Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, Jucal the ^ason of Shelemiah, and ^bPashhur 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 ^astays in this city will die by the ^bsword, by famine, or by plague; but anyone who surrenders to the Chaldeans will live and have his own ^clife as plunder, and stay alive.’ 3 This is what the LORD says: ‘This city will certainly be ^ahanded over to the army of the king of Babylon and he will capture it.’” 4 Then the ^aofficials said to the king, “Please have this man put to death, since he is ^1bdiscouraging the men of war who are left in this city and ²all the people, by speaking words like these to them; for this man ^cis not seeking the well-being of this people, but rather their harm.” 5 And King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your ¹hands; for the king ^acan do nothing against you.” 6 So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the ^acistern 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 ^bmud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud. 7 But ^aEbed-melech the Ethiopian, a ^1beunuch, while he was in the king’s palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the cistern. Now the king was sitting at the ^cGate 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 ^ano more bread in the city.” 10 Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take thirty men from here ¹under your authority and bring Jeremiah the prophet up from the cistern before he dies.” 11 So Ebed-melech took the men under his ¹authority 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 ^acourtyard of the guardhouse.

14 Then King Zedekiah ^asent word and ¹had 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 ^bask you something; do not hide anything from me.” 15 And Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “^aIf 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 ^asecret, saying, “As the LORD lives, who made this ^1blife for us, I certainly will not put you to death, nor will I hand you over to ^cthese men who are seeking your ²life.”

17 So Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the LORD ^aGod of armies, the ^bGod of Israel says: ‘If you will indeed ^csurrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then ¹you will live, this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will ²survive. 18 But if you do ^anot surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city ^bwill be handed over to the Chaldeans; and they will burn it with fire, and ^cyou yourself will not escape from their hands.’” 19 Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am ^ain fear of the Jews who have ^bdeserted to the Chaldeans, for they may hand me over to them, and they will ^cabuse me.” 20 But Jeremiah said, “They will not turn you over. Please ^1aobey the LORD in what I am saying to you, so that it may go ^bwell for you and ^2cyou 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 ^awomen 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,“¹Your close friendsHave misled and overpowered you;While your feet were sunk in the mire,They turned back.” 23 They are also going to bring out all your wives and your ^asons to the Chaldeans, and ^byou yourself will not escape from their hand, but will be seized by the hand of the king of Babylon, and ^cthis city will be burned with fire.’”

24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no one know about these words, and you will not die. 25 But if the ^aofficials 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 ^apresenting 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 ¹conversation had not been overheard. 28 So Jeremiah ^astayed in the courtyard of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was captured.