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          DASV: Jeremiah 38    

1 Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur,
Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah,
heard the words that Jeremiah spoke to all the people, saying,
2 "This is what the LORD says, 'Anyone who stays in this city
will die by the sword, famine, or plague; but anyone who
surrenders to the Chaldeans will live, and their lives
will be their reward and they will live.'"
3 "This is what the LORD says, 'This city will surely be
given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and
he will capture it.'"
4 Then the princes said to the king, "Please, let this man
be put to death; because he is demoralizing the soldiers
and all the people who remain in this city by telling them
such things, for this man does not seek the welfare of
this people, but their harm."
5 Zedekiah the king said, "He is in your hand; for the king
can do nothing to stop you."
6 So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of
Malchijah the king's son, that was in the courtyard of
the guard. They let down Jeremiah with ropes. There was
no water in the cistern, only mud and Jeremiah sank
into the muck.

7 Now when Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, who was
in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah
in the cistern. While the king was sitting in the gate
of Benjamin,
8 Ebed-melech went out of the king's house, and spoke
to the king, saying,
9 "My lord the king, these men were wrong in what they
did to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have thrown
into the cistern. He is likely to die of hunger there
because there is no food left in the city."
10 Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian,
saying, "Take with you thirty men from here and pull
up Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern, before
he dies."
11 So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went into
the palace of the king under the treasury, and got
some old rags and worn out clothes, and let them
down by ropes into the cistern to Jeremiah. 12 Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, "Put
these rags and worn out clothes under your armpits
to cushion the ropes." So Jeremiah did it.
13 Then they drew up Jeremiah with the ropes, and
pulled him up out of the cistern but Jeremiah still
was confined to the courtyard of the guard.

14 Then Zedekiah the king sent and brought Jeremiah
the prophet to him at the third entrance of the house
of the LORD. The king said to Jeremiah, "I want to
ask you something don't hide anything from me."
15 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "If I tell you,
won't you kill me? If I give you advice, you will
not listen to me anyway."
16 So Zedekiah the king secretly swore to Jeremiah,
"As the LORD lives, who gives us breath, I will not
put you to death, nor I will hand you over to these
men who are seeking your life."
17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "This is what the
LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, says: 'If
you will surrender to the king of Babylon's officials,
then your life will be spared, and this city will not
be burned down; both you and your family will live.
18 But if you refuse to surrender to the king of Babylon's
officials, then this city will be given into the hand of
the Chaldeans, and they will burn it down, and you will
not escape from their hand.'"
19 Zedekiah the king responded to Jeremiah, "I am afraid
of the Judeans who have deserted to the Chaldeans,
lest the Chaldeans deliver me into their hands,
and they torture me."
20 But Jeremiah said, "They will not hand you over
to them. Please obey the voice of the LORD, in what
I just told you so that it may go well for you, and
your life may be spared.
21 But if you refuse to surrender, this is the word
that the LORD has showed me:
22 All the women that are left in the king of Judah's
palace will be brought out to the king of Babylon's
officials, and those women will say, 'Your trusted
friends have betrayed you and have overcome you. Now
your feet are stuck in the mire, they have abandoned you.'
23 They will bring out all your wives and children to
the Chaldeans. You will not escape out of their hand,
but you will be captured by the king of Babylon
and this city will be burned down."

24 Then said Zedekiah to Jeremiah, "Don't let anyone
know about this conversation, and you will not die."
25 But if the officials hear that I have talked with you,
and they come to you, and demand from you, 'Tell us now
what you have told the king. Don't hide it from us,
and we will not put you to death. Also tell us what
the king said to you.'
26 Then just tell them, 'I presented my pleas before
the king, so that he would not force me to return to
Jonathan's house to die there.'"
27 Then all the officials did in fact come to Jeremiah
and ask him, but he told them exactly what the king
had told him to. So they stopped questioning him for
they were unaware of what was said.
28 So Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guard
until the day that Jerusalem was captured.

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