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 ³This 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 ⁸Ebed-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

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Footnotes

A hands

Cross references

v Jr 37:3
w Jr 14:12; 21:9; 24:10; 27:8; 29:17–18; 32:24,36; 38:2; 42:17,22; 44:13; Ezk 6:11; 12:16
x Jr 21:9; 38:17–21
y Jr 21:9; 39:18; 45:5
z Jr 32:3–5
aa Jr 29:11
a Gn 37:20–24
b Jr 20:2; Ezk 48:32; Zch 14:10
c Jr 37:21