AB - Jeremiah - 38

38:1  And Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, heard the words which Jeremiah spoke to the people, saying,

38:2  Thus says the Lord: He that remains in this city shall die by the sword, and by famine. But he that goes out to the Chaldeans shall live; and his life shall be to him as a found treasure, and he shall live.

38:3  For thus says the Lord: This city shall certainly be delivered into the hands of the army of the king of Babylon, and they shall take it.

38:4  And they said to the king, Let that man be slain, for he weakens the hands of the fighting men that are left in the city, and the hands of all the people, speaking to them according to these words; for this man does not prophesy peace to this people, but evil.

38:5  Then the king said, Behold, he is in your hands. For the king could not resist them.

38:6  And they cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the king's son, which was in the court of the prison; and they let him down into the pit: and there was no water in the pit, but mire. And he was in the mire.

38:7  And Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian heard (now he was in the king's household) that they had put Jeremiah into the dungeon; and the king was in the Gate of Benjamin.

38:8  And he went forth to him, and spoke to the king and said,

38:9  You have done evil in what you have done to slay this man with hunger, for there is no more bread in the city.

38:10  And the king commanded Ebed-Melech, saying, Take with you thirty men from here, and bring him up out of the dungeon, that he die not.

38:11  So Ebed-Melech took the men and went into the underground part of the king's house, and took from there old rags and old ropes, and threw them down to Jeremiah into the dungeon.

38:12  And he said, Put these under the ropes. And Jeremiah did so.

38:13  And they pulled him up with the ropes, and lifted him out of the dungeon. And Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

38:14  Then the king sent, and called Jeremiah to himself into the house of Aselisel, which was in the house of the Lord. And the king said to him, I will ask you a question, and I pray you hide nothing from me.

38:15  And Jeremiah said to the king, If I tell you, will you not certainly put me to death? And if I give you counsel, you will by no means listen to me.

38:16  And the king swore to him, saying, As the Lord lives who gave us this soul, I will not slay you, neither will I give you into the hands of these men.

38:17  And Jeremiah said to him, Thus says the Lord: If you will indeed go forth to the captains of the king of Babylon, your soul shall live, and this city shall certainly not be burned with fire; and you shall live, and your house.

38:18  But if you will not go forth, then this city shall be delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and you shall by no means escape.

38:19  And the king said to Jeremiah, I consider the Jews that have gone over to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hands, and they mock me.

38:20  And Jeremiah said, They shall in no wise deliver you up. Hear the word of the Lord which I speak to you; and it shall be well with you, and your soul shall live.

38:21  But if you will not go forth, this is the word which the Lord has shown me.

38:22  And behold, all the women that are left in the house of the king of Judah were brought forth to the princes of the king of Babylon. And they said, The men who were at peace with you have deceived you, and will prevail against you; and they shall cause your foot to slide and fail, they have turned back from you.

38:23  And they shall bring forth your wives and your children to the Chaldeans; and you shall by no means escape, for you shall be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon, and this city shall be burned.

38:24  Then the king said to him, Let no man know any of these words, and certainly you shall not die.

38:25  And if the princes shall hear that I have spoken to you, and they come to you, and say to you, Tell us, what did the king say to you? Do not hide it from us, and we will by no means kill you, and what did the king say to you?

38:26  Then you shall say to them, I brought my supplication before the presence of the king, that he would not send me back into the house of Jonathan, that I should die there.

38:27  And all the princes came to Jeremiah, and asked him. And he told them according to all these words which the king had commanded him. And they were silent, because the word of the Lord was not heard.

38:28  And Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison, until the time when Jerusalem was taken.