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Jeremiah 38:1-28 — Jeremiah Thrown into a Cistern

Jer.38.1-28

¹Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people, saying, ²Thus says the LORD: Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but whoever goes out to the Chaldeans will live, and his life will be to him as plunder, and he will live. ³Thus says the LORD: This city will surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it. ⁴Then the officials said to the king, “Please let this man be put to death, for by speaking such words to them he is discouraging the men of war who remain in this city, and all the people as well. This man is not seeking the welfare of this people, but their harm.” ⁵King Zedekiah said, “Here he is in your hands, for the king can do nothing against you.” ⁶So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Malchijah the king's son, which was in the courtyard of the guard . They lowered Jeremiah with ropes. There was no water in the cistern, only mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud. ⁷Now Ebed-melech the Cushite, a court official who was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. The king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate, ⁸so Ebed-melech went out from the king's house and spoke to the king, saying, ⁹“My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet by throwing him into the cistern. He will die there from hunger, for there is no bread left in the city.” ¹⁰Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Cushite, saying, “Take thirty men with you from here, and bring Jeremiah the prophet up from the cistern before he dies.” ¹¹So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went into the king's house, to a place below the storehouse, and took from there worn-out rags and worn-out clothes, and lowered them by ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern. ¹²Ebed-melech the Cushite said to Jeremiah, “Please put these worn-out rags and clothes under your arms, beneath the ropes.” And Jeremiah did so. ¹³So they pulled Jeremiah up with the ropes and brought him up from the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard. ¹⁴Then King Zedekiah sent and had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the Third Entrance, which is in the house of the LORD. And the king said to Jeremiah, “I am going to ask you something; hide nothing from me.” ¹⁵Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, you will surely put me to death, will you not? And if I advise you, you will not listen to me.” ¹⁶Then King Zedekiah swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, “As the LORD lives, who gave us this life, I will not put you to death, nor will I hand you over to these men who are seeking your life.” ¹⁷Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "Thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: If you indeed go out to the officials of the king of Babylon, then you will live, this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will live. ¹⁸But if you do not go out to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city will be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they will burn it with fire, and you will not escape from their hand." ¹⁹But King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Chaldeans, lest I be handed over into their hand and they mistreat me.” ²⁰Jeremiah said, "They will not hand you over. Please obey the voice of the LORD in what I am speaking to you, so that it may go well with you and you may live. ²¹But if you refuse to go out, this is the word that the LORD has shown me: ²²Look, all the women who remain in the house of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon, and they will say: “Your trusted friends misled you and overcame you. Your feet sank into the mire; they turned back.” ²³All your wives and your sons will be brought out to the Chaldeans, and you yourself will not escape from their hand, but you will be seized by the hand of the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned with fire because of you ." ²⁴Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "Let no one know of these words, and you will not die. ²⁵If the officials hear that I have spoken with you, and they come to you and say, 'Please tell us 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,' ²⁶then you shall say to them, 'I was presenting my plea before the king, that he not send me back to the house of Jonathan to die there.'" ²⁷Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him, and he told them all these words that the king had commanded. So they stopped pressing him, for the matter had not been overheard. ²⁸And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured. Now when Jerusalem was captured—

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4/11/2026

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