1 Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchiah heard the words Jeremiah was speaking to all the people:

2 “Thus says the LORD: Whoever stays in this city will die by sword, famine, and pestilence. But whoever goes out to the Chaldeans will live; he will have his life as plunder and will live.

3 Thus says the LORD: This city will surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, which will capture it.” 4 The officials said to the king, “Please have this man put to death, because by saying these things he weakens the hands of the soldiers remaining in this city and the hands of all the people. This man seeks their harm, not their welfare.” 5 King Zedekiah said, “Look, he is in your hands, for the king can do nothing against you.” 6 They took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Malchiah the king’s son, in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah with ropes. There was no water in the cistern, only mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud.

7 Ebed-melech the Cushite, a eunuch in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the cistern. The king was sitting at the Benjamin Gate. 8 Ebed-melech went out of the king’s house and said to the king, 9 “My lord the king, these men have done evil in everything they have done to Jeremiah the prophet by throwing him into the cistern. He will die of hunger there, for there is no more bread in the city.” 10 The king commanded Ebed-melech the Cushite, “Take thirty men from here under your command and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.” 11 Ebed-melech took the men under his command and went into the king’s house, to a place beneath the treasury. He took old rags and worn-out clothes from there and lowered them by ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern. 12 Ebed-melech the Cushite said to Jeremiah, “Please put these old rags and worn-out clothes under your armpits, beneath the ropes.” Jeremiah did so. 13 They pulled Jeremiah up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.

14 King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and brought him to the third entrance of the house of the LORD. The king said to Jeremiah, “I will ask you something. Hide nothing from me.” 15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I advise you, you will not listen to me.” 16 King Zedekiah swore secretly to Jeremiah, “As the LORD lives, who gave us this life, I will not put you to death or give you into the hand of these men who seek your life.”

17 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: If you indeed go out to the officials of the king of Babylon, your life will be spared, this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will live. 18 But if you do not go out to the officials of the king of Babylon, this city will be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they will burn it with fire. You will not escape their hand.”

19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have deserted to the Chaldeans. I may be given into their hands, and they will mistreat me.”

20 Jeremiah said, “They will not hand you over. Please obey the voice of the LORD in what I am telling you. Then it will go well with you, and your life will be spared. 21 But if you refuse to go out, this is what the LORD has shown me: 22 Look, all the women remaining in the house of the king of Judah are being brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon, and they are saying, ‘Your trusted friends have misled you and prevailed over you. Your feet have sunk into the mud, and they have turned back.’ 23 All your wives and sons will be brought out to the Chaldeans, and you will not escape their hand. You will be captured by the king of Babylon, and you will cause this city to be burned with fire.”

24 Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no one know these words, and you will not die. 25 If the officials hear that I have spoken with you and come and say to you, ‘Please tell us what you said to the king. Hide nothing from us, and we will not put you to death. What did the king say to you?’ 26 then you shall tell them, ‘I was presenting my plea before the king, that he would not send me back to Jonathan’s house to die there.’ ”

27 All the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him, and he told them everything the king had commanded. They stopped questioning him, for the conversation had not been overheard.

28 Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured. And this is what happened when Jerusalem was captured: