38Shephatiah, Gedaliah, Jehucal and Pashhur heard what I was telling all of the people. Shephatiah was the son of Mattan. Gedaliah was the son of Pashhur. Jehucal was the son of Shelemiah. And Pashhur was the son of Malkijah. Those four men heard me say, ²“The Lord says, ‘Those who stay in this city will die of war, hunger or plague. But those who go over to the side of the Babylonians will live. They will escape with their lives. They will remain alive.’ ³The Lord also says, ‘This city will certainly be handed over to the armies of the king of Babylonia. They will capture it.’ ”

⁴Then those officials said to the king, “That man should be put to death. What he says is making the soldiers who are left in this city lose hope. It’s making all of the people lose hope too. He isn’t interested in what is best for the people. In fact, he’s trying to destroy them.”

⁵“He’s in your hands,” King Zedekiah answered. “I can’t do anything to oppose you.”

⁶So they took me and put me into an empty well. It belonged to Malkijah. He was a member of the royal court. His well was in the courtyard of the guard. Zedekiah’s men lowered me by ropes into the well. It didn’t have any water in it. All it had was mud. And I sank down into the mud.

⁷Ebed-Melech was an official in the royal palace. He was from the land of Cush. He heard that I had been put into the well. The king was sitting by the Benjamin Gate at that time. ⁸Ebed-Melech went out of the palace. He said to the king, ⁹“My king and master, everything those men have done to the prophet Jeremiah is evil. They have thrown him into an empty well. Soon there won’t be any more bread in the city. Then he’ll starve to death.”

¹⁰So the king gave an order to Ebed-Melech from Cush. He said, “Take 30 men from here with you. Lift the prophet Jeremiah out of the well before he dies.”

¹¹Then Ebed-Melech took the men with him. He went to a room under the place in the palace where the treasures were stored. He got some old rags and worn-out clothes from there. Then he let them down with ropes to me in the well.

¹²Ebed-Melech from Cush told me what to do. He said, “Put these old rags and worn-out clothes under your arms. They’ll pad the ropes.” So I did. ¹³Then the men pulled me up with the ropes. They lifted me out of the well. And I remained in the courtyard of the guard.

Zedekiah Questions Jeremiah Again

¹⁴Then King Zedekiah sent for me. He had me brought to the third entrance to the Lord’s temple. “I want to ask you something,” the king said to me. “Don’t hide anything from me.”

¹⁵I said to Zedekiah, “Suppose I give you an answer. You will kill me, won’t you? Suppose I give you good advice. You won’t listen to me, will you?”

¹⁶But King Zedekiah took an oath. He promised me secretly, “I won’t kill you. And I won’t hand you over to those who want to take your life. That’s just as sure as the Lord is alive. He’s the one who has given us breath.”

¹⁷So I said to Zedekiah, “The Lord God who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says, ‘Give yourself up to the officers of the king of Babylonia. Then your life will be spared. And this city will not be burned down. You and your family will remain alive.

¹⁸“ ‘But what if you do not give yourself up to them? Then this city will be handed over to the Babylonians. They will burn it down. And you yourself will not escape from their powerful hands.’ ”

¹⁹King Zedekiah said to me, “I’m afraid of some of the Jews. They are the ones who have gone over to the side of the Babylonians. The Babylonians might hand me over to them. And those Jews will treat me badly.”

²⁰“They won’t hand you over to them,” I replied. “Obey the Lord. Do what I tell you to do. Then things will go well with you. Your life will be spared.

²¹“Don’t refuse to give yourself up. The Lord has shown me what will happen if you do. ²²All of the women who are left in your palace will be brought out. They’ll be given to the officials of the king of Babylonia. Those women will say to you,

“ ‘Your trusted friends have tricked you.

They have gotten the best of you.

Your feet are sunk down in the mud.

Your friends have deserted you.’

²³“All of your wives and children will be brought out to the Babylonians. You yourself won’t escape from their powerful hands. You will be captured by the king of Babylonia. And this city will be burned down.”

²⁴Then Zedekiah said to me, “Don’t let anyone know about the talk we’ve had. If you do, you might die. ²⁵Suppose the officials find out that I’ve talked with you. And suppose they come to you and say, ‘Tell us what you said to the king. Tell us what the king said to you. Don’t hide it from us. If you do, we’ll kill you.’ ²⁶Then tell them, ‘I was begging the king not to send me back to Jonathan’s house. I don’t want to die there.’ ”

²⁷All of the officials came to me. And they questioned me. I told them everything the king had ordered me to say. None of them had heard what I told the king. So they didn’t say anything else to me.

²⁸I remained in the courtyard of the guard. I stayed there until the day Jerusalem was captured.

Jerusalem Is Destroyed

39Here is how Jerusalem was captured. ¹Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylonia, marched out against it. He came with all of his armies and attacked it. It was in the ninth year that Zedekiah was king of Judah. It was in the tenth month. ²The city wall was broken through. It happened on the ninth day of the fourth month. It was in the 11th year of Zedekiah’s rule.

³All of the officials of the king of Babylonia came. They took seats near the Middle Gate. Nergal-Sharezer from Samgar was there. Nebo-Sarsekim, a chief officer, was also there. So was Nergal-Sharezer, a high official. And all of the other officials of the king of Babylonia were there too.

⁴King Zedekiah and all of the soldiers saw them. Then they ran away. They left the city at night. They went by way of the king’s garden. They went out through the gate between the two walls. And they headed toward the Arabah Valley.

⁵But the armies of Babylonia chased them. They caught up with Zedekiah in the flatlands near Jericho. They captured him there. And they took him to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylonia. He was at Riblah in the land of Hamath. That’s where Nebuchadnezzar decided how he would be punished. ⁶The king of Babylonia killed the sons of Zedekiah at Riblah. He forced Zedekiah to watch it with his own eyes. He also killed all of the nobles of Judah. ⁷Then he poked out Zedekiah’s eyes. He put him in bronze chains. And he took him to Babylon.

⁸The Babylonians set the royal palace on fire. They also set fire to the houses of the people. And they broke down the walls of Jerusalem.

⁹Nebuzaradan was commander of the royal guard. Some people still remained in the city. But he took them away to Babylon as prisoners. He also took along those who had gone over to his side. And he took the rest of the people.

¹⁰Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, left some of the poor people of Judah behind. They didn’t own anything. So at that time he gave them vineyards and fields.

¹¹Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylonia, had given orders about me. He had given them to Nebuzaradan, the commander of the royal guard. Nebuchadnezzar had said, ¹²“Take him. Look after him. Don’t harm him. Do for him anything he asks.”

¹³So that’s what Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, did. Nebushazban and Nergal-Sharezer were with him. So were all of the other officers of the king of Babylonia. Nebushazban was a chief officer. Nergal-Sharezer was a high official. All of those men ¹⁴sent for me. They had me taken out of the courtyard of the guard. They turned me over to Gedaliah. They told him to take me back to my home. So I remained among my own people. Gedaliah was the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan.

¹⁵A message came to me from the Lord. It came while I was being kept in the courtyard of the guard. He said, ¹⁶“Go. Speak to Ebed-Melech from Cush. Tell him, ‘The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says, “I am about to make the words I spoke against this city come true. I will not give success to it. Instead, I will bring horrible trouble on it. At that time my words will come true. You will see it with your own eyes.

¹⁷“ ‘ “But I will save you on that day,” announces the Lord. “You will not be handed over to those you are afraid of. ¹⁸I will save you. You will not be killed with a sword. Instead, you will escape with your life. That is because you trust in me,” announces the Lord.’ ”

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