He did away with the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They had been at the entrance of the Lord’s temple in the precincts by the chamber of Nathan-melech the court official, and he burned up the chariots of the sun.

Micah’s sons: Pithon, Melech, Tarea, and Ahaz.

Micah’s sons: Pithon, Melech, Tahrea, and Ahaz.

But Ebed-melech, a Cushite court official employed in the king’s palace, heard Jeremiah had been put into the cistern. While the king was sitting at the Benjamin Gate,

Ebed-melech went from the king’s palace and spoke to the king:

So the king commanded Ebed-melech, the Cushite, “Take from here 30 men under your authority and pull Jeremiah the prophet up from the cistern before he dies.”

So Ebed-melech took the men under his authority 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 by ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern.

Ebed-melech the Cushite cried out to Jeremiah, “Place these old rags and clothes between your armpits and the ropes.” Jeremiah did so,

“Go tell Ebed-melech the Cushite: This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am about to fulfill My words for harm and not for good against this city. They will take place before your eyes on that day.

Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer, Regem-melech, and their men to plead for the Lord’s favor