Jeremiah 38 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
~588 to 587 BC, the final months of the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem under Zedekiah
Location
Jerusalem, moving between the royal officials' quarters, an empty water cistern in the palace guard court, and a private meeting place at one of the temple entrances
Audience
Judeans and exiles reading a record of how their leaders treated the prophet who told them the truth about the siege
Situation
Court officials accuse Jeremiah of destroying the soldiers' will to fight and lower him into a muddy cistern to die. Ebed-Melech, a court servant from Cush in Africa, appeals to the king and pulls him out with ropes and rags, after which Zedekiah secretly asks Jeremiah what to do and is told to surrender to Babylon and live.
Key Background
A cistern was a bottle-shaped pit cut into rock to store rainwater, and an empty one made a convenient makeshift dungeon with soft mud at the bottom and no way to climb out. Zedekiah's fear of the Judeans who had already defected to the Babylonians shows how divided the city had become, with a surrender party and a resistance party pulling against each other. Court eunuchs and foreign-born servants like Ebed-Melech held real access to the king, which is why one of the lowest-status figures in the story is the only one able to save Jeremiah's life.
Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malkijah heard what had been telling all the people:
"This is what says: Anyone who stays in this city will die — by war, by or by But anyone who goes out and surrenders to the will live. They'll escape with their lives and survive."
"This is what Yahweh says: This city will definitely be handed over to the army of Babylon's king, and he will capture it."
So the said to the king, "This man needs to be put to death. He's destroying the of the soldiers still left in this city and all the people by saying things like this. This man isn't working for the good of the people — he's working for their ruin."
King said, "Look, he's in your hands. The king can't do anything to stop you."
So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the of Malkijah, the king's son, which was in the of the They lowered Jeremiah down with ropes. There was no water in the — only mud — and Jeremiah sank into the mud.
But the a in the royal palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the cistern. While the king was sitting at the
Ebed-Melech left the palace and went to the king. He said,
"My lord the king, these men have done something terrible in everything they've done to Jeremiah the They've thrown him into the cistern, and he's going to die of starvation right there, because there's no more bread left in the city."
Then the king commanded Ebed-Melech the Cushite, "Take thirty men from here with you and pull Jeremiah the prophet up out of the cistern before he dies."
So Ebed-Melech took the men with him and went to the palace, to a room under the From there he took worn-out rags and old clothes and lowered them down to Jeremiah in the cistern with ropes.
Ebed-Melech the Cushite called down to Jeremiah, "Put these worn-out rags and old clothes under your arms, under the ropes." And Jeremiah did.
They pulled Jeremiah up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guard.
Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and had him brought to the third entrance of Yahweh's The king said to Jeremiah, "I'm going to ask you something. Don't hide anything from me."
Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "If I tell you the truth, you'll have me killed. And if I give you advice, you won't listen to me anyway."
But King Zedekiah an to Jeremiah in secret: "As as — the one who gave us this life — I won't kill you, and I won't hand you over to the men who want you dead."
Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "This is what Yahweh, the who the of Israel, says: If you surrender to the officials of Babylon's king, you'll live, and this city won't be burned down. You and your family will survive."
"But if you don't surrender to the officials of Babylon's king, this city will be handed over to the Babylonians. They'll burn it to the ground, and you won't escape them."
King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "I'm afraid of the who have already deserted to the Babylonians. They might hand me over to them, and they'll me."
Jeremiah answered, "They won't hand you over. Listen — really listen — to Yahweh's through what I'm telling you, and it will go well for you. You'll live."
"But if you refuse to surrender, this is what Yahweh has shown me:"
"All the women left in the palace of Judah's king will be brought out to the officials of Babylon's king. And those women will say to you: 'Your own misled you and overpowered you. Your feet are stuck in the and they've abandoned you.'"
"All your wives and children will be brought out to the Babylonians. You yourself won't escape them. You'll be seized by the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned to the ground."
Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "Don't let anyone find out about this conversation, or you'll die."
"If the officials hear that I talked with you and come to you demanding, 'Tell us what you said to the king, and what the king said to you — don't hide anything from us or we'll kill you,'"
"then tell them, 'I was bringing my plea before the king, begging him not to send me back to to die there.'"
And sure enough, all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him. He told them exactly what the king had instructed him to say. So they left him alone, because no one had overheard the actual conversation.
Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard until the day was And he was still there when fell.