Jeremiah 37-38

Young's Literal Translation

37 And reign doth king Zedekiah son of Josiah instead of Coniah son of Jehoiakim whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had caused to reign in the land of Judah,

² and he hath not hearkened, he, and his servants, and the people of the land, unto the words of Jehovah, that He spake by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet.

³ And Zedekiah the king sendeth Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest, unto Jeremiah the prophet, saying, `Pray, we beseech thee, for us unto Jehovah our God.'

⁴ And Jeremiah is coming in and going out in the midst of the people, (and they have not put him in the prison-house),

⁵ and the force of Pharaoh hath come out of Egypt, and the Chaldeans, who are laying siege against Jerusalem, hear their report, and go up from off Jerusalem.

⁶ And there is a word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah the prophet, saying:

⁷ `Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Thus do ye say unto the king of Judah, who is sending you unto Me, to seek Me: Lo, the force of Pharaoh that is coming out to you for help hath turned back to its land, to Egypt,

⁸ and the Chaldeans have turned back, and fought against this city, and captured it, and burnt it with fire.

⁹ `Thus said Jehovah: Lift not up your souls saying, The Chaldeans surely go from off us, for they do not go;

¹⁰ for though ye had smitten all the force of the Chaldeans who are fighting with you, and there were left of them wounded men -- each in his tent -- they rise, and have burnt this city with fire.'

¹¹ And it hath come to pass, in the going up of the force of the Chaldeans from off Jerusalem, because of the force of Pharaoh,

¹² that Jeremiah goeth out from Jerusalem to go [to] the land of Benjamin, to receive a portion thence in the midst of the people.

¹³ And it cometh to pass, he is at the gate of Benjamin, and there [is] a master of the ward -- and his name is Irijah son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah -- and he catcheth Jeremiah the prophet, saying, `Unto the Chaldeans thou art falling.'

¹⁴ And Jeremiah saith, `Falsehood -- I am not falling unto the Chaldeans;' and he hath not hearkened unto him, and Irijah layeth hold on Jeremiah, and bringeth him in unto the heads,

¹⁵ and the heads are wroth against Jeremiah, and have smitten him, and put him in the prison-house -- the house of Jonathan the scribe, for it they had made for a prison-house.

¹⁶ When Jeremiah hath entered into the house of the dungeon, and unto the cells, then Jeremiah dwelleth there many days,

¹⁷ and the king Zedekiah sendeth, and taketh him, and the king asketh him in his house in secret, and saith, `Is there a word from Jehovah?' And Jeremiah saith, `There is,' and he saith, `Into the hand of the king of Babylon thou art given.'

¹⁸ And Jeremiah saith unto the king Zedekiah, `What have I sinned against thee, and against thy servants, and against this people, that ye have given me unto a prison-house?

¹⁹ And where [are] your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, The king of Babylon doth not come in against you, and against this land?

²⁰ And now, hearken, I pray thee, my lord, O king, let my supplication fall, I pray thee, before thee, and cause me not to return [to] the house of Jonathan the scribe, that I die not there.'

²¹ And the king Zedekiah commandeth, and they commit Jeremiah into the court of the prison, also to give to him a cake of bread daily from the bakers' street, till the consumption of all the bread of the city, and Jeremiah dwelleth in the court of the prison.

38 And Shephatiah son of Mattan, and Gedaliah son of Pashhur, and Jucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchiah, hear the words that Jeremiah is speaking unto all the people, saying,

² `Thus said Jehovah: He who is remaining in this city dieth, by sword, by famine, and by pestilence, and he who is going forth unto the Chaldeans liveth, and his soul hath been to him for a prey, and he liveth.

³ Thus said Jehovah: This city is certainly given into the hand of the force of the king of Babylon, and he hath captured it.'

⁴ And the heads say unto the king, `Let, we pray thee, this man be put to death, because that he is making feeble the hands of the men of war, who are left in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking unto them according to these words, for this man is not seeking for the peace of this people, but for its evil.'

⁵ And the king Zedekiah saith, `Lo, he [is] in your hand: for the king is not able for you [in] anything.'

