”

15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I give you an answer, will you not kill me? Even if I did give you counsel, you would not listen to me.”

16 But King Zedekiah swore this oath secretly(X) to Jeremiah: “As surely as the Lord lives, who has given us breath,(Y) I will neither kill you nor hand you over to those who want to kill you.”(Z)

17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you surrender(AA) to the officers of the king of Babylon, your life will be spared and this city will not be burned down; you and your family will live.(AB) 18 But if you will not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be given into the hands(AC) of the Babylonians and they will burn(AD) it down; you yourself will not escape(AE) from them.’”

19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid(AF) of the Jews who have gone over(AG) to the Babylonians, for the Babylonians may hand me over to them and they will mistreat me.”

20 “They will not hand you over,” Jeremiah replied. “Obey(AH) the Lord by doing what I tell you. Then it will go well(AI) with you, and your life(AJ) will be spared. 21 But if you refuse to surrender, this is what the Lord has revealed to me: 22 All the women(AK) left in the palace of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon. Those women will say to you:

“‘They misled you and overcame you—
    those trusted friends(AL) of yours.
Your feet are sunk in the mud;(AM)
    your friends have deserted you.’

23 “All your wives and children(AN) will be brought out to the Babylonians. You yourself will not escape(AO) from their hands but will be captured(AP) by the king of Babylon; and this city will[e] be burned down.”(AQ)

24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Do not let anyone know(AR) about this conversation, or you may die. 25 If the officials hear that I talked with you, and they come to you and say, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you; do not hide it from us or we will kill you,’ 26 then tell(AS) them, ‘I was pleading with the king not to send me back to Jonathan’s house(AT) to die there.’”

27 All the officials did come to Jeremiah and question him, and he told them everything the king had ordered him to say. So they said no more to him, for no one had heard his conversation with the king.

28 And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard(AU) until the day Jerusalem was captured.

The Fall of Jerusalem(AV)

This is how Jerusalem(AW) was taken:

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 38:1 Hebrew Jukal, a variant of Jehukal
  2. Jeremiah 38:2 Or Chaldeans; also in verses 18, 19 and 23
  3. Jeremiah 38:7 Probably from the upper Nile region
  4. Jeremiah 38:7 Or a eunuch
  5. Jeremiah 38:23 Or and you will cause this city to
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