Jeremiah 38

1And Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah, heard the words that Jeremiah spake unto all the people, saying,

1Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchijah heard what Jeremiah was telling all the people. He was saying:

2Thus saith Jehovah, He that abideth 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, and his life shall be unto him for a prey, and he shall live.

2'This is what the LORD says: Everyone who stays in this city will die by war, hunger, or disease. But anyone who goes out and surrenders to the Babylonians will live; they will escape with their lives.'

3Thus saith Jehovah, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it.

3'And this is what the LORD says: This city will certainly be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.'

4Then the princes said unto the king, Let this man, we pray thee, be put to death; forasmuch as 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.

4Then the officials said to the king, 'This man must be put to death. He is discouraging the soldiers who are left in the city and all the people by saying things like this. He isn’t seeking the good of these people, but their ruin.'

5And Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand; for the king is not he that can do anything against you.

5King Zedekiah answered, 'He is in your hands. The king can do nothing to stop you.'

6Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchijah the king’s son, that was in the court of the guard: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire.

6So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Malchijah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah down with ropes. There was no water in the cistern, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.

7Now when Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon (the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin),

7But Ebed-Melech, an Ethiopian official in the royal palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. While the king was sitting at the Benjamin Gate,

8Ebed-melech went forth out of the king’s house, and spake to the king, saying,

8Ebed-Melech left the palace and went to speak to the king. He said,

9My 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 in the place where he is, because of the famine; for there is no more bread in the city.

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 because there is no more bread left in the city.'

10Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from hence thirty men with thee, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die.

10Then the king commanded Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, 'Take thirty men from here with you and pull Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.'

11So Ebed-melech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took thence rags and worn-out garments, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah.

11So Ebed-Melech 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 lowered them by ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern.

12And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, Put now these rags and worn-out garments under thine armholes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so.

12Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, 'Put these old rags and clothes under your armpits to pad the ropes.' Jeremiah did as he was told.

13So they drew up Jeremiah with the cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

13Then they pulled Jeremiah up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guard.

14Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him into the third entry that is in the house of Jehovah: and the king said unto Jeremiah, I will ask thee a thing; hide nothing from me.

14Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and had him brought to the third entrance of the LORD’s temple. 'I want to ask you something,' the king said to Jeremiah. 'Do not hide anything from me.'

15Then Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, If I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death? and if I give thee counsel, thou wilt not hearken unto me.

15Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, 'If I give you an answer, won’t you kill me? And even if I give you advice, you won’t listen to me anyway.'

16So Zedekiah the king sware secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, As Jehovah 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.

16But King Zedekiah swore an oath secretly to Jeremiah: 'As surely as the LORD lives, who gave us our breath, I will not kill you or hand you over to these men who want to take your life.'

17Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: If thou wilt 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 thy house.

17Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, 'This is what the LORD God of Armies, 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 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.

18'But if you do not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be handed over to the Babylonians. They will burn it down, and you yourself will not escape from them.'

19And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen away to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me.

19King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, 'I am afraid of the Jews who have already gone over to the Babylonians. If the Babylonians hand me over to them, they will treat me cruelly.'

20But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver thee. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of Jehovah, in that which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well with thee, and thy soul shall live.

20'They will not hand you over,' Jeremiah replied. 'Please obey the LORD by doing what I tell you. Then it will go well with you, and your life will be spared.'

21But if thou refuse to go forth, this is the word that Jehovah hath showed me:

21'But if you refuse to surrender, this is what the LORD has shown me:'

22Behold, 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 familiar friends have set thee on, and have prevailed over thee: now that thy feet are sunk in the mire, they are turned away back.

22'All the women left in the palace of the king of Judah will be led out to the officials of the king of Babylon. Those women will say to you: Your trusted friends misled you and overpowered you. Now that your feet are sunk in the mud, your friends have deserted you.'

23And 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.

23'All your wives and children will be led out to the Babylonians. You yourself will not escape from them but will be captured by the king of Babylon; and because of you, this city will be burned down.'

24Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words, and thou shalt not die.

24Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, 'Do not let anyone know about this conversation, or you will die.'

25But 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:

25'If the officials hear that I talked with you, and they come and say, "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,"'

26then 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.

26'then tell them, "I was begging the king not to send me back to die at Jonathan’s house."'

27Then 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.

27When all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him, he told them exactly what the king had ordered him to say. So they said no more to him, for no one had heard the actual conversation.

28So Jeremiah abode in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken. And it came to pass when Jerusalem was taken

28And Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured. This is how it happened when Jerusalem was taken: