Jeremiah 38 - 39

Jeremiah Brought Up from the Cistern

And Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people, saying, 2 “Thus says Yahweh, ‘He who stays in this city will die by the sword and by the famine and by the pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live and have his own life as spoil and stay alive.’ 3 Thus says Yahweh, ‘This city will certainly be given into the hand of the military force of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.’” 4 Then the officials said to the king, “Now let this man be put to death, inasmuch as he is making the hands of the men of war who remain in this city as well as the hands of all the people limp, by speaking such words to them; for this man is not seeking peace for this people but rather calamity.” 5 So King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your hands; for the king can do nothing against you.” 6 Then they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malchijah the king’s son, which was in the court of the guard; and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. Now in the cistern there was no water but only mire, and Jeremiah sank into the mire. 7 But Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, while he was in the king’s palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. Now the king was sitting in the Gate of Benjamin; 8 and Ebed-melech went out from 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 cistern; and he will die right where he is because of the famine, for there is no more bread in the city.” 10 Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take in your hand thirty men from here and bring up Jeremiah the prophet from the cistern before he dies.” 11 So Ebed-melech took the men in his hand and went into the king’s palace to a place beneath the storeroom and took from there worn-out clothes and worn-out rags and let them down by ropes into the cistern to Jeremiah. 12 Then Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Now put these worn-out clothes and rags under your armpits under the ropes”; and Jeremiah did so. 13 So they pulled Jeremiah up with the ropes and brought him up from the cistern, and Jeremiah stayed in the court of the guard.

Zedekiah Sends for Jeremiah

14 Then King Zedekiah sent and had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance that is in the house of Yahweh; and the king said to Jeremiah, “I am going to ask you something; do not hide anything from me.” 15 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, will you not certainly put me to death? Besides, if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me.” 16 But King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah in secret saying, “As Yahweh lives, who made this life for us, surely I will not put you to death, nor will I give you over to the hand of these men who are seeking your life.” 17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says Yahweh God of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘If you will indeed go out to the officers of the king of Babylon, then you will live, this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will live. 18 But if you will not go out to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city will be given over to the hand of the Chaldeans; and they will burn it with fire, and you yourself will not escape from their hand.’” 19 Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am anxious because of the Jews who have gone over to the Chaldeans, lest they give me over into their hand and they deal severely with me.” 20 But Jeremiah said, “They will not give you over. Please listen to the voice of Yahweh in what I am saying to you, that it may go well with you and you may live. 21 But if you keep refusing to go out, this is the word which Yahweh has shown me: 22 ‘And behold, all of the women who have remained in the house of the king of Judah are going to be brought out to the officers of the king of Babylon; and behold, those women will say,

“Your close friends

Have misled and overpowered you;

While your feet were sunk in the mud,

They turned back.”

23 And they will also bring out all your wives and your sons to the Chaldeans, and you yourself will not escape from their hand, but will be seized by the hand of the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned with fire.’” 24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no man know about these words and you will not die. 25 But if the officials hear that I have talked with you and come to you and say to you, ‘Tell us now what you said to the king and what the king said to you; do not hide it from us, and we will not put you to death,’ 26 then you are to say to them, ‘I was presenting my petition before the king, not to make me return to the house of Jonathan to die there.’” 27 Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him. So he told them in accordance with all these words which the king had commanded; and they ceased speaking with him since the conversation had not been overheard. 28 So Jeremiah stayed in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was captured.

The Walls of Jerusalem Torn Down

Now when Jerusalem was captured in the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his military force came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it; 2 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the city was breached. 3 Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came in and sat down at the Middle Gate: Nergal-sar-ezer, Samgar-nebu, Sar-sekim the Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag, and all the rest of the officials of the king of Babylon. 4 Now it happened that when Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, they fled and went out of the city at night by way of the king’s garden through the gate between the two walls; and he went out toward the Arabah. 5 But the military force of the Chaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and they took him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he spoke judgment on him. 6 Then the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes at Riblah; the king of Babylon also slaughtered all the nobles of Judah. 7 He then blinded Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him in fetters of bronze to bring him to Babylon. 8 The Chaldeans also burned with fire the house of the king and the houses of the people, and they tore down the walls of Jerusalem. 9 And as for the rest of the people who remained in the city, the defectors who had gone over to him and the rest of the people who remained, Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard took them away into exile in Babylon. 10 But some of the poorest people who had nothing, Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had them remain in the land of Judah and gave them vineyards and fields at that time.

Jeremiah Delivered

11 Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave a command about Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, saying, 12 “Take him and set your eyes to look after him and do nothing harmful to him, but rather deal with him just as he speaks to you.” 13 So Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard sent word, along with Nebushazban the Rab-saris and Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag and all the leading officers of the king of Babylon; 14 they even sent and took Jeremiah out of the court of the guard and gave him over to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to take him home. So he stayed among the people. 15 Now the word of Yahweh had come to Jeremiah while he was confined in the court of the guard, saying, 16 “Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Behold, I am about to bring My words on this city for calamity and not for prosperity; and they will take place before you on that day. 17 But I will deliver you on that day,” declares Yahweh, “and you will not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are terrified. 18 For I will certainly provide you escape, and you will not fall by the sword; but you will have your own life as spoil because you have trusted in Me,” declares Yahweh.’”