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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Jeremiah 38: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 38
38
Jeremiah Is Thrown into a Well
1Some of the officers heard what Jeremiah was prophesying. They were Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehucal son of Shelemiah and Pashhur son of Malkijah. Jeremiah was telling all the people this message: 2“This is what the Lord says: ‘Everyone who stays in Jerusalem will die in war. Or he will die of hunger or terrible diseases. But everyone who surrenders to the Babylonian army will live. They will escape with their lives and live.’ 3And this is what the Lord says: ‘This city of Jerusalem will surely be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon. He will capture this city!’”
4Then the officers said to the king, “Jeremiah must be put to death! He is making the soldiers who are still in the city become discouraged. He is discouraging everyone by the things he is saying. He does not want good to happen to us. He wants to ruin the people of Jerusalem.”
5King Zedekiah said to them, “Jeremiah is in your control. I cannot do anything to stop you!”
6So the officers took Jeremiah and put him into the well of Malkijah, the king’s son. That well was in the courtyard of the guards. The officers used ropes to lower Jeremiah into the well. It did not have any water in it, only mud. And Jeremiah sank down into the mud.
7But Ebed-Melech heard that the officers had put Jeremiah into the well. Ebed-Melech was a Cushite, and he was a eunuch in the palace. King Zedekiah was sitting at the Benjamin Gate. 8So Ebed-Melech left the palace and went to the king. Ebed-Melech said, 9“My master and king, the rulers have acted in an evil way. They have treated Jeremiah the prophet badly! They have thrown him into a well! They have left him there to die! When there is no more bread in the city, he will starve.”
10Then King Zedekiah commanded Ebed-Melech the Cushite: “Ebed-Melech, take 30 men from the palace with you. Go and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the well before he dies.”
11So Ebed-Melech took the men with him. And he went to a room under the storeroom in the palace. He took some old rags and worn-out clothes from that room. Then he let those rags down with some ropes to Jeremiah in the well. 12Ebed-Melech the Cushite said to Jeremiah, “Put these old rags and worn-out clothes under your arms. They will be pads for the ropes.” So Jeremiah did as Ebed-Melech said. 13The men pulled Jeremiah up with the ropes and lifted him out of the well. And Jeremiah stayed under guard in the courtyard.
Zedekiah Questions Jeremiah
14Then King Zedekiah sent someone to get Jeremiah the prophet. He had Jeremiah brought to the third entrance to the Temple of the Lord. Then the king said to Jeremiah, “I am going to ask you something. Do not hide anything from me. But tell me everything honestly.”
15Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I give you an answer, you will probably kill me. And even if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.”
16But King Zedekiah made a secret promise to Jeremiah. He said, “As surely as the Lord lives who has given us breath and life, I will not kill you. And I promise not to give you to the officers who want to kill you.”
17Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord God of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘You must surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon. Then your life will be saved. And Jerusalem will not be burned down. And you and your family will live. 18You must not refuse to surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon. If you do, Jerusalem will be given to the Babylonian army. They will burn Jerusalem down. And you will not escape from them.’”
19Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I’m afraid of some of the Jews. They have already gone over to the side of the Babylonian army. I’m afraid the Babylonians may hand me over to them. And they will treat me badly.”
20But Jeremiah answered, “The Babylonians will not hand you over to the Jews. Obey the Lord by doing what I tell you. Then things will go well for you. And your life will be saved. 21But if you refuse to surrender to the Babylonians, the Lord has shown me what will happen. 22All the women left in the palace of the king of Judah will be brought out. They will be taken to the important officers of the king of Babylon. Your women will make fun of you with this song:
‘Your good friends led you the wrong way and were stronger than you.
Those were friends that you trusted.
Your feet are stuck in the mud.
Your friends have left you.’
23“All your wives and children will be brought out. They will be given to the Babylonian army. You yourself will not even escape from them. You will be taken prisoner by the king of Babylon. And Jerusalem will be burned down.”
24Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Do not tell anyone that I have been talking to you. If you do, you will die. 25Those officers might find out that I talked to you. Then they will come to you and say, ‘Tell us what you said to King Zedekiah. And tell us what King Zedekiah said to you. Don’t keep any secrets from us. If you don’t tell us everything, we will kill you.’ 26If they ask you, tell them this: ‘I was begging the king not to send me back to Jonathan’s house to die.’”
27The officers did come to question Jeremiah. So he told them everything the king had ordered him to say. Then the officers said no more to Jeremiah. This was because no one had heard what Jeremiah and the king had discussed.
28So Jeremiah stayed under guard in the courtyard until the day Jerusalem was captured.
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