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Jeremiah Thrown into the Cistern

¹ Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, Jucal the ^(C1)son of Shelemiah, and ^(C2)Pashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people, saying,² "This is what the LORD says: 'Anyone who ^(C1)stays in this city will die by the ^(C2)sword, by famine, or by plague; but anyone who surrenders to the Chaldeans will live and have his own ^(C3)life as plunder, and stay alive.'³ "This is what the LORD says: 'This city will certainly be ^(C1)handed over to the army of the king of Babylon and he will capture it.'"⁴ Then the ^(C1)officials said to the king, "Please have this man put to death, since he is ^(F1)(C2)discouraging the men of war who are left in this city and ^(F2)all the people, by speaking words like these to them; for this man ^(C3)is not seeking the well-being of this people, but rather their harm."⁵ And King Zedekiah said, "Behold, he is in your ^(F1)hands; for the king ^(C1)can do nothing against you."⁶ So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the ^(C1)cistern of Malchijah the king's son, which was in the courtyard of the guardhouse; and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. Now in the cistern there was no water but only ^(C2)mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud.⁷ But ^(C1)Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a ^(F1)(C2)eunuch, while he was in the king's palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the cistern. Now the king was sitting at the ^(C3)Gate of Benjamin;⁸ and Ebed-melech went out from the king's palace and spoke to the king, saying,⁹ "My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet whom they have thrown into the cistern; and he will die right where he is because of the famine, for there is ^(C1)no more bread in the city."¹⁰ Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, "Take thirty men from here ^(F1)under your authority and bring Jeremiah the prophet up from the cistern before he dies."¹¹ So Ebed-melech took the men under his ^(F1)authority 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 out with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern, and Jeremiah stayed in the ^(C1)courtyard of the guardhouse.

Zedekiah Seeks an Answer from God

¹⁴ Then King Zedekiah ^(C1)sent word and ^(F1)had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance that is in the house of the LORD; and the king said to Jeremiah, "I am going to ^(C2)ask you something; do not hide anything from me."¹⁵ And Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "^(C1)If I tell you, will you not certainly put me to death? Besides, if I give you advice, you will not listen to me."¹⁶ But King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah in ^(C1)secret, saying, "As the LORD lives, who made this ^(F1)(C2)life for us, I certainly will not put you to death, nor will I hand you over to ^(C3)these men who are seeking your ^(F1)life."

¹⁷ So Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "This is what the LORD ^(C1)God of armies, the ^(C2)God of Israel says: 'If you will indeed ^(C3)surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then ^(F1)you will live, this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will ^(F2)survive.¹⁸ 'But if you do ^(C1)not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city ^(C2)will be handed over to the Chaldeans; and they will burn it with fire, and ^(C3)you yourself will not escape from their hands.'"¹⁹ Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "I am ^(C1)in fear of the Jews who have ^(C2)deserted to the Chaldeans, for they may hand me over to them, and they will ^(C3)abuse me."²⁰ But Jeremiah said, "They will not turn you over. Please ^(F1)(C1)obey the LORD in what I am saying to you, so that it may go ^(C2)well for you and ^(F2)(C3)you may live.²¹ "But if you keep refusing to surrender, this is the word which the LORD has shown me:²² 'Behold, all of the ^(C1)women who have been left in the palace of the king of Judah are going to be brought out to the officers of the king of Babylon; and those women will say,

"^(F1)Your close friends
Have misled and overpowered you;
While your feet were sunk in the mire,
They turned back."

²⁴ Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "Let no one know about these words, and you will not die.²⁵ "But if the ^(C1)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 ^(C1)presenting my plea 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 reported to them in accordance with all these words which the king had commanded; and they stopped speaking with him, since the ^(F1)conversation had not been overheard.²⁸ So Jeremiah ^(C1)stayed in the courtyard of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was captured.