⁶ And they take Jeremiah, and cast him into the pit of Malchiah son of the king, that [is] in the court of the prison, and they send down Jeremiah with cords; and in the pit there is no water, but mire, and Jeremiah sinketh in the mire.

⁷ And Ebed-Melech the Cushite, a eunuch who [is] in the king's house, heareth that they have put Jeremiah into the pit; and the king is sitting at the gate of Benjamin,

⁸ and Ebed-Melech goeth forth from the king's house, and speaketh unto the king, saying,

⁹ `My lord, O king, these men have done evil [in] all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the pit, and he dieth in his place because of the famine, for there is no more bread in the city.'

¹⁰ And the king commandeth Ebed-Melech the Cushite, saying, `Take with thee from this thirty men, and thou hast brought up Jeremiah the prophet from the pit, before he dieth.'

¹¹ And Ebed-Melech taketh the men with him, and entereth the house of the king, unto the place of the treasury, and taketh thence worn-out clouts, and worn-out rags, and sendeth them unto Jeremiah unto the pit by cords.

¹² And Ebed-Melech the Cushite saith unto Jeremiah, `Put, I pray thee, the worn-out clouts and rags under thine arm-holes, at the place of the cords,' and Jeremiah doth so,

¹³ and they draw out Jeremiah with cords, and bring him up out of the pit, and Jeremiah dwelleth in the court of the prison.

¹⁴ And the king Zedekiah sendeth, and taketh Jeremiah the prophet unto him, unto the third entrance that [is] in the house of Jehovah, and the king saith unto Jeremiah, `I am asking thee a thing, do not hide from me anything.'

¹⁵ And Jeremiah saith unto Zedekiah, `When I declare to thee, dost thou not surely put me to death? and when I counsel thee, thou dost not hearken unto me.'

¹⁶ And the king Zedekiah sweareth unto Jeremiah in secret, saying, `Jehovah liveth, He who made for us this soul, I do not put thee to death, nor give thee unto the hand of these men who are seeking thy soul.'

¹⁷ And Jeremiah saith unto Zedekiah, `Thus said Jehovah, God of Hosts, God of Israel: If thou dost certainly go forth unto the heads of the king of Babylon, then hath thy soul lived, and this city is not burned with fire, yea, thou hast lived, thou and thy house.

¹⁸ And if thou dost not go forth unto the heads of the king of Babylon, then hath this city been given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they have burnt it with fire, and thou dost not escape from their hand.'

¹⁹ And the king Zedekiah saith unto Jeremiah, `I am fearing the Jews who have fallen unto the Chaldeans, lest they give me into their hand, and they have insulted me.'

²⁰ And Jeremiah saith, `They do not give thee up; hearken, I pray thee, to the voice of Jehovah, to that which I am speaking unto thee, and it is well for thee, and thy soul doth live.

²¹ `And if thou art refusing to go forth, this [is] the thing that Jehovah hath shewn me:

²² That, lo, all the women who have been left in the house of the king of Judah are brought forth unto the heads of the king of Babylon, and lo, they are saying: Persuaded thee, and prevailed against thee, Have thine allies, Sunk into mire have thy feet, They have been turned backward.

²³ `And all thy wives, and thy sons, are brought forth unto the Chaldeans, and thou dost not escape from their hand, for by the hand of the king of Babylon thou art caught, and this city is burnt with fire.'

²⁴ And Zedekiah saith unto Jeremiah, `Let no man know of these words, and thou dost not die;

²⁵ and when the heads hear that I have spoken with thee, and they have come in unto thee, and have said unto thee, Declare to us, we pray thee, what thou didst speak unto the king, do not hide [it] from us, and we do not put thee to death, and what the king spake unto thee,

²⁶ then thou hast said unto them, I am causing my supplication to fall before the king, not to cause me to return to the house of Jonathan, to die there.'

²⁷ And all the heads come in unto Jeremiah, and ask him, and he declareth to them according to all these words that the king commanded, and they keep silent from him, for the matter was not heard;

²⁸ and Jeremiah dwelleth in the court of the prison till the day that Jerusalem hath been captured, and he was [there] when Jerusalem was captured.