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1 Then Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur the son of Malchiah, heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken unto all the people, saying, 2 Thus saith the LORD, He that remaineth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life for a prey, and shall live. 3 Thus saith the LORD, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which shall take it. 4 Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt. 5 Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand: for the king is not he that can do any thing against you. 6 Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the prison: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire. 7 Now when Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs which was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon; the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin; 8 Ebed-melech went forth out of the king's house, and spake to the king, saying, 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; and he is like to die for hunger in the place where he is: for there is no more bread in the city. 10 Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from hence thirty men with thee, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die. 11 So Ebed-melech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took thence old cast clouts and old rotten rags, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah. 12 And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, Put now these old cast clouts and rotten rags under thine armholes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so. 13 So they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison. 14 Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him into the third entry that is in the house of the LORD: and the king said unto Jeremiah, I will ask thee a thing; hide nothing from me. 15 Then Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, If I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death? and if I give thee counsel, wilt thou not hearken unto me? 16 So Zedekiah the king sware secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, As the LORD liveth, that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee into the hand of these men that seek thy life. 17 Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon's princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house: 18 But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon's princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand. 19 And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me. 20 But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver thee. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the LORD, which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live. 21 But if thou refuse to go forth, this is the word that the LORD hath shewed me: 22 And, behold, all the women that are left in the king of Judah's house shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon's princes, and those women shall say, Thy friends have set thee on, and have prevailed against thee: thy feet are sunk in the mire, and they are turned away back. 23 So they shall bring out all thy wives and thy children to the Chaldeans: and thou shalt not escape out of their hand, but shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon: and thou shalt cause this city to be burned with fire. 24 Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words, and thou shalt not die. 25 But if the princes hear that I have talked with thee, and they come unto thee, and say unto thee, Declare unto us now what thou hast said unto the king, hide it not from us, and we will not put thee to death; also what the king said unto thee: 26 Then thou shalt say unto them, I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan's house, to die there. 27 Then came all the princes unto Jeremiah, and asked him: and he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they left off speaking with him; for the matter was not perceived. 28 So Jeremiah abode in the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken: and he was there when Jerusalem was taken.
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[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Jeremiah 38:5-6
How distressed I am, mind you, when I call to mind that on the festival days the multitudes assembled resemble the broad expanse of the sea, but now not even the smallest part of that multitude is gathered together here. Where are they now who oppress us with their presence on the feast days?… Now if they make the summer season their excuse, for I hear of their saying things of this kind, “the present stifling heat is excessive, the scorching sun is intolerable, we cannot bear being trampled and crushed in the crowd and to be steaming all over with perspiration and oppressed by the heat and confined space.” … What then am I to say to those who advance these pretexts? I would remind them of the three children in the furnace and the flame, who when they saw the fire encircling them on all sides, enveloping their mouth and their eyes and even their breath, did not cease singing that sacred and mystical hymn to God, in company with the universe but standing in the midst of the pyre, sent up their song of praise to the common Lord of all with greater cheerfulness than they who abide in some flowery field. Together with these three children I should think it proper to remind them also of the lions that were in Babylon, and of Daniel and the den: 2 and not of this one only but also of another den, and the prophet Jeremiah and the mire in which he was smothered up to the neck.

Source: HOMILY TO THOSE WHO HAD NOT ATTENDED THE ASSEMBLY 2
[AD 420] Jerome on Jeremiah 38:5-6
Why am I making such a point of all this? Because a monk should not look at the crowd of sinners but reflect on the way of life and the fewness of the saints. The whole of Judea was led into captivity. Nebuchadnezzar had come, and thousands of people were displaced into Babylonia as prisoners. Jeremiah alone was left praising God, and they threw him into a muddy cistern; nevertheless, the soul of this one man was more precious than that of all the people. Would you know what one person can do? Jesus, son of Nave, was alone, although the whole world was inhabited. There were, to be sure, countless multitudes, but he was alone. Alone he commanded the sun and the moon, and they stood still. A man gives an order, and heaven gives heed. Heaven listened to him because he was listening to the Lord. Jeremiah was in captivity, but there were also with him great numbers of exiles. What does he say? “I sat alone, because you filled me with indignation.” How were you alone in the city? I say, I was alone because I had no one with whom to share my purpose.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 54 (PS 143)
[AD 420] Jerome on Jeremiah 38:5-6
They have Lazarus in Moses and the prophets. Moses was Lazarus; he was a poor man. He was naked. He esteemed the poverty of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Pharaoh. They also have the prophets. They have Jeremiah, who is thrown into a cistern of mud and who fed on the bread of tribulation. They have all the prophets. Let them hear them. Every day Moses and the prophets are preaching against your five brothers. Let them teach them. Let them instruct them. Let them summon the eye. What do they say to it? Do not look on the carnal, but discern the spiritual. “What we have seen with our eyes,” says the apostle, “what we have heard, what our hands have handled: of the Word of God.” He instructs the ear, too, the sense of smell, of taste. All the prophets and all the saints teach these brothers.

Source: HOMILY 86, ON THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 16:19-31
[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Jeremiah 38:17
He had often spoken these things previously. We must investigate why in the world he promises safety to those who go out of the city but threatens destruction to those who do not go out. When Nebuchadnezