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Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashur, Jucal son of Shelemiahm, and Pashur son of Malchiah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people: 2 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Whoever remains in this city will die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but those who surrender to the Chaldeans will live; his life will remain as a prize of war to him, and he will live’. 3 This is what the Lord says: ‘This city will certainly be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon, and they will capture it’.”
4 Then the officials said to the king, “This man ought to be put to death, for he is weakening the morale of the soldiers who remain in this city and all of the people by speaking such words to them. For this man is not seeking the welfare of this people, but their ruin.”
5 King Zedekiah said, “He is in your hands, for the king can do nothing to oppose you.” 6 So they took Jeremiah and put him into the cistern of Malchiah the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard, and they lowered Jeremiah down with ropes. There was no water in the cistern, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down in the mud.
7 Now Ebed-Melech, a Cushite, a eunuch employed in the king’s palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. So while the king was sitting at the Benjamin Gate, 8 Ebed-Melech went from the king’s palace and said to the king, 9 “My lord the king, these men have been evil in all they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. They have thrown him into a cistern where he will die of hunger, for there is no bread left in the city.”
10 Then the king commanded Ebed-Melech the Cushite, “Take thirty men from here with you, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.”
11 So Ebed-Melech took the men with him and went to the palace of the king to room below the storehouse. They took from there some old rags and worn-out clothes and let them down with ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern. 12 Ebed-Melech the Cushite said to Jeremiah, “Put these old rags and worn-out clothes between your armpits and the ropes.” Jeremiah did so, 13 and they pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
14 Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and had him brought to him at the third entrance of the House of the Lord. The king said to Jeremiah, “I am going to ask you something; do not hide anything from me.”
15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, will you not put me to death? And if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me anyway.”
16 So King Zedekiah swore an oath privately to Jeremiah, saying, “As the Lord lives, who has given us our lives, I will not put you to death, nor will I give you into the hands of these men who seek your life.
17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord, the God of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then you will be spared, this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will live. 18 But if you do not surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city will be handed over to the Chaldeans. They will burn it with fire, and you will not escape from their hand’.”
19 But King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Judeans who have defected to the Chaldeans, for I might be handed over to them, and they abuse me.”
20 But Jeremiah said, “They will not hand you over. Please obey the voice of the Lord in what I say to you, so that it will go well with you, and your life will be spared. 21 But if you refuse to surrender, this is the outcome that the Lord has shown me: 22 ‘All the women who are left in the palace of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon, and those women will say:
“Your trusted friends misled you,
and they have overcome you.
Your feet have sunk in the mire,
and your friends have deserted you”.
23 ‘All your wives and children will be brought out to the Chaldeans. You yourself will not escape from their hands, but you will be seized by the king of Babylon and cause this city to be burned with fire’.”
24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Do not let anyone know of these words, or you will die. 25 If the officials hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you and say, ‘Tell us what you said to the king; do not conceal it from us, and we will not put you to death. And what did the king say to you also?’ 26 then you must say to them, ‘I presented my petition before the king, that he would not send me back to Jonathan’s house to die there’.”
27 When all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him, he spoke to them using the exact words that the king had commanded. Then they stopped questioning him, for the conversation with the king had not been overheard. 28 And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was captured. So he was there when Jerusalem fell.