^38:24Then Zedekiah told Jeremiah, “Do not let anyone know about the conversation we have had.⁵⁰ If you do, you will die.⁵¹^38:25The officials may hear that I have talked with you. They may come to you and say, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you.⁵² Do not hide anything from us. If you do, we will kill you.’⁵³^38:26If they do this, tell⁵⁴ them, ‘I was pleading with the king not to send me back to die in the dungeon of Jonathan’s house.’ ”⁵⁵^38:27All the officials did indeed come and question Jeremiah.⁵⁶ He told them exactly what the king had instructed him to say.⁵⁷ They stopped questioning him any further because no one had actually heard their conversation.⁵⁸^38:28So Jeremiah remained confined⁵⁹ in the courtyard of the guardhouse until the day Jerusalem⁶⁰ was captured.

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Footnotes

50 Heb “about these words.”
51 Or “so that you will not die.” Or “or you will die.” See the similar construction in 37:20 and the translator’s note there. This is probably not a threat that the king himself will kill Jeremiah, but a premonition that if the pro-Egyptian party that was seeking to kill Jeremiah found out about the conversation they would go ahead and kill Jeremiah (cf. 38:2–4).
52 The phrase “and what the king said to you” is actually at the end of the verse, but most commentators see it as also under the governance of “tell us” and many commentaries and English versions move the clause forward for the sake of English style as has been done here.
53 Or “lest we kill you”; Heb “and we will not kill you,” which as stated in the translator’s note on introduces a negative purpose (or result) clause. See 37:20, 38:24 for parallel usage.
54 Verses 25–26 form a long compound, complex conditional sentence. The condition is found in v. 25 and contains a long quote. The consequence is found in v. 26 and contains another long quote. The Hebrew sentence literally reads: “And if the officials hear that I have talked with you and come to you and say to you, ‘Please tell us what you said to the king. Do not hide from us and we will not kill you [so that we will not kill you] and [tell us] what the king said to you,’ then tell them.” The sentence has been broken up to better conform with contemporary English style.
55 Heb “I was causing to fall [= presenting] my petition before the king not to send me back to Jonathan’s house to die there.” The word “dungeon of” is supplied in the translation to help the reader connect this petition with Jeremiah’s earlier place of imprisonment where the officials had put him with every intention of letting him die there (37:15–16, 20). See Jer 37:15–16, 20.
56 Heb “All the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him.”
57 Heb “And he reported to them according to all these words which the king had commanded.”
58 Heb “And they were silent from him because the word/matter [i.e., the conversation between Jeremiah and the king] had not been heard.” According to 578 מִן 1.a the preposition “from” is significant in this construction, implying a verb of motion. I.e., “they were [fell] silent [and turned away] from him.”
59 Heb “And Jeremiah stayed/remained in the courtyard of the guardhouse …” The translation once again intends to reflect the situation. Jeremiah had a secret meeting with the king at the third entrance to the temple (v. 14). He was returned to the courtyard of the guardhouse (cf. v. 13) after the conversation with the king where the officials came to question him (v. 27). He was not sent back to the dungeon in Jonathan’s house as he feared, but was left confined in the courtyard of the guardhouse.
60 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no one know of these words, and you shall not die. If the officials hear that I have spoken with you and come to you and say to you, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you; hide nothing from us and we will not put you to death,’ then you shall say to them, ‘I made a humble plea to the king that he would not send me back to the house of Jonathan to die there.’ ” Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and asked him, and he answered them as the king had instructed him. So they stopped speaking with him, for the conversation had not been overheard. And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Do not let anyone know about this conversation, or you may die. If the officials hear that I talked with you, and they come to you and say, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you; do not hide it from us or we will kill you,’ then tell them, ‘I was pleading with the king not to send me back to Jonathan’s house to die there.’ ”

All the officials did come to Jeremiah and question him, and he told them everything the king had ordered him to say. So they said no more to him, for no one had heard his conversation with the king.

And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured.

This is how Jerusalem was taken:

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Then Zedekiah warned Jeremiah, “Don’t let anyone know about this conversation or you will die. The officials may hear that I have spoken with you 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?’ If 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.’ ” 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 had not been overheard. Jeremiah remained in the guard’s courtyard until the day Jerusalem was captured, and he was there when it happened.

NLTNew Living Translation

Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Don’t tell anyone you told me this, or you will die! My officials may hear that I spoke to you, and they may say, ‘Tell us what you and the king were talking about. If you don’t tell us, we will kill you.’ If this happens, just tell them you begged me not to send you back to Jonathan’s dungeon, for fear you would die there.”

Sure enough, it wasn’t long before the king’s officials came to Jeremiah and asked him why the king had called for him. But Jeremiah followed the king’s instructions, and they left without finding out the truth. No one had overheard the conversation between Jeremiah and the king. And Jeremiah remained a prisoner in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “No man must know about these words so that you will not die. And if the officials hear that I have spoken with you, and they come to you and say to you, ‘Please tell us what you said to the king. You must not conceal it from us so that we will not kill you. And what did the king say to you?’ Then you shall say to them, ‘I was presenting my plea before the king, to not cause me to return to the house of Jonathan to die there.’ ” And all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him, and he informed them like all these words that the king commanded. So they fell silent, for the conversation was not heard. And Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was captured. And it happened that Jerusalem was captured.

KJV 1900King James Version

Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words, and thou shalt not die. But if the princes hear that I have talked with thee, and they come unto thee, and say unto thee, Declare unto us now what thou hast said unto the king, hide it not from us, and we will not put thee to death; also what the king said unto thee: Then thou shalt say unto them, I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan’s house, to die there. Then came all the princes unto Jeremiah, and asked him: and he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they left off speaking with him; for the matter was not perceived. So Jeremiah abode in the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken: and he was there when Jerusalem was taken.

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