Jeremiah 38:5-28

5And King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your 1hands; for the king 2can do nothing against you.” 6So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the 3cistern of Malchijah the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guardhouse; and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. Now in the cistern there was no water but only 4mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud. 7But 5Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a 67eunuch, while he was in the king’s palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the cistern. Now the king was sitting at the 8Gate of Benjamin; 8and 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 thrown into the cistern; and he will die right where he is because of the famine, for there is 9no more bread in the city.” 10Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take thirty men from here 10under your authority and bring Jeremiah the prophet up from the cistern before he dies.” 11So Ebed-melech took the men under his 11authority 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. 12Then 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. 13So they pulled Jeremiah out with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern, and Jeremiah stayed in the 12courtyard of the guardhouse.

14Then King Zedekiah 13sent word and 14had 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 15ask you something; do not hide anything from me.” 15And Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “16If I tell you, will you not certainly put me to death? Besides, if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.” 16But King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah in 17secret, saying, “As the Lord lives, who made this 1819life for us, I certainly will not put you to death, nor will I hand you over to 20these men who are seeking your 21life.”

17So Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord 22God of armies, the 23God of Israel says: ‘If you will indeed 24surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then 25you will live, this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will 26survive. 18But if you do 27not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city 28will be handed over to the Chaldeans; and they will burn it with fire, and 29you yourself will not escape from their hands.’” 19Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am 30in fear of the Jews who have 31deserted to the Chaldeans, for they may hand me over to them, and they will 32abuse me.” 20But Jeremiah said, “They will not turn you over. Please 3334obey the Lord in what I am saying to you, so that it may go 35well for you and 3637you may live. 21But if you keep refusing to surrender, this is the word which the Lord has shown me: 22‘Behold, all of the 38women who have been left in the palace of the king of Judah are going to be brought out to the officers of the king of Babylon; and those women will say, “39Your close friends Have misled and overpowered you; While your feet were sunk in the mire, They turned back.” 23They are also going to bring out all your wives and your 40sons to the Chaldeans, and 41you yourself will not escape from their hand, but will be seized by the hand of the king of Babylon, and 42this city will be burned with fire.’”

24Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no one know about these words, and you will not die. 25But if the 43officials 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,’ 26then you are to say to them, ‘I was 44presenting my plea before the king, not to make me return to the house of Jonathan to die there.’” 27Then 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 stopped speaking with him, since the 45conversation had not been overheard. 28So Jeremiah 46stayed in the courtyard of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was captured.