JEREMIAH 38

[당찬 엄마]

Jeremiah Thrown Into a Cistern

   1 Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of

Pashhur, Jehukal son of Shelemiah, and

Pashhur son of Malkijah heard what Jeremiah was

telling all the people when he said,   2 "This is what

the LORD says: 'Whoever stays in this city will die by

the sword, famine or plague, but whoever goes over

to the Babylonians will live. They will escape

with their lives; they will live.'   3 And this is what the

LORD says: 'This city will certainly be give into the

hands of the army of the king of Babbylon, who will

capture it.' "

   4 Then the officials said to the king, "This man

should be put to death. He is discouraging the

soldiers who are left in this city, as well as all the

people, by the things he is saying to them. This man

is not seeking the good of these people but their ruin,"

   5 "He is in your hands, " King Zedekiah answered.

"The king can do nothing to oppose you."

   6 So they took Jeremiah and put him into the

cistern of Malkijah, the king's son, which was in the

courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah by

ropes into the cistern; it had no water in it, only mud,

and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.

   7 But Ebed-Melek, a Cushite, an official

in the royal palace, heard that they had put

Jeremiah into the cistern. While the king was sitting

in the Benjamin Gate,   8 Ebed-Melek went out of the

palace and said to him,   9 "My lord the king, these

men have acted wickedly in all they have done to

Jeremiah the prophet. They have thrown him into a

cistern, where he will starve to death when there is

no longer any bread in the city."
   10 Then the king commanded Ebed-Melek the

Cushite, "Take thirty men from here with you and

Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he

dies."

   11 So Ebed-Melek took the men with him and went

to a room under the treasury in the palace. He took

some old rags and worn-out clothes from there and

let them down with ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern.

12 Ebed-Melek the Cushite said to Jeremiah, "Put

these old rags and worn-out clothes under your

arms to pad the ropes." Jeremiah did so,   13 and they

pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of

the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard

of the guard.

Zedekiah Questions Jeremiah Again

   14 Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the

prophet and had him brought to the third entrance

to the temple of the LORD. "I am going to ask you

something," the king said to Jeremiah. "Do not hide

anything from me."

    15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "If I give you an

answer, will you not kill me? Even if I did give you

counsel, you would not listen to me."
   16 But King Zedekiah swore this oath secretly to

Jeremiah: "As surely as the LORD lives, who has given

us breath, I will neither kill you nor hand you over to

those who want to kill you."

   17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "This is what

the LORD God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: 'If

you surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon,

your life will be spared and this city will not be

burned down; you and your family will live.   18 But if

you will not surrender to the officers of the king of

Babylon, this city will be given into the hands of the

Babylonians and they will burn it down; you yourself

will not escape from them.' "

   19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "I am afraid of

the Jews who have gone over to the Babylonians,

for the Babylonians may hand me over to them and

they will mistreat me."

   20 "They will not hand you over," Jeremiah replied.

"Obey the LORD by doing what I tell you. Then it will

go well with you, and your life will be spared.   21 But

if you refuse to surrender, this is what the LORD has

revealed to me:   22 All the women left in the palace of

the king of Judah will be brought out to the officials

of the king of Babylon, Those women will say to you:
" 'They misled you and overcame you--

   those trusted friends of yours.

Your feet are sunk in the mud;

   your friends have deserted you.'

   23 "All your wives and children will be brought out

to the Babylonians. You yourself will not escape

from their hands but will be captured by the king of

Babylon; and this city will be burned down."

   24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "Do not let

anyone know about this conversation, or you may

die.   25 If the officials hear that I talked with you, and

they come to you and say, 'Tell us what you said to

the king and what the king said to you; do not hide it

from us or we will kill you,'   26 then tell them, 'I was

pleading with the king not to send me back to

Jonathan's house to die there.' "

   27 All the officials did come to Jeremiah and

question him, and he told them everything the king

had ordered him to say. So they said no more to

him, for no one had heard his conversation with the

king.

   28 And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the

guard until the day Jerusalem was captured.

The Fall of Jerusalem

   This is how Jerusalem was taken: