Shephiah the son of Matan, Gedaliah the son of Bashhur, Jukah the son of Shelemiah, and Bashhur the son of Machiah heard Jeremiah’s words to the people, saying,

This is what the Lord says: Those who live in this city will die by the sword, famine, and plague. But those who go out to surrender to the Chaldeans will live, even those who plunder their own lives will live.

Thus says the Lord, This city will surely be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon, and he will take it.

So the leader said to the king, “Please put this man to death.”. Because he said these words to the remaining soldiers and all the people in the city, making their hands weak. This person is not seeking peace for this people, but rather causing them disaster.

King Zedekiah said, He is in your hands, and no matter what, the king cannot oppose you.

They took Jeremiah and put him in the prison of Machiah, the son of Hammelech. That prison is in the courtyard of the guards. They tied Jeremiah down with ropes. There was no water in the prison, only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.

In the palace, the eunuch Ebedmelech of Ethiopia heard that they had put Jeremiah into prison (while the king was sitting at the door of Benjamin),

And Ebedmelech came out of the palace and said to the king,

Lord my king, these people have committed evil against the prophet Jeremiah and have put him in prison. He will die there due to hunger, because there is no more food in the city.

And the king commanded Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Take thirty men from here, and bring up the prophet Jeremiah from the prison before he dies.

So Ebermelech led these people into the royal palace and went below the treasury. He took some rags and tattered clothes from there and let them down into the prison with ropes to Jeremiah.

Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Use these rags and tattered clothes to put on a rope and cushion your armpits.”. Jeremiah did the same.

So they pulled Jeremiah up from the prison with ropes. Jeremiah is still in the courtyard of the guards.

King Zedekiah sent messengers to lead the prophet Jeremiah into the third door of the temple of the Lord to meet the king. The king said to Jeremiah, “I have something to ask you, and you must not hide anything from me.”.

Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, will you not surely kill me?”? If I admonish you, you will not listen to me.

King Zedekiah said privately to Jeremiah, “As the Lord, who made our life, lives forever, I will not kill you or hand you over to those who seek your life.”.

Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, says:’ If you go out to surrender to the king of Babylon, your life will live, and this city will not be burned by fire. You and your whole family will live. ‘.

If you do not go out to surrender to the leaders of the king of Babylon, this city will be handed over to the Chaldeans. They will be burned with fire, and you will not escape from their hands.

King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid that the Jews who surrendered to the Chaldeans will hand me over to them, and they will mock me.”.

Jeremiah said, The Chaldeans will not deliver you up. Listen to the word of the Lord that I have spoken to you, so that you will benefit and your life will live.

If you refuse to go out, this is the word that the Lord has instructed me:,

All the remaining women in the palace of the king of Judah will be brought to the leaders of the king of Babylon. These women will say, Your close friends will push you and surpass you. Seeing your feet sink into the mud, turn around and step back.

People will bring your queen and your children to the Chaldeans. You shall not escape from their hands, and shall be caught by the hand of the king of Babylon. You will also cause this city to be burned by fire.

Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Do not let anyone know these words, so that you will not die.”.

If the leader hears me talking to you, he will come to you and ask you, ‘Do not hide what you said to the king from us, and we will not kill you.’. Wang will tell us whatever he says to you.

Then say to them, I plead before the king not to let me return to Jonathan’s house and die there.

Then the leaders came to Jeremiah and asked him, and he answered them according to all the words that the king had commanded. They stopped talking to him because there was no leakage of the matter.

So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guards until the day when Jerusalem was taken.