¶ Then Shephatiah¹ the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and Jucal² the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur⁴ the son of Malchiah, heard⁷ the words that Jeremiah had spoken unto all the people, saying,

Thus saith the LORD, He⁸ that remaineth 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; for he shall have⁹ his life for a prey, and shall live.

¹⁰Thus saith the LORD, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which shall take it.

Therefore the princes¹¹ said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus¹² 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 welfare¹³ of this people, but the hurt.

Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand: for¹⁴ the king is not he that can do any thing against you.

Then took¹⁵ they Jeremiah, and cast him into¹⁶ the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech¹⁷, that was in the court of the prison: and they¹⁸ let down Jeremiah with cords. And in¹⁹ the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire.

Now when Ebedmelech²⁰ the Ethiopian²¹, one of the eunuchs²² which was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon; the king²³ then sitting in the gate of Benjamin;

Ebedmelech went forth out of the king's house, and spake to the king, saying,

My lord the king, these²⁴ 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 die²⁵ for hunger in the place where he is: for there is no more bread in the city.

¶ Then the king²⁶ commanded Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from hence thirty men with thee²⁷, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die.

So Ebedmelech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took thence old cast clouts and old rotten rags, and let them²⁸ down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah.

And Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, Put²⁹ now these old cast clouts and rotten rags under thine armholes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so.

So³⁰ they drew up Jeremiah³¹ with cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

¶ Then Zedekiah the king sent³², and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him into the third³³ entry that is in the house of the LORD: and the king said unto Jeremiah, I will³⁴ ask thee a thing; hide nothing from me.

³⁵Then Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, If I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death? and if I give thee counsel, wilt thou not hearken unto me?

So Zedekiah the king sware³⁶ secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, As the LORD liveth, that made³⁷ us this soul, I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee into the hand of these³⁸ men that seek thy life.

Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts³⁹, the God of Israel⁴⁰; If thou⁴¹ wilt assuredly 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 thine house:

But if thou⁴² wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon's princes, then⁴³ 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.

And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I⁴⁴ am afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock⁴⁵ me.

¶ But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver thee. Obey⁴⁶, I beseech thee, the voice of the LORD, which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well unto thee, and thy⁴⁷ soul shall live.

But if thou⁴⁸ refuse to go forth, this is⁴⁹ the word that the LORD hath shewed me:

And, behold, all⁵⁰ the women that are left in the king of Judah's house shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon's princes, and those⁵¹ women shall say, Thy friends⁵² have set⁵³ thee on, and have prevailed against thee: thy feet⁵⁴ are sunk in the mire, and they are⁵⁵ turned away back.

So they shall⁵⁶ 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 cause⁵⁷ this city to be burned with fire.

Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah, Let no man know⁵⁸ of these words, and thou shalt not die.

⁵⁹But 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:

⁶⁰Then 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.

Then came all the princes unto Jeremiah, and asked him: and he told⁶¹ them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they left off speaking with him;⁶² for the matter was not perceived.

⁶³So Jeremiah abode in the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken: and he was there when Jerusalem was taken.