Jeremiah 38–39

JEREMIAH THROWN INTO A CISTERN

38Now Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jucal son of Shelemiah,^v and Pashhur son of Malchijah heard the words Jeremiah was speaking to all the people: ²“This is what the Lord says: ‘Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine, and plague,^w but whoever surrenders to the Chaldeans will live.^x He will retain his life like the spoils of war and will live.’^{y 3}This is what the Lord says: ‘This city will most certainly be handed over to the king of Babylon’s army,^z and he will capture it.’ ”

⁴The officials then said to the king, “This man ought to die, because he is weakening the morale^A of the warriors who remain in this city and of all the people by speaking to them in this way. This man is not pursuing the welfare of this people, but their harm.”^aa

⁵King Zedekiah said, “Here he is; he’s in your hands since the king can’t do anything against you.” ⁶So they took Jeremiah and dropped him into the cistern of Malchiah the king’s son, which was in the guard’s courtyard, lowering Jeremiah with ropes. There was no water in the cistern, only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.^a

⁷But Ebed-melech, a Cushite court official in the king’s palace, heard Jeremiah had been put into the cistern. While the king was sitting at the Benjamin Gate,^{b 8}Ebed-melech went from the king’s palace and spoke to the king: ⁹“My lord the king, these men have been evil in all they have done to the prophet Jeremiah. They have dropped him into the cistern where he will die from hunger, because there is no more bread in the city.”^c

¹⁰So the king commanded Ebed-melech, the Cushite, “Take from here thirty men under your authority^B and pull the prophet Jeremiah up from the cistern before he dies.”

¹¹So Ebed-melech took the men under his authority^C and went to the king’s palace to a place below the storehouse.^D From there he took old rags and worn-out clothes and lowered them by ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern. ¹²Ebed-melech the Cushite called down to Jeremiah, “Place these old rags and clothes between your armpits and the ropes.” Jeremiah did this. ¹³They pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern, but he remained in the guard’s courtyard.

ZEDEKIAH’S FINAL MEETING WITH JEREMIAH

¹⁴King Zedekiah sent for the prophet Jeremiah and received him at the third entrance of the Lord’s temple. The king said to Jeremiah, “I am going to ask you something; don’t hide anything from me.”

¹⁵Jeremiah replied to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, you will kill me, won’t you? Besides, if I give you advice, you won’t listen to me anyway.”

¹⁶King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah in private,^d “As the Lord lives, who has given us this life,^e I will not kill you or hand you over to these men who intend to take your life.”

¹⁷Jeremiah therefore said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘If indeed you surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon,^f then you will live, this city will not be burned, and you and your household will survive. ¹⁸But if you do not surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city will be handed over to the Chaldeans.^g They will burn it, and you yourself will not escape from them.’ ”

¹⁹But King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am worried about the Judeans who have defected to the Chaldeans. They may hand me over to the Judeans to abuse me.”^h

²⁰“They will not hand you over,” Jeremiah replied. “Obey the Lord in what I am telling you, so it may go well for you and you can live. ²¹But if you refuse to surrender, this is the verdict^A that the Lord has shown me: ²²‘All the women^B who remain in the palace of Judah’s king will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon and will say to you,^C

“Your trusted friends^D misled^E you

and overcame you.

Your feet sank into the mire,

and they deserted you.”

²³All your wives and children will be brought out to the Chaldeans.ⁱ You yourself will not escape from them, for you will be seized by the king of Babylon and this city will burn.’ ”

²⁴Then Zedekiah warned Jeremiah, “Don’t let anyone know about this conversation^F or you will die. ²⁵The officials may hear that I have spoken with you^j and come and demand of you, ‘Tell us what you said to the king; don’t hide anything from us and we won’t kill you. Also, what did the king say to you?’ ²⁶If they do, tell them, ‘I was bringing before the king my petition that he not return me to the house of Jonathan to die there.’ ”^{k 27}All the officials did come to Jeremiah, and they questioned him. He reported the exact words to them the king had commanded, and they quit speaking with him because the conversation^G had not been overheard. ²⁸Jeremiah remained in the guard’s courtyard until the day Jerusalem was captured, and he was there when it happened.^H

THE FALL OF JERUSALEM TO BABYLON

39In the ninth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, in the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem with his entire army and laid siege to it.^{l 2}In the fourth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year, on the ninth day of the month, the city was broken into.^{m 3}All the officials of the king of Babylon entered and sat at the Middle Gate: Nergal-sharezer, Samgar, Nebusarsechim^I the chief of staff, Nergal-sharezer the chief soothsayer, and all the rest of the officials of Babylon’s king.^a

⁴When King Zedekiah of Judah and all the fighting men saw them, they fled. They left the city at night by way of the king’s garden^b through the city gate between the two walls. They left along the route to the Arabah.^{c 5}However, the Chaldean army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. They arrested him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon’s king, at Riblah in the land of Hamath. The king passed sentence on him there.^d

⁶At Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes, and he also slaughtered all Judah’s nobles. ⁷Then he blinded Zedekiah and put him in bronze chains to take him to Babylon.^{e 8}The Chaldeans next burned down the king’s palace and the people’s houses and tore down the walls of Jerusalem.^{f 9}Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guards,^g deported the rest of the people to Babylon—those who had remained in the city and those deserters who had defected to him along with the rest of the people who remained. ¹⁰However, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guards, left in the land of Judah some of the poor people who owned nothing, and he gave them vineyards and fields at that time.^h

JEREMIAH FREED BY NEBUCHADNEZZAR

¹¹Speaking through Nebuzaradan, captain of the guards, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon gave orders concerning Jeremiah: ¹²“Take him and look after him. Don’t do him any harm, but do for him whatever he says.” ¹³Nebuzaradan, captain of the guards, Nebushazban the chief of staff, Nergal-sharezer the chief soothsayer, and all the captains of Babylon’s king ¹⁴had Jeremiah brought from the guard’s courtyardⁱ and turned him over to Gedaliah^j son of Ahikam,^k son of Shaphan, to take him home. So he settled among his own people.

¹⁵Now the word of the Lord had come to Jeremiah when he was confined in the guard’s courtyard:^{l 16}“Go tell Ebed-melech the Cushite,^m ‘This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I am about to fulfill my words for disaster and not for good against this city. They will take place before your eyes on that day. ¹⁷But I will rescue you on that day—this is the Lord’s declaration—and you will not be handed over to the men you dread. ¹⁸Indeed, I will certainly deliver you so that you do not fall by the sword. Because you have trusted in me, you will retain your life like the spoils of war.ⁿ This is the Lord’s declaration.’ ”