Jeremiah 38:1–9

Jeremiah in the Dungeon

38Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, ^aJucal ¹the son of Shelemiah, and ^bPashhur the son of Malchiah ^cheard the words that Jeremiah had spoken to all the people, saying, ²“Thus says the Lord: ^d‘He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes over to the Chaldeans shall live; his life shall be as a prize to him, and he shall live.’ ³Thus says the Lord: ^e‘This city shall surely be ^fgiven into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which shall take it.’ ”

⁴Therefore the princes said to the king, “Please, ^glet this man be put to death, for thus he ²weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man does not seek the ³welfare of this people, but their harm.”

⁵Then Zedekiah the king said, “Look, he is in your hand. For the king can do nothing against you.” ^6hSo they took Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah ⁴the king’s son, which was in the court of the prison, and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire. So Jeremiah sank in the mire.

⁷ⁱNow Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, one of the ⁵eunuchs, who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon. When the king was sitting at the Gate of Benjamin, ⁸Ebed-Melech went out of the king’s house and spoke to the king, saying: ⁹“My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon, and he is likely to die from hunger in the place where he is. For there is ^jno more bread in the city.”