Jeremiah 38:1–13

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 astays in this city will die by the bsword and by famine and by pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live and have his own clife as booty and stay alive.’

3 “Thus says the Lord, ‘This city will certainly be agiven into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and he will capture it.’ ”

4 Then the aofficials said to the king, “Now let this man be put to death, inasmuch as he is 1bdiscouraging the men of war who are left in this city and 2all the people, by speaking such words to them; for this man cis not seeking the well-being of this people but rather their harm.”

5 So King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your 1hands; for the king acan do nothing against you.”

6 Then they took Jeremiah and cast him into the acistern 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 bmud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud.

7 But aEbed-melech the Ethiopian, 1a beunuch, while he was in the king’s palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. Now the king was sitting in the cGate 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 1will die right where he is because of the famine, for there is ano more bread in the city.”

10 Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take thirty men from here 1under your authority and bring up Jeremiah the prophet from the cistern before he dies.”

11 So Ebed-melech took the men under his 1authority 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 acourt of the guardhouse.