Verse
BSB
Berean Standard Bible
KJV
King James Version
Now
Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur
, Jucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur
son of Malchijah
heard that Jeremiah had been
telling
all the people :
Then
Shephatiah the
son of Mattan, and
Gedaliah the
son of Pashur
, and
Jucal the
son of Shelemiah, and Pashur
the
son of Malchiah,
heard the
words
that Jeremiah had spoken
unto
all the people ,
saying,
“This
is
what
the LORD says:
Whoever
stays
in this city will
die by sword and
famine and
plague
, but whoever
surrenders
to the Chaldeans will
live; he will
retain
his life like
a spoil
of
war
, and he
will
live.
Thus
saith
the LORD ,
He
that
remaineth
in this city shall
die by the
sword ,
by
the
famine, and
by
the
pestilence:
but he
that
goeth
forth
to the Chaldeans shall
live; for
he shall
have
his life for
a prey
, and shall
live.
This
is
what
the LORD says:
This city will
surely be delivered
into the hands
of
the
army
of the king of Babylon
, and
he
will
capture
it. ”
Thus
saith
the LORD ,
This city shall
surely be given
into the hand
of the king of Babylon's
army
, which
shall
take
it.
Then
the officials
said to
the king, “
This man ought
to die,
for he is
discouraging
the warriors
who
remain in this city, as
well
as
all the people, by
speaking such words to
them ;
this man is
not seeking
the well-being
of these
people, but their
ruin
. ”
Therefore
the princes
said unto
the king, We
beseech
thee,
let
this man be
put
to death:
for thus
he weakeneth
the hands
of
the
men
of
war
that
remain in this city, and
the
hands
of
all the people, in
speaking such words unto
them :
for
this man seeketh
not the welfare
of this
people, but the
hurt
.
“Here
he
is,”
replied
King
Zedekiah .
“
He is in your hands,
since
the king can do nothing
to
stop
you. ”
Then
Zedekiah the
king
said,
Behold,
he is in your hand:
for
the king is
not
he
that
can do any
thing
against
you.
So
they
took Jeremiah and dropped
him into the cistern
of Malchiah ,
the king’s
son, which
was in the courtyard
of the guard.
They lowered
Jeremiah with ropes
into
the cistern,
which
had
no water but
only
mud
, and
Jeremiah sank
down
into
the mud
.
Then
took they
Jeremiah ,
and cast
him into the dungeon
of Malchiah the son of
Hammelech
, that
was in the court
of the prison:
and
they let
down
Jeremiah with cords.
And
in
the dungeon
there
was
no water, but
mire:
so
Jeremiah sunk
in
the mire
.
Now Ebed-melech
the Cushite
, a
court
official
in the royal
palace
, heard that Jeremiah
had been
put into
the cistern.
While
the king was
sitting at
the Gate of Benjamin ,
Now when
Ebedmelech
the Ethiopian
, one
of
the
eunuchs
which
was
in the king's
house
, heard that they
had put Jeremiah
in
the dungeon;
the king then
sitting in
the gate of Benjamin ;
Ebed-melech
went out from
the king’s
palace
and said
to the king,
Ebedmelech
went forth
out of
the king's
house,
and spake
to the king saying
,
“
My lord the king, these men have acted
wickedly
in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet .
They have dropped
him
into the cistern,
where
he will
starve
to death,
for there is no more bread in the city. ”
My lord the king, these men have done
evil
in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet ,
whom
they have cast
into the dungeon;
and
he is
like
to die
for hunger
in
the
place
where
he
is:
for
there is no more bread in the city.
So
the king commanded Ebed-melech
the Cushite
, “
Take thirty men from
here
with you
and pull
Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern
before he dies
. ”
Then
the king commanded Ebedmelech
the Ethiopian
, saying,
Take from
hence
thirty men with thee,
and take
up
Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon,
before he die
.
Then
Ebed-melech
took the men with him and went to
the king’s
palace,
to
a
place
below
the storehouse.
From
there
he
took old rags
and worn-out
clothes
and lowered
them with
ropes
to Jeremiah in
the
cistern
.
So
Ebedmelech
took the men with him ,
and went into
the house
of
the king
under
the
treasury,
and
took thence
old cast
clouts
and old
rotten
rags,
and let
them down
by
cords
into
the
dungeon
to Jeremiah.
Ebed-melech
the Cushite
cried
out
to
Jeremiah, “
Put these worn-out
rags
and clothes
under your
arms
to
pad
the ropes
. ”
Jeremiah did so ,
And
Ebedmelech
the Ethiopian
said
unto
Jeremiah, Put now
these old
cast
clouts
and rotten
rags
under thine
armholes
under
the cords
. And
Jeremiah did so .
and
they pulled
him
up with the
ropes
and lifted
him out of the cistern.
And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard
of the guard
.
So
they drew
up Jeremiah
with cords,
and took
him up
out of the dungeon:
and Jeremiah remained in the court
of the prison
.
Then King
Zedekiah sent for
Jeremiah the prophet and
received
him at
the third entrance
to
the house of the LORD .
“I
am
going
to
ask
you
something,”
said
the king to
Jeremiah .
“Do
not
hide anything
from me. ”
Then Zedekiah the
king
sent ,
and
took
Jeremiah the prophet unto
him into
the third entry
that
is
in
the house of the LORD :
and
the king said
unto
Jeremiah ,
I
will
ask
thee
a
thing;
hide nothing
from me.
“
If I tell
you,”
Jeremiah
replied
, “you
will
surely put me to death .
And even
if I give you
advice
, you
will
not listen
to
me .”
