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Jeremiah 38:9

Jeremiah
JusticeMercy and compassion

7 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 Ebed-melech went out from the king’s palace and said to the king,

“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 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 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.

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Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

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.”
KJV
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; and he is like to die for hunger in the place where he is: for there is no more bread in the city.
WEB
“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.”
ASV
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; and he is like to die in the place where he is, because of the famine; for there is no more bread in the city.
DARBY
My lord, O king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to the prophet Jeremiah, whom they have cast into the dungeon; and he will die by reason of the famine in the place where he is; for there is no more bread in the city.
BLB
“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 cistern; and he is likely to die from hunger in his place, for there is no more bread in the city.
ÅB
Herre konge! Disse menn har gjort ille i alt det de har gjort mot profeten Jeremias, som de har kastet i brønnen, og han dør der han er, av sult; for det er ikke brød i byen mere.
OTB
"Min herre konge, disse mennene har handlet ondt i alt de har gjort mot profeten Jeremias. De har kastet ham i en brønn, hvor han vil dø på grunn av sulten, for det er ikke mer brød i byen."
B1930
Herre konge! Disse menn har gjort ille i alt det de har gjort mot profeten Jeremias, som de har kastet i brønnen, og han dør der han er, av sult; for det er ikke brød i byen mere.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

  • Jeremiah 37:21–38:6

    So King Zedekiah gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and given a loaf of bread daily from the street of the bakers, until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.

    Read in context

  • Job 31:34

    because I greatly feared the crowds and the contempt of the clans terrified me, so that I kept silent and would not go outside—

    Read in context

  • Esther 7:4–6

    For my people and I have been sold out to destruction, death, and annihilation. If we had merely been sold as menservants and maidservants, I would have remained silent, because no such distress would justify burdening the king.”

    Read in context

  • Jeremiah 52:6

    By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so severe that the people of the land had no food.

    Read in context

  • Proverbs 31:8–9

    Open your mouth for those with no voice, for the cause of all the dispossessed.

    Read in context

  • Proverbs 24:11–12

    Rescue those being led away to death, and restrain those stumbling toward the slaughter.

    Read in context