Jeremiah 38
38
Jeremiah Is Held Prisoner in a Dry Well
1One day, Shephatiah, Gedaliah, Jehucal,#38.1 Jehucal: The Hebrew text has “Jucal,” another form of the name. and Pashhur#38.1 Shephatiah, Gedaliah, Jehucal, and Pashhur: Hebrew “Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchiah.” heard me tell the people of Judah 2-3that the Lord had said, “If you stay here in Jerusalem, you will die in battle or from disease or hunger, and the Babylonian army will capture the city anyway. But if you surrender to the Babylonians, they will let you live.”
4So the four of them went to the king and said, “You should put Jeremiah to death, because he is making the soldiers and everyone else lose hope. He isn't trying to help our people; he's trying to harm them.”
5Zedekiah replied, “Do what you want with him. I can't stop you.”
6Then they took me back to the courtyard of the palace guards and let me down with ropes into the well that belonged to Malchiah, the king's son. There was no water in the well, but I sank down in the mud.
7-8Ebedmelech from Ethiopia#38.7,8 Ethiopia: The Hebrew text has “Cush,” a region south of Egypt that included parts of the present countries of Ethiopia and Sudan. was an official at the palace, and he heard what they had done to me. So he went to speak with King Zedekiah, who was holding court at Benjamin Gate. 9Ebedmelech said, “Your Majesty, Jeremiah is a prophet, and those men were wrong to throw him into a well. And when Jerusalem runs out of food, Jeremiah will starve to death down there.”
10Zedekiah answered, “Take 30#38.10 30: Most Hebrew manuscripts; one Hebrew manuscript “three.” of my soldiers and pull Jeremiah out before he dies.”
11Ebedmelech and the soldiers went to the palace and got some rags from the room under the treasury. He used ropes to lower them into the well. 12Then he said, “Put these rags under your arms so the ropes won't hurt you.” After I did, 13the men pulled me out. And from then on, I was kept in the courtyard of the palace guards.
King Zedekiah Questions Jeremiah
14King Zedekiah#38.14 Zedekiah: See the note at 1.3. had me brought to his private entrance#38.14 his private entrance: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. to the temple, and he said, “I'm going to ask you something, and I want to know the truth.”
15“Why?” I replied. “You won't listen, and you might even have me killed!”
16He said, “I swear in the name of the living Lord our Creator that I won't have you killed. No one else can hear what we say, and I won't let anyone kill you.”
17Then I told him that the Lord had said: “Zedekiah, I am the Lord God All-Powerful, the God of Israel. I promise that if you surrender to King Nebuchadnezzar's#38.17 Nebuchadnezzar's: See the note at 21.2. officers, you and your family won't be killed, and Jerusalem won't be burned down. 18But if you don't surrender, I will let the Babylonian army capture Jerusalem and burn it down, and you will be taken prisoner.”
19Zedekiah answered, “I can't surrender to the Babylonians. I'm too afraid of the people of Judah who have already joined them. The Babylonians might hand me over to them, and they would torture me.”
20I said, “If you will just obey the Lord, the Babylonians won't hand you over to those Jews. You will be allowed to live, and all will go well for you. 21But the Lord has shown me that if you refuse to obey, 22then the women of your palace will be taken prisoner by Nebuchadnezzar's officials. And those women will say to you:
Friends you trusted led you astray.
Now you're trapped in mud,
and those friends you trusted
have all turned away.
23The Babylonian army will take your wives and children captive, you will be taken as a prisoner to the King of Babylonia, and Jerusalem will be burned down.”#38.23 Jerusalem will be burned down: A few Hebrew manuscripts and three ancient translations; most Hebrew manuscripts “you will burn Jerusalem down”; one ancient translation “he will burn Jerusalem down.”
24Zedekiah said, “Jeremiah, if you tell anyone what we have talked about, you might lose your life. 25And I'm sure that if my officials hear about our meeting, they will ask you what we said to each other. They might even threaten to kill you if you don't tell them. 26So if they question you, tell them you were begging me not to send you back to the prison at Jonathan's house, because going back there would kill you.”
27The officials did come and question me about my meeting with the king, and I told them exactly what he had ordered me to say. They never spoke to me about the meeting again, since no one had heard us talking.
28 #
Ez 33.21. I was held in the courtyard of the palace guards until the day Jerusalem was captured.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 38
38
Jeremiah in the Dungeon
1Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, #Jer. 37:3Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and #Jer. 21:1Pashhur the son of Malchiah #Jer. 21:8heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken to all the people, saying, 2“Thus says the Lord: #Jer. 21:9‘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: #Jer. 21:10; 32:3‘This city shall surely be #Jer. 34:2given into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which shall take it.’ ”
4Therefore the princes said to the king, “Please, #Jer. 26:11let this man be put to death, for thus he weakens 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 welfare 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.” 6#Jer. 37:21; Lam. 3:55So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the 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.
7#Jer. 39:16Now Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs, 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 #Jer. 37:21no more bread in the city.” 10Then the king commanded Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take from here thirty men with you, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon before he dies.” 11So Ebed-Melech took the men with him and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took from there old clothes and old rags, and let them down by ropes into the dungeon to Jeremiah. 12Then Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Please put these old clothes and rags under your armpits, under the ropes.” And Jeremiah did so. 13So they pulled Jeremiah up with ropes and lifted him out of the dungeon. And Jeremiah remained #Neh. 3:25; Jer. 37:21; Acts 23:35; 24:27; 28:16, 30in the court of the prison.
Zedekiah’s Fears and Jeremiah’s Advice
14Then Zedekiah the king sent and had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance of the house of the Lord. And the king said to Jeremiah, “I will #Jer. 21:1, 2; 37:17ask you something. Hide nothing from me.”
15Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I declare it to you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.”
16So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, “As the Lord lives, #Num. 16:22; Is. 57:16; Zech. 12:1; (Acts 17:25, 28)who made our very souls, I will not put you to death, nor will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life.”
17Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘If you surely #2 Kin. 24:12surrender #Jer. 39:3to the king of Babylon’s princes, then your soul shall live; this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live. 18But if you do not surrender to the king of Babylon’s princes, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans; they shall burn it with fire, and #Jer. 32:4; 34:3you shall not escape from their hand.’ ”
19And Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have #Jer. 39:9defected to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they #1 Sam. 31:4abuse me.”
20But Jeremiah said, “They shall not deliver you. Please, obey the voice of the Lord which I speak to you. So it shall be #Jer. 40:9well with you, and your soul shall live. 21But if you refuse to surrender, this is the word that the Lord has shown me: 22‘Now behold, all the #Jer. 8:10women who are left in the king of Judah’s house shall be surrendered to the king of Babylon’s princes, and those women shall say:
“Your close friends have set upon you
And prevailed against you;
Your feet have sunk in the mire,
And they have turned away again.”
23‘So they shall surrender all your wives and #Jer. 39:6; 41:10children to the Chaldeans. #Jer. 39:5You shall not escape from their hand, but shall be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon. And you shall cause this city to be burned with fire.’ ”
24Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no one know of these words, and you shall not die. 25But if the princes hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you and say to you, ‘Declare to us now what you have said to the king, and also what the king said to you; do not hide it from us, and we will not put you to death,’ 26then you shall say to them, #Jer. 37:20‘I presented my request before the king, that he would not make me return #Jer. 37:15to Jonathan’s house to die there.’ ”
27Then all the princes came to Jeremiah and asked him. And he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they stopped speaking with him, for the conversation had not been heard. 28Now #(Ps. 23:4); Jer. 37:21; 39:14Jeremiah remained 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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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.