Then
Jeremiah
said
unto
Zedekiah,
If I declare
it
unto
thee
, wilt
thou
not
surely put me to death ?
and if I give thee
counsel
, wilt
thou
not hearken
unto
me ?
But
King
Zedekiah swore
secretly to
Jeremiah, “As
surely
as the LORD lives
, who
has
given
us this life
, I will not kill
you
, nor
will I deliver
you
into the hands
of these men who
are
seeking
your
life. ”
So
Zedekiah the
king
sware
secretly unto
Jeremiah, saying,
As the LORD liveth
, that
made
us this soul
, I will not put
thee
to
death
, neither
will I give
thee
into the hand
of these men that
seek
thy
life.
Then Jeremiah
said to
Zedekiah, “This
is
what
the LORD God of Hosts, the God of Israel ,
says:
‘
If you
indeed
surrender
to
the
officers
of
the king of Babylon
, then you
will
live, this city will
not be burned down,
and you
and your
household
will
survive.
Then said Jeremiah
unto
Zedekiah, Thus
saith
the LORD ,
the
God of hosts, the God of Israel ;
If thou
wilt
assuredly
go
forth
unto
the king of Babylon's
princes
, then thy
soul
shall
live, and
this city shall
not be burned with
fire;
and thou
shalt
live,
and thine
house:
But if you
do
not surrender
to the officers
of
the
king of Babylon
, then this city will
be delivered
into the hands
of the Chaldeans .
They will
burn it down
, and you
yourself
will
not escape their grasp
. ’”
But if thou
wilt
not go
forth
to the king of Babylon's
princes
, then shall
this city be given
into the hand
of the Chaldeans ,
and
they shall
burn it with
fire
, and thou
shalt
not escape out
of
their hand
.
But
King
Zedekiah said to
Jeremiah, “
I am afraid of the Jews who
have
deserted
to the Chaldeans, for
the
Chaldeans
may
deliver me into their hands
to
abuse
me. ”
And
Zedekiah the
king
said unto
Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews that
are
fallen
to the Chaldeans, lest
they
deliver me into their hand,
and
they
mock
me.
“
They will
not hand
you
over,”
Jeremiah
replied
. “
Obey the voice of the LORD in
what
I
am
telling
you
, that
it may
go
well with
you
and you
may
live.
But
Jeremiah
said,
They shall
not deliver
thee
. Obey ,
I
beseech
thee,
the voice of the LORD, which
I
speak
unto
thee:
so
it shall
be
well unto
thee,
and thy
soul
shall
live.
But if you
refuse to surrender
, this is the word that the LORD has
shown
me:
But if thou
refuse to go
forth
, this is the word that the LORD hath
shewed
me:
All the women who
remain
in the palace
of
the
king of Judah
will
be brought out
to the officials
of
the
king of Babylon
, and those women will
say :
‘They
misled
you
and
overcame
you—
those
trusted
friends of
yours.
Your
feet sank
into
the mire, and they deserted
you
. ’
And,
behold,
all the women that
are
left
in the king of Judah's
house
shall
be brought forth
to the king of Babylon's
princes
, and those women shall
say ,
Thy
friends have
set
thee
on,
and
have
prevailed
against
thee:
thy
feet are
sunk
in
the mire, and they are
turned
away
back
.
All your
wives and children will
be
brought
out
to the Chaldeans .
And you
yourself
will
not escape their grasp
, for
you
will
be seized
by the king of Babylon ,
and this city will
be burned down
. ”
So
they
shall
bring
out
all thy
wives and thy
children to the Chaldeans :
and thou
shalt
not escape out
of
their hand
, but
shalt
be taken
by the hand
of
the
king of Babylon :
and thou
shalt
cause
this city to
be burned with
fire
.
Then Zedekiah warned
Jeremiah, “Do
not
let anyone
know about
this
conversation
, or
you
will
die.
Then said
Zedekiah unto
Jeremiah, Let no
man
know of
these
words
, and
thou
shalt
not
die.
If the officials
hear that I have spoken
with you
, and they come and demand
of
you
, ‘Tell
us what you
said to
the king and
what
he
said
to
you;
do
not
hide it from us, or
we will kill
you,’
But
if the princes
hear that I have talked
with thee
, and they come unto
thee,
and say
unto
thee
, Declare
unto
us now
what thou
hast
said unto
the king ,
hide it not
from us, and
we will not
put
thee
to
death;
also
what
the
king
said
unto
thee:
then tell
them, ‘
I was
presenting
to
the king my
petition
that he not return
me to the
house of
Jonathan
to die there. ’”
Then thou
shalt
say
unto
them, I presented
my
supplication
before
the king ,
that he would
not cause
me to return
to
Jonathan's
house ,
to die there.
When
all the officials
came
to
Jeremiah and questioned
him ,
he relayed
to
them the
exact
words the king had commanded him
to
say
. So they said
no
more
to
him ,
for no
one
had
overheard
the conversation
.
Then
came
all the princes
unto
Jeremiah ,
and asked
him :
and
he told
them according
to
all
these
words that
the king had commanded. So they left
off
speaking
with
him ;
for the matter
was
not
perceived
.
And
Jeremiah remained
in the courtyard
of the guard
until the day Jerusalem was captured
.
So
Jeremiah abode
in the court
of the prison
until the day that
Jerusalem was taken:
and
he
was
there
when
Jerusalem
was
taken
.
Scripture text: Berean Standard Bible and King James Version. Public domain; source text distributed by BSB Publishing, LLC.; UK publication rights are administered by the Crown's patentee; public domain in most other jurisdictions..