2 GLT “Yahweh says this: Anyone staying in this city will be killed by sword, famine, and plague. But anyone who goes out to the Chaldeans will survive. He will escape with his own life, and live. BSB BSB: “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 GLT Yahweh says this: This city will be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.” BSB BSB: This 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 GLT So the officials said to the king,“Let this man die, for in this way he is weakening the hands of the fighting men who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people. He is proclaiming these words, for this man is not working for safety for this people, but disaster.” BSB BSB: Then 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 GLT So King Zedekiah said,“Look, he is in your hand since there is no king able to resist you.” BSB BSB: “Here he is,” replied King Zedekiah. “He is in your hands, since the king can do nothing to stop you.”
6 GLT Then they took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Malkijah, son of the king. The cistern was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah down on ropes. There was no water in the cistern, but it was muddy, and he sank down into the mud. BSB BSB: So 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 GLT Now Ebed- Melek the Cushite was one of the eunuchs in the king’ s house. He heard that they had placed Jeremiah in the cistern. Now the king was sitting at the Benjamin Gate. BSB BSB: Now 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 GLT So Ebed- Melek went from the king’ s house and spoke with the king. He said, BSB BSB: Ebed-melech went out from the king’s palace and said to the king,
9 GLT “My master the king, these men have done evil with the way they have treated Jeremiah the prophet. They threw him into a cistern for him to die in it from hunger, since there is no more food in the city.” BSB BSB: “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 GLT Then the king gave a command to Ebed- Melek the Cushite. He said,“Take command of thirty men from here and take Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.” BSB BSB: So 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 GLT So Ebed- Melek took command of those men and went to the king’ s house, to a storeroom for clothing under the house. From there he took rags and worn- out clothing and then let them down by ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern. BSB BSB: Then 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 GLT Ebed- Melek the Cushite said to Jeremiah,“Put the rags and worn- out clothing under your arms and on top of the ropes.” So Jeremiah did so. BSB BSB: Ebed-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 GLT Then they pulled Jeremiah by the ropes. In this way they brought him up from the cistern. So Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guard. BSB BSB: and they pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
14 GLT Then King Zedekiah sent word and brought Jeremiah the prophet to himself, to the third entrance in Yahweh’ s house. The king said to Jeremiah,“I want to ask you something. Do not keep the answer from me.” BSB BSB: Then 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 GLT Jeremiah said to Zedekiah,“If I answer you, will you not certainly kill me? But if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.” BSB BSB: “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 GLT But King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah in private and said,“As Yahweh lives, the one who made us, I will not kill you or give you into the hand of those men who are seeking your life.” BSB BSB: But 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 GLT So Jeremiah said to Zedekiah,“Yahweh, God of hosts, God of Israel, says this: If you indeed go out to the officials of the king of Babylon then you will live, and this city will not be burned. You and your family will live. BSB BSB: Then 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 GLT But if you do not go out to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city will be given into the hand of the Chaldeans. They will burn it, and you will not escape from their hand.” BSB BSB: But 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 GLT King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah,“But I am afraid of the people of Judah who have deserted to the Chaldeans, because I might be given over into their hand, for them to treat me badly.” BSB BSB: But 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 GLT Jeremiah said,“They will not give you over to them. Obey the message from Yahweh that I am telling you, so that things will go well for you, and so that you will live. BSB BSB: “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 GLT But if you refuse to go out, this is what Yahweh has shown me. BSB BSB: But if you refuse to surrender, this is the word that the LORD has shown me:
22 GLT Look! All the women who are left in your house, king of Judah, will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon. These women will say to you,‘You have been deceived by your friends; they have ruined you. Your feet are now sunk into the mud, and your friends will run away.’ BSB BSB: All 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 GLT For all of your wives and children will be brought out to the Chaldeans, and you yourself will not escape from their hand. You will be captured by the hand of the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned.” BSB BSB: All 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 GLT Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah,“Do not inform anyone about these words, so that you do not die. BSB BSB: Then Zedekiah warned Jeremiah, “Do not let anyone know about this conversation, or you will die.
25 GLT If the officials hear that I have talked with you, and if they come and say to you,‘Tell us what you said to the king and do not hide it from us, or we will kill you,’ BSB BSB: If 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 GLT then you must say to them,‘I made a humble plea before the king that he would not return me to the house of Jonathan to die there.’” BSB BSB: then tell them, ‘I was presenting to the king my petition that he not return me to the house of Jonathan to die there.’”
27 GLT Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him, so he answered them as the king had instructed him. So they stopped talking with him, because they had not heard the conversation between Jeremiah and the king. BSB BSB: When 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 GLT So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured. BSB BSB: And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.