Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchiah heard what I was telling the people.

So they took me and let me down by ropes into Prince Malchiah's well, which was in the palace courtyard. There was no water in the well, only mud, and I sank down in it.

Then the king ordered Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, Take with you three men and to pull him out of the well before he dies.

Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, a eunuch (officer) who worked in the royal palace, heard that they had put me in the well. At that time the king was holding court at the Benjamin Gate.

The officials went to the king and said: This man must be put to death. By talking like this he is making the soldiers in the city lose their courage. He is doing the same thing to everyone else left in the city. He is not trying to help the people. He only wants to hurt them.

Then I told Zedekiah that Jehovah, the God of Israel said: If you surrender to the king of Babylon's officers, your life will be spared, and this city will not be burned down. Both you and your family will be spared.

Jehovah says: 'Whoever stays on in the city will die in war or of starvation or disease. But those who go out and surrender to the Babylonians will not be killed. They will at least escape with their life.'

On another occasion King Zedekiah had me brought to him at the third entrance to the temple. He said: I am going to ask you a question, and I want you to tell me the whole truth.

The king answered: I am afraid of our own people who have deserted to the Babylonians. I may be handed over to them and tortured.

I was kept in the palace courtyard until the day Jerusalem was captured.

King Zedekiah answered: Very well, then, do what you want to with him. I cannot stop you.

Then I added: All your women and children will be taken out to the Babylonians. You will not escape from them. You will be taken prisoner by the king of Babylonia. And this city will be burned to the ground.

In it I saw all the women left in Judah's royal palace being led out to the king of Babylonia's officers. Listen to what they were saying as they went. The king's best friends misled him, they overruled him. And now that his feet have sunk in the mud, his friends have left him.

So Ebedmelech went with the men to the palace storeroom and got some worn-out clothing which he let down to me by ropes.

Your Majesty, what these men have done is wrong. They have put Jeremiah in the well, where he is sure to die of starvation, since there is no more food in the city.

So King Zedekiah promised me in secret: I swear by the living God, the God who gave us life, that I will not put you to death or hand you over to the men who want to kill you.

I said: You will not be handed over to them. I beg you to obey Jehovah's message. Then all will go well with you, and your life will be spared.

So they pulled me up out of the well. After that I was kept in the courtyard.

But if you do not surrender, then this city will be handed over to the Babylonians. They will burn it down, and you will not escape from them.

He told me to put the rags under my arms, so that the ropes would not hurt me. I did this.

Zedekiah replied: Do not let anyone know about this conversation, and your life will not be in danger.

Just tell them you were begging me not to send you back to prison to die there.

So Ebedmelech went there and said to the king:

I answered: If I tell you the truth, you will put me to death, and if I give you advice, you will not pay any attention.

Jehovah has shown me in a vision what will happen if you refuse to surrender.

Then all the officials came and questioned me. I told them exactly what the king had told me to say. There was nothing else they could do, because no one had overheard the conversation.

I also told them that Jehovah said: 'I am going to give the city to the Babylonian army, and they will capture it.'

If the officials hear that I have talked with you, they will come and ask you what we said. They will promise not to put you to death if you tell them everything.