Jeremiah 38:1-13

The officials of Jerusalem were listening to me as I was prophesying, including Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchiah. I told them: “YAHWEH says that whoever stays in this city will die by sword, plague, or food shortages, but anyone who leaves the city and surrenders to the Babylonians will escape with their lives and live. For YAHWEH has said, ‘I will certainly hand over Jerusalem to the army of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.’ ” Then the officials said to the king, “This traitor must die! His words are demoralizing the soldiers and all the people left in the city. This man is not seeking the welfare of the people but their ruin.” King Zedekiah answered, “He is in your hands, so do what you want, I will not stand in your way.” So they took me and put me into the muddy cistern of the king’s son Malchiah in the palace courtyard. There was little water in the cistern, only mud. They lowered me down with ropes, and I sank down deep into the mud. Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, a palace official, heard that I had been put into the cistern. As the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate, Ebed-Melech came out from the palace and spoke to the king. “My lord the king,” he said, “these evil men were wrong to throw the prophet Jeremiah into a muddy cistern. He will starve to death there since there is no more food left in the city.” So the king commanded Ebed-Melech, “Take thirty men with you from the palace guard and pull the prophet Jeremiah out of the cistern before he dies.” So he went with the men into the palace to a room under the treasury and took some worn-out clothing and rags and lowered them on ropes to me in the cistern. Ebed-Melech then shouted down to me, “Here, put these worn-out clothes and rags under your armpits to pad the ropes.” So they hauled me up from the cistern and pulled me out, and I remained in confinement in the palace guardhouse.