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.