Jeremiah 38
Open in the reader1Now He-Who-Is-Has-Judged son of Gift, He-Who-Is-Great son of Liberation, He-Who-Is-Is-Able son of He-Who-Is-Repays, and Liberation son of My-King-Is-He-Who-Is heard that He-Who-Is-Will-Rise had been telling all the people:
2“This is what He-Who-Is says: Whoever stays in this city will die by sword and famine and plague, but whoever surrenders to the Kasdites will live; he will retain his life like a spoil of war, and he will live.
3This is what He-Who-Is says: This city will surely be delivered into the hands of the army of the king of Confusion, and he will capture it.”
4Then 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“Here he is,” replied King He-Who-Is-Righteousness. “He is in your hands, since the king can do nothing to stop you.”
6So they took He-Who-Is-Will-Rise and dropped him into the cistern of My-King-Is-He-Who-Is, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered He-Who-Is-Will-Rise with ropes into the cistern, which had no water but only mud, and He-Who-Is-Will-Rise sank down into the mud.
7Now Servant-of-the-King the Cushite, a court official in the royal palace, heard that He-Who-Is-Will-Rise had been put into the cistern. While the king was sitting at the Gate of Son-of-the-Right-Hand,
8Servant-of-the-King went out from the king’s palace and said to the king,
9“My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all that they have done to He-Who-Is-Will-Rise the prophet. They have dropped him into the cistern, where he will starve to death, for there is no more bread in the city.”
10So the king commanded Servant-of-the-King the Cushite, “Take thirty men from here with you and pull He-Who-Is-Will-Rise the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.”
11Then Servant-of-the-King 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 He-Who-Is-Will-Rise in the cistern.
12Servant-of-the-King the Cushite cried out to He-Who-Is-Will-Rise, “Put these worn-out rags and clothes under your arms to pad the ropes.” He-Who-Is-Will-Rise did so,
13and they pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And He-Who-Is-Will-Rise remained in the courtyard of the guard.
14Then King He-Who-Is-Righteousness sent for He-Who-Is-Will-Rise the prophet and received him at the third entrance to the house of He-Who-Is. “I am going to ask you something,” said the king to He-Who-Is-Will-Rise. “Do not hide anything from me.”
15“If I tell you,” He-Who-Is-Will-Rise replied, “you will surely put me to death. And even if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.”
16But King He-Who-Is-Righteousness swore secretly to He-Who-Is-Will-Rise, “As surely as He-Who-Is 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.”
17Then He-Who-Is-Will-Rise said to He-Who-Is-Righteousness, “This is what He-Who-Is God of Hosts, the God of Strives-with-God, says: ‘If you indeed surrender to the officers of the king of Confusion, then you will live, this city will not be burned down, and you and your household will survive.
18But if you do not surrender to the officers of the king of Confusion, then this city will be delivered into the hands of the Kasdites. They will burn it down, and you yourself will not escape their grasp.’”
19But King He-Who-Is-Righteousness said to He-Who-Is-Will-Rise, “I am afraid of the Praised-Ones who have deserted to the Kasdites, for the Kasdites may deliver me into their hands to abuse me.”
20“They will not hand you over,” He-Who-Is-Will-Rise replied. “Obey the voice of He-Who-Is in what I am telling you, that it may go well with you and you may live.
21But if you refuse to surrender, this is the word that He-Who-Is has shown me:
22All the women who remain in the palace of the king of Praised will be brought out to the officials of the king of Confusion, 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.’
23All your wives and children will be brought out to the Kasdites. And you yourself will not escape their grasp, for you will be seized by the king of Confusion, and this city will be burned down.”
24Then He-Who-Is-Righteousness warned He-Who-Is-Will-Rise, “Do not let anyone know about this conversation, or you will die.
25If 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,’
26then tell them, ‘I was presenting to the king my petition that he not return me to the house of He-Who-Is-Has-Given to die there.’”
27When all the officials came to He-Who-Is-Will-Rise 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.
28And He-Who-Is-Will-Rise remained in the courtyard of the guard until the day Foundation-of-Peace was captured.