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 ill-treat 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:
耶利米陷在枯井里
1玛坦的儿子示法提雅、巴施户珥的儿子基大利、示利米雅的儿子犹甲、玛基雅的儿子巴施户珥听见了耶利米对众人说： 2“耶和华说，‘凡留在这城的，必死于刀剑、饥荒和瘟疫；凡出去向迦勒底人投降的，必保全性命。’ 3耶和华说，‘这城必落在巴比伦王的军队手中，他们必攻占这城。’” 4这几位官长就对西底迦王说：“求你处死这人！因为他的话令这城的军民士气低落。这人不为人民着想，反要害他们。” 5西底迦王说：“你们可以随意处置他，我不会阻止你们。” 6于是，他们拿住耶利米，用绳子把他缒到王子玛基雅的蓄水池里。那池子在护卫兵的院子里，池中没有水，只有淤泥。耶利米就陷在淤泥中。
7那时，王正坐在便雅悯门口。宫廷侍臣古实人以伯·米勒听说他们把耶利米囚在蓄水池里， 8便从王宫跑去对王说： 9“我主我王啊！这些人对耶利米先知太狠毒了。他们把他丢在蓄水池里，他必饿死在那里，因为城中绝粮了。” 10于是，王吩咐古实人以伯·米勒率领三十人，在耶利米先知未死之前把他从池中救出来。 11以伯·米勒带着他的手下进入王宫，从库房下面的房间拿了些碎布和破衣，用绳索缒到池底给耶利米， 12让他把这些碎布和破衣垫在腋下，以免被绳索勒伤。耶利米就照做了。 13他们便把耶利米从池中拉上来拘留在护卫兵的院子里。
西底迦王密会耶利米
14西底迦王派人把耶利米先知带到耶和华殿的第三道门那里与他会面。他对耶利米说：“我要问你一件事，你不可隐瞒。” 15耶利米说：“我若从实禀告，你一定会杀我。我就是给你建议，你也不会听。” 16于是，他私下向耶利米发誓说：“我凭那赐给我们生命的永活的耶和华起誓，我决不杀你，也不把你交在想杀你的人手中。”
17耶利米说：“以色列的上帝——万军之上帝耶和华说，‘如果你出去向巴比伦王的将领投降，就可以保住你和你全家的性命，这城也不会被烧毁。 18但如果你不出去向巴比伦王的将领投降，这城必落在迦勒底人手里，被付之一炬，你也逃不掉。’” 19西底迦王说：“我害怕那些已经向迦勒底人投降的犹大人，恐怕迦勒底人会把我交给他们，任由他们羞辱。” 20耶利米说：“不会的。只要你听从耶和华吩咐我对你说的话，你就可以平安无事，保全性命。 21耶和华已指示我，如果你不肯投降， 22所有留在犹大王宫的妇女都必被巴比伦王的将领俘虏，她们会讽刺你说，‘你被好友欺骗、误导，当你陷入泥潭时，他们就离弃了你。’
23“你的嫔妃和儿女必被交给迦勒底人，你也逃不掉，必被巴比伦王所擒。这城也要被付之一炬。”
24西底迦说：“不可让人知道我们的谈话，否则你会丧命。 25如果有官长知道我曾与你会面，前来以死亡相威胁，逼你说出我们谈话的内容。 26你可以告诉他们，你是在求我不要把你押回约拿单的房子，以免死在那里。” 27果然，官长前来查问耶利米，他就照王的吩咐回复他们，他们便不再追问，因为他跟王的谈话无人知道。 28耶利米被囚在护卫兵的院子里，一直到耶路撒冷沦陷。
