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Jeremiah 38

Jeremiah speaks God’s word under threat, while Zedekiah’s fear of people keeps him from acting on the counsel he seeks.

Jerusalem faces Babylon’s army, and Jeremiah tells the people that surrender is the path to survival. The princes accuse him of weakening the city’s defenders, and Zedekiah lets them cast him into a muddy dungeon. Ebedmelech, an Ethiopian serving in the king’s house, intervenes and brings Jeremiah out. Zedekiah then seeks the prophet’s counsel in secret. Jeremiah repeats God’s command to surrender, while the king voices his fear of being handed over to hostile defectors.

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1Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah spoke to all the people, saying,
2“The LORD says, ‘He who remains in this city will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live. He will escape with his life and he will live.’
3The LORD says, ‘This city will surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he will take it.’”
4Then the princes said to the king, “Please let this man be put to death, because he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words to them; for this man doesn’t seek the welfare of this people, but harm.”
5Zedekiah the king said, “Behold, he is in your hand; for the king can’t do anything to oppose you.”
6Then they took Jeremiah and threw him into the dungeon of Malchijah the king’s son, that was in the court of the guard. They let down Jeremiah with cords. In the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire.
7Now when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon (the king was then sitting in Benjamin’s gate),
9“My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon. He is likely to die in the place where he is, because of the famine; for there is no more bread in the city.”
10Then the king commanded Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take from here thirty men with you, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he dies.”
12Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Now put these rags and worn-out garments under your armpits under the cords.” Jeremiah did so.
13So they lifted Jeremiah up with the cords, and took him up out of the dungeon; and Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.
14Then Zedekiah the king sent and took Jeremiah the prophet to himself into the third entry that is in the LORD’s house. Then the king said to Jeremiah, “I will ask you something. Hide nothing from me.”
15Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I declare it to you, will you not surely put me to death? If I give you counsel, you will not listen to me.”
16So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, “As the LORD lives, who made our souls, I will not put you to death, neither will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life.”
17Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “The LORD, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you will go out to the king of Babylon’s princes, then your soul will live, and this city will not be burned with fire. You will live, along with your house.
18But if you will not go out to the king of Babylon’s princes, then this city will be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they will burn it with fire, and you won’t escape out of their hand.’”
19Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have defected to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me.”
20But Jeremiah said, “They won’t deliver you. Obey, I beg you, the LORD’s voice, in that which I speak to you; so it will be well with you, and your soul will live.
21But if you refuse to go out, this is the word that the LORD has shown me:
22‘Behold, all the women who are left in the king of Judah’s house will be brought out to the king of Babylon’s princes, and those women will say, “Your familiar friends have turned on you, and have prevailed over you. Your feet are sunk in the mire, they have turned away from you.”
23They will bring out all your wives and your children to the Chaldeans. You won’t escape out of their hand, but will be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon. You will cause this city to be burned with fire.’”
25But if the princes hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you, and tell you, ‘Declare to us now what you have said to the king; don’t hide it from us, and we will not put you to death; also tell us what the king said to you;’
26then you shall tell them, ‘I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan’s house, to die there.’”
27Then all the princes came to Jeremiah, and asked him; and he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they stopped speaking with him, for the matter was not perceived.
28So Jeremiah stayed in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Jeremiah 38:4The princes treat Jeremiah’s warning as a threat to public welfare, turning God’s message into grounds for execution.
Jeremiah 38:6Jeremiah’s sinking into the mire shows the mortal danger he faces before Ebedmelech acts to rescue him.
Jeremiah 38:2God’s promise of life through surrender explains both the princes’ hostility and Jeremiah’s later counsel to Zedekiah.
Where this chapter reaches

2 Kings recounts the Babylonian siege and capture of Jerusalem, the same crisis behind Jeremiah’s warning that resistance will bring fire and captivity. Lamentations shares the imagery of a sufferer cast into a pit and facing death, alongside its account of Jerusalem’s devastation.

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After reading the whole chapter

What do Ebedmelech’s protest and his use of worn-out garments reveal about his care for Jeremiah?

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Where do you recognize the tension between seeking God’s counsel and fearing other people’s reactions?

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Questions people ask about Jeremiah 38

Why was Jeremiah thrown into a dungeon in Jeremiah 38?

The princes accused Jeremiah of weakening the soldiers and the people by saying that those who surrendered to Babylon would live. They sought his death, and Zedekiah yielded to them. They lowered him into a dungeon without water, where he sank into mire and faced death from hunger.

Who was Ebedmelech, and how did he rescue Jeremiah?

Ebedmelech was an Ethiopian eunuch serving in the king’s house. He told Zedekiah that the men had done evil by casting Jeremiah into the dungeon. With the king’s permission and men to help, he lifted Jeremiah out, using worn-out garments to cushion the cords under Jeremiah’s arms.

Why did Jeremiah tell Zedekiah to surrender to Babylon?

Jeremiah delivered God’s word that surrender would preserve Zedekiah’s life and household and spare the city from burning. Refusal would bring capture and fire. Zedekiah feared abuse from Jews who had defected to Babylon, but Jeremiah assured him he would not be handed over to them.

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Jeremiah · 52 chapters
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What the Bible says about fear →What the Bible says about anger →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).