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:
耶利米陷在枯井裡
1瑪坦的兒子示法提雅、巴施戶珥的兒子基大利、示利米雅的兒子猶甲、瑪基雅的兒子巴施戶珥聽見耶利米對眾人說： 2「耶和華這樣說，『凡留在這城的，必死於刀劍、饑荒和瘟疫；凡出去向迦勒底人投降的，必保全性命，得以存活。』 3耶和華說，『這城必落在巴比倫王的軍隊手中，他們必攻佔這城。』」 4這幾位官長就對西底迦王說：「求你處死這人！因為他的話令這城的軍民士氣低落。這人不為人民著想，反要害他們。」 5西底迦王說：「你們可以隨意處置他，我不會阻止你們。」 6於是，他們拿住耶利米，用繩子把他縋到王子瑪基雅的蓄水池裡。那池子在護衛的院子裡，池中沒有水，只有淤泥。耶利米就陷在淤泥中。
7那時，王正坐在便雅憫門口。宮廷侍臣古實人以伯·米勒聽說他們把耶利米囚在蓄水池裡， 8便離開王宮，去對王說： 9「我主我王啊！這些人對耶利米先知太狠毒了。他們把他扔在蓄水池裡，他必餓死在那裡，因為城中絕糧了。」 10於是，王吩咐古實人以伯·米勒率領三十人，趁耶利米先知還沒死，把他從池中救出來。 11以伯·米勒帶著他的手下進入王宮，從庫房下面的房間拿了些碎布和破衣，用繩索縋到池底給耶利米， 12讓他把這些碎布和破衣放在腋下墊繩索。耶利米就照做了。 13他們便用繩索把耶利米從池中拉上來。耶利米仍留在護衛的院子裡。
西底迦王密會耶利米
14西底迦王派人把耶利米先知帶到耶和華殿的第三道門那裡與他會面。他對耶利米說：「我要問你一件事，你不可有任何隱瞞。」 15耶利米說：「我若從實稟告，你一定會殺我。我就是給你建議，你也不會聽。」 16於是，他私下向耶利米發誓說：「我憑那賜給我們生命的永活的耶和華起誓，我決不殺你，也不把你交在想殺你的人手中。」
17耶利米說：「以色列的上帝——萬軍之上帝耶和華說，『如果你出去向巴比倫王的將領投降，就可以保住你和你全家的性命，這城也不會被燒毀。 18但如果你不出去向巴比倫王的將領投降，這城必落在迦勒底人手裡，被付之一炬，你也逃不掉。』」 19西底迦王說：「我害怕那些已經向迦勒底人投降的猶大人，恐怕迦勒底人會把我交給他們，任由他們羞辱。」 20耶利米說：「你不會被交給他們的。求你聽從耶和華吩咐我對你說的話，這樣你就可以平安無事，保全性命。 21如果你不肯投降，耶和華已讓我看到以下景象： 22所有留在猶大王宮的婦女都必被帶到巴比倫王的將領那裡，她們會對你說，『你被好友欺騙和左右，當你陷入泥潭時，他們就離棄了你。』
23「你的嬪妃和兒女必被交給迦勒底人，你也逃不掉，必被巴比倫王所擒。這城也要被付之一炬。」
24西底迦說：「不可讓人知道我和你交談，否則你會喪命。 25如果有官長聽說我和你交談，前來逼你說出我們談話的內容，否則就殺死你， 26你可以告訴他們，你是在求我不要把你押回約拿單的房子，以免死在那裡。」 27果然，眾官長前來查問耶利米，他就照王的吩咐回覆他們，他們便不再追問，因為他跟王的談話無人知道。 28耶利米被囚在護衛的院子裡，一直到耶路撒冷淪陷。
