Immerse: Prophets - Flipbook - Page 287
37:18–38:11
J eremiah
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imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the secretary. Jonathan’s house had
been converted into a prison. Jeremiah was put into a dungeon cell, where
he remained for many days.
Later King Zedekiah secretly requested that Jeremiah come to the
palace, where the king asked him, “Do you have any messages from the
Lord?”
“Yes, I do!” said Jeremiah. “You will be defeated by the king of Babylon.”
Then Jeremiah asked the king, “What crime have I committed? What
have I done against you, your attendants, or the people that I should be
imprisoned like this? Where are your prophets now who told you the king
of Babylon would not attack you or this land? Listen, my lord the king,
I beg you. Don’t send me back to the dungeon in the house of Jonathan
the secretary, for I will die there.”
So King Zedekiah commanded that Jeremiah not be returned to the
dungeon. Instead, he was imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard in
the royal palace. The king also commanded that Jeremiah be given a loaf
of fresh bread every day as long as there was any left in the city. So Jeremiah
was put in the palace prison.
Now Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehucal son of
Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malkijah heard what Jeremiah had been
telling the people. He had been saying, “This is what the Lord says:
‘Everyone who stays in Jerusalem will die from war, famine, or disease, but
those who surrender to the Babylonians will live. Their reward will be life.
They will live!’ The Lord also says: ‘The city of Jerusalem will certainly
be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon, who will capture it.’”
So these officials went to the king and said, “Sir, this man must die! That
kind of talk will undermine the morale of the few fighting men we have
left, as well as that of all the people. This man is a traitor!”
King Zedekiah agreed. “All right,” he said. “Do as you like. I can’t stop
you.”
So the officials took Jeremiah from his cell and lowered him by ropes
into an empty cistern in the prison yard. It belonged to Malkijah, a mem
ber of the royal family. There was no water in the cistern, but there was a
thick layer of mud at the bottom, and Jeremiah sank down into it.
But Ebed-melech the Ethiop ian, an important court official, heard that
Jeremiah was in the cistern. At that time the king was holding court at
the Benjamin Gate, so Ebed-melech rushed from the palace to speak with
him. “My lord the king,” he said, “these men have done a very evil thing in
putting Jeremiah the prophet into the cistern. He will soon die of hunger,
for almost all the bread in the city is gone.”
