1   Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchiah heard what Jeremiah was saying to all the people: 2   These are the words of the Lord: Whoever remains in this city shall die by sword, by famine, or by pestilence, but whoever goes out to surrender to the Chaldaeans shall survive; he shall survive, he shall take home his life and nothing more. ^note 3   These are the words of the Lord: This city will fall into the hands of the king of Babylon's army, and they will capture it. 4   Then the officers said to the king, ‘The man must be put to death. By talking in this way he is discouraging the soldiers and the rest of the people left in the city. He is pursuing not the people's welfare but their ruin.’ 5   King Zedekiah said, ‘He is in your hands; the king is powerless against you.’ 6   So they took

Events under Jehoiakim and Zedekiah Jeremiah and threw him into the pit, ^note in the court of the guard-house, letting him down with ropes. There was no water in the pit, only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud. 7    8   Now Ebed-melech the Cushite, a eunuch, who was in the palace, heard that they had thrown Jeremiah into the pit and went to tell the king, who was seated in the Benjamin Gate. 9   ‘Your majesty,’ he said, ‘these men have shown great wickedness in their treatment of the prophet Jeremiah. They have thrown him into the pit, and when there is no more bread in the city he will die of hunger where he lies.’ 10   Thereupon the king told Ebed-melech the Cushite to take three ^note men with him and hoist Jeremiah out of the pit before he died. 11   So Ebed-melech went to the palace with the men and took some tattered, cast-off clothes from the wardrobe ^note and let them down with ropes to Jeremiah in the pit. 12   Ebed-melech the Cushite said to Jeremiah, ‘Put these old clothes under your armpits to ease the ropes.’ Jeremiah did this, and they pulled him up out of the pit with the ropes; 13   and he remained in the court of the guard-house.

14   King Zedekiah had the prophet Jeremiah brought to him by the third entrance to the Lord's house and said to him, ‘I want to ask you something; hide nothing from me.’ 15   Jeremiah answered, ‘If I speak out, you will certainly put me to death; if I offer you any advice, you will not take it.’ 16   But King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah privately, ‘By the life of the Lord who gave us our lives, I will not put you to death, nor will I hand you over to these men who are seeking to take your life.’ 17   Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, ‘These are the words of the Lord the God of Hosts, the God of Israel: If you go out and surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, you shall live and this city shall not be burnt down; you and your family shall live. 18   But if you do not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, the city shall fall into the hands of the Chaldaeans, and they shall burn it down, and you will not escape them.’ 19   King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, ‘I am afraid of the Judaeans who have gone over to the enemy. I fear the Chaldaeans will give me up to them and I shall be roughly handled.’ 20   Jeremiah answered, ‘They will not give you up. If you obey the Lord in everything I tell you, all will be well with you and you shall live. 21   But if you refuse to go out and surrender, this is what the Lord has shown me: 22   all the women left in the king of Judah's palace will be led out to the officers of the king of Babylon and they will say:

  Your own friends have misled you
    and have been too strong for you;
  they have let your feet sink in the mud
    and have turned away and left you.

Events under Jehoiakim and Zedekiah

23   All your women and children will be led out to the Chaldaeans, and you will not escape; you will be seized by the king of Babylon and this city will be burnt down.’ 24   Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, ‘Let no one know about this, and you shall not be put to death. 25   If the officers hear that I have been speaking with you and they come to you and say, “Tell us what you said to the king and what he said to you; hide nothing from us, and we will not put you to death”, 26   then answer, “I was presenting a petition to the king not to send me back to the house of Jonathan to die there.”’ 27   The officers all came to Jeremiah and questioned him, and he said to them just what the king had told him to say; so their talk came to an end and they were none the wiser. 28   Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard-house till the day Jerusalem fell. ^note

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