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    Jeremiah · 28 verses

    Jeremiah 38

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    Jeremiah is hauled out of a muddy cistern with old rags tucked under his arms, then summoned to a secret royal interview where the king orders him to give a cover story.

    Into the mud, and out againvv. 1–13

    Shephatiah, Gedaliah, Jehucal, and Pashhur hear Jeremiah say that surrender to the Chaldeans means life, while staying in the city means sword, famine, and plague. The officials call for his death, and Zedekiah hands him over with the bleakest royal shrug: “the king can do nothing to stop you.” Jeremiah is lowered into Malchiah’s cistern, which has no water, only mud. Then Ebed-melech, hearing of it, appeals to the king at the Benjamin Gate. Zedekiah sends thirty men, and Ebed-melech brings not a ladder or a heroic trumpet but “old rags and worn-out clothes,” padding the ropes beneath Jeremiah’s arms before hauling him out.

    The king's secret and the king's storyvv. 14–28

    Zedekiah summons Jeremiah to the third entrance of the house of the LORD and swears privately not to kill him. Jeremiah gives the same counsel as before: surrender to the king of Babylon and live; refuse, and the city will burn. Zedekiah’s fear is not of the Chaldeans alone but of the Jews who have deserted to them. Jeremiah answers with a warning in which the palace women say, “Your feet sank into the mire, and they deserted you”—a remarkably exact echo of Jeremiah’s earlier descent. At the end, Zedekiah commands secrecy and supplies a harmless-sounding explanation. Jeremiah repeats it when the officials come, and they stop questioning him because nobody overheard the real conversation. He remains in the courtyard of the guard until Jerusalem is captured.

    The text

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    Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.

    1. Jer 38:1Now Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchijah heard that Jeremiah had been telling all the people:

    2. Jer 38:2“This is what the LORD says: Whoever stays in this city will die by sword and famine and plague, but whoever surrenders to the Chaldeans will live; he will retain his life like a spoil of war, and he will live.

    3. Jer 38:3This is what the LORD says: This city will surely be delivered into the hands of the army of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.”

    4. Jer 38:4Then the officials said to the king, “This man ought to die, for he is discouraging the warriors who remain in this city, as well as all the people, by speaking such words to them; this man is not seeking the well-being of these people, but their ruin.”

    5. Jer 38:5“Here he is,” replied King Zedekiah. “He is in your hands, since the king can do nothing to stop you.”

    6. Jer 38:6So they took Jeremiah and dropped him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah with ropes into the cistern, which had no water but only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.

    7. Jer 38:7Now Ebed-melech the Cushite, a court official in the royal palace, heard that Jeremiah had been put into the cistern. While the king was sitting at the Gate of Benjamin,

    8. Jer 38:8Ebed-melech went out from the king’s palace and said to the king,

    9. Jer 38:9“My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. They have dropped him into the cistern, where he will starve to death, for there is no more bread in the city.”

    10. Jer 38:10So the king commanded Ebed-melech the Cushite, “Take thirty men from here with you and pull Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.”

    11. Jer 38:11Then Ebed-melech took the men with him and went to the king’s palace, to a place below the storehouse. From there he took old rags and worn-out clothes and lowered them with ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern.

    12. Jer 38:12Ebed-melech the Cushite cried out to Jeremiah, “Put these worn-out rags and clothes under your arms to pad the ropes.” Jeremiah did so,

    13. Jer 38:13and they pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.

    14. Jer 38:14Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and received him at the third entrance to the house of the LORD. “I am going to ask you something,” said the king to Jeremiah. “Do not hide anything from me.”

    15. Jer 38:15“If I tell you,” Jeremiah replied, “you will surely put me to death. And even if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.”

    16. Jer 38:16But King Zedekiah swore secretly to Jeremiah, “As surely as the LORD lives, who has given us this life, I will not kill you, nor will I deliver you into the hands of these men who are seeking your life.”

    17. Jer 38:17Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the LORD God of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you indeed surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then you will live, this city will not be burned down, and you and your household will survive.

    18. Jer 38:18But if you do not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city will be delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans. They will burn it down, and you yourself will not escape their grasp.’”

    19. Jer 38:19But King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have deserted to the Chaldeans, for the Chaldeans may deliver me into their hands to abuse me.”

    20. Jer 38:20“They will not hand you over,” Jeremiah replied. “Obey the voice of the LORD in what I am telling you, that it may go well with you and you may live.

    21. Jer 38:21But if you refuse to surrender, this is the word that the LORD has shown me:

    22. Jer 38:22All the women who remain in the palace of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon, and those women will say: ‘They misled you and overcame you—those trusted friends of yours. Your feet sank into the mire, and they deserted you.’

    23. Jer 38:23All your wives and children will be brought out to the Chaldeans. And you yourself will not escape their grasp, for you will be seized by the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned down.”

    24. Jer 38:24Then Zedekiah warned Jeremiah, “Do not let anyone know about this conversation, or you will die.

    25. Jer 38:25If the officials hear that I have spoken with you, and they come and demand of you, ‘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,’

    26. Jer 38:26then tell them, ‘I was presenting to the king my petition that he not return me to the house of Jonathan to die there.’”

    27. Jer 38:27When all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him, he relayed to them the exact words the king had commanded him to say. So they said no more to him, for no one had overheard the conversation.

    28. Jer 38:28And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured.

    01 — Also here

    Who else the chapter reaches

    Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.

    Named in the Hebrew or Greek somewhere in this chapter, under a form the English renders differently — the registry's Ludim against the translation's Ludites — so there is no word in the sentence to hang the link on.

    Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.

    02 — Read alongside

    Where this is echoed

    Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 241 passages were voted onto 25 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.

    • 17Jeremiah 27:12And to Zedekiah king of Judah I spoke the same message: “Put your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon; serve him and his people, and live!
    • 16Jeremiah 37:17Later, King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah and received him in his palace, where he asked him privately, “Is there a word from the LORD?” “There is,” Jeremiah replied. “You will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.”
    • 17Jeremiah 27:17Do not listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon and live! Why should this city become a ruin?
    • 17Jeremiah 38:2“This is what the LORD says: Whoever stays in this city will die by sword and famine and plague, but whoever surrenders to the Chaldeans will live; he will retain his life like a spoil of war, and he will live.
    • 23Jeremiah 41:10Then Ishmael took captive all the remnant of the people of Mizpah—the daughters of the king along with all the others who remained in Mizpah—over whom Nebuzaradan captain of the guard had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive and set off to cross over to the Ammonites.
    • 2Jeremiah 39:18For I will surely rescue you so that you do not fall by the sword. Because you have trusted in Me, you will escape with your life like a spoil of war, declares the LORD.’”
    • 3Jeremiah 21:10For I have set My face against this city to bring disaster and not good, declares the LORD. It will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, who will destroy it with fire.’
    • 4Jeremiah 26:11Then the priests and prophets said to the officials and all the people, “This man is worthy of death, for he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears!”
    • 6Jeremiah 37:21So King Zedekiah gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and given a loaf of bread daily from the street of the bakers, until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
    • 7Amos 5:10There are those who hate the one who reproves in the gate and despise him who speaks with integrity.
    • 16Jeremiah 38:1–6Now Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchijah heard that Jeremiah had been telling all the people:
    • 17Jeremiah 21:8–10Furthermore, you are to tell this people that this is what the LORD says: ‘Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.
    • 17Jeremiah 39:3Then all the officials of the king of Babylon entered and sat in the Middle Gate: Nergal-sharezer of Samgar, Nebo-sarsekim the Rabsaris, Nergal-sharezer the Rabmag, and all the rest of the officials of the king of Babylon.
    • 19John 12:42Nevertheless, many of the leaders believed in Him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue.
    • 20Jeremiah 26:13So now, correct your ways and deeds, and obey the voice of the LORD your God, so that He might relent of the disaster He has pronounced against you.
    • 20Daniel 4:27Therefore, may my advice be pleasing to you, O king. Break away from your sins by doing what is right, and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed. Perhaps there will be an extension of your prosperity.”

    Onward

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    Next chapterJeremiah 3918 verses.Named hereChaldeaEverything the graph connects to this name.BookJeremiahAll 52 chapters.Every bookThe Bible66 books, 1,189 chapters.