Jeremiah Thrown Into a Cistern
1Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehukal38:1 Hebrew Jukal, a variant of Jehukal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malkijah heard what Jeremiah was telling all the people when he said, 2“This is what the Lord says: ‘Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague, but whoever goes over to the Babylonians38:2 Or Chaldeans; also in verses 18, 19 and 23 will live. They will escape with their lives; they will live.’ 3And this is what the Lord says: ‘This city will certainly be given into the hands of the army of the king of Babylon, who will capture it.’ ”
4Then the officials said to the king, “This man should be put to death. He is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, as well as all the people, by the things he is saying to them. This man is not seeking the good of these people but their ruin.”
5“He is in your hands,” King Zedekiah answered. “The king can do nothing to oppose you.”
6So they took Jeremiah and put him into the cistern of Malkijah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah by ropes into the cistern; it had no water in it, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.
7But Ebed-Melek, a Cushite,38:7 Probably from the upper Nile region an official38:7 Or a eunuch in the royal palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. While the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate, 8Ebed-Melek went out of the palace and said to him, 9“My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. They have thrown him into a cistern, where he will starve to death when there is no longer any bread in the city.”
10Then the king commanded Ebed-Melek the Cushite, “Take thirty men from here with you and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.”
11So Ebed-Melek took the men with him and went to a room under the treasury in the palace. He took some old rags and worn-out clothes from there and let them down with ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern. 12Ebed-Melek the Cushite said to Jeremiah, “Put these old rags and worn-out clothes under your arms to pad the ropes.” Jeremiah did so, 13and they pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
Zedekiah Questions Jeremiah Again
14Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and had him brought to the third entrance to the temple of the Lord. “I am going to ask you something,” the king said to Jeremiah. “Do not hide anything from me.”
15Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I give you an answer, will you not kill me? Even if I did give you counsel, you would not listen to me.”
16But King Zedekiah swore this oath secretly to Jeremiah: “As surely as the Lord lives, who has given us breath, I will neither kill you nor hand you over to those who want to kill you.”
17Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, your life will be spared and this city will not be burned down; you and your family will live. 18But if you will not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be given into the hands of the Babylonians and they will burn it down; you yourself will not escape from them.’ ”
19King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have gone over to the Babylonians, for the Babylonians may hand me over to them and they will mistreat me.”
20“They will not hand you over,” Jeremiah replied. “Obey the Lord by doing what I tell you. Then it will go well with you, and your life will be spared. 21But if you refuse to surrender, this is what the Lord has revealed to me: 22All the women left in the palace of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon. Those women will say to you:
“ ‘They misled you and overcame you—
those trusted friends of yours.
Your feet are sunk in the mud;
your friends have deserted you.’
23“All your wives and children will be brought out to the Babylonians. You yourself will not escape from their hands but will be captured by the king of Babylon; and this city will38:23 Or and you will cause this city to be burned down.”
24Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Do not let anyone know about this conversation, or you may die. 25If the officials hear that I talked with you, and they come to you and say, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you; do not hide it from us or we will kill you,’ 26then tell them, ‘I was pleading with the king not to send me back to Jonathan’s house to die there.’ ”
27All the officials did come to Jeremiah and question him, and he told them everything the king had ordered him to say. So they said no more to him, for no one had heard his conversation with the king.
28And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured.
The Fall of Jerusalem
This is how Jerusalem was taken:
Jeremias smides i en tom cisterne
1Der var imidlertid fire mænd ved navn Shefatja, Gedalja, Jukal og Pashhur, som ønskede at lukke munden på mig. De havde jo hørt, hvordan jeg gang på gang havde advaret folket med det budskab, 2som Herren havde givet mig: „De, der bliver i Jerusalem, vil dø af hungersnød eller sygdom eller blive dræbt i krigen. Men de, der overgiver sig til babylonierne, vil overleve. 3Herren vil nemlig overgive Jerusalem til Babyloniens konge, som vil indtage byen.”
4De fire mænd gik til kongen og sagde: „Herre, vi må uskadeliggøre Jeremias. Hans budskaber undergraver hærens moral. Han skaber en negativ stemning blandt de krigere, vi endnu har tilbage, og hele befolkningen i byen. Han er en forræder, som ikke ønsker, at vi skal reddes, men at vi skal rammes af ulykke.”
5Kong Zidkija gav efter og sagde: „Gør med ham, som I vil.”
6Så hentede de mig og firede mig ned i et tom vandreservoir i gården. Den tilhørte Malkija, der var medlem af kongefamilien. Der var intet vand i den, men der var stadig et tykt lag mudder på bunden, så jeg sank ned i mudderet.
7Men da kushitten Ebed-Melek, en af de ledende hoffolk, hørte, at jeg var blevet kastet i det tomme vandreservoir, 8skyndte han sig straks til kongen, som på det tidspunkt var i færd med at dømme i nogle retssager på pladsen foran Benjaminporten.
9„Herre konge,” sagde han. „Der er begået en meget ondsindet handling imod profeten Jeremias. Man har kastet ham i et tomt vandreservoir, og dér vil han dø af sult, for han får ingen mad.”
10Da befalede kongen: „Tag 30 mænd med dig og få hejst Jeremias op af vandreservoiret, før han dør.” 11Så skyndte Ebed-Melek og mændene sig af sted til et af paladsets nederste kælderrum, hvor de hentede nogle kasserede klude, som de hejste ned i vandreservoiret med et reb. 12„Bind rebet omkring dig og læg kludene imellem rebet og dine armhuler,” råbte Ebed-Melek, og da jeg havde gjort det, 13trak de mig op af vandreservoiret og bragte mig tilbage til min husarrest.
Zidkija spørger endnu en gang Jeremias til råds
14En dag sendte kong Zidkija bud efter mig og bad mig komme hen til den tredje indgang til templet. „Jeg har et spørgsmål til dig,” begyndte kongen. „Prøv nu ikke at skjule sandheden for mig.”
15„Jamen, hvis jeg fortæller dig sandheden, slår du mig bare ihjel,” svarede jeg. „Og for øvrigt følger du aldrig mine råd.”
16Så svor kong Zidkija ved den levende Gud, at han hverken ville slå mig ihjel eller udlevere mig til dem, der ønskede at få ram på mig.
17Da sagde jeg til ham: „Herren, den Almægtige, Israels Gud, siger: Hvis du vil overgive dig til de babyloniske officerer, vil du og din familie overleve, og byen vil blive skånet. 18Men hvis du nægter at overgive dig, vil den babyloniske hær brænde byen ned til grunden, og du har ingen chance for at undslippe.”
19„Men jeg er bange for at overgive mig,” svarede kongen, „for babylonierne vil sikkert udlevere mig til de judæiske overløbere, og hvem ved, hvad de vil gøre ved mig?”
20„Hvis du vil adlyde Herren,” svarede jeg, „har du ikke noget at frygte. Du vil redde livet, og du vil få det bedre, end du har det her. 21Men hvis du nægter at overgive dig, så kan jeg fortælle dig, hvad der vil ske, for det har Herren vist mig i et syn: 22Alle paladsets kvinder blev udleveret til de babyloniske officerer. Og de sang en smædevise om dig:
Hvorfor troede du dine venners ord?
De førte dig jo ud på det forkerte spor.
Og da du så stod midt i ulykken,
vendte de dig bare ryggen.
23Alle dine koner og børn vil blive udleveret til babylonierne, og du har ingen chance for at undslippe. Du bliver taget til fange, og byen bliver brændt ned til grunden.”
24Da sagde Zidkija til mig: „Lad det her blive imellem os to. Hvis du røber for nogen, hvad du her har sagt, er du dødsens. 25Hvis mine hoffolk får nys om vores samtale, og hvis de truer dig med døden, medmindre du fortæller dem, hvad vi har talt om, 26skal du sige til dem: ‚Jeg bad bare kongen love mig, at han aldrig igen vil kaste mig i fangehullet i Jonatans hus.’ ”
27Hoffolkene kom da også hen til mig og ville krydsforhøre mig om mit møde med kongen. Jeg gjorde nøjagtigt, som kongen havde sagt. Derefter lod de mig være i fred, for ingen havde hørt, hvad jeg snakkede med kongen om. 28Således forblev jeg i husarrest på paladsets område, indtil den dag da Jerusalem blev indtaget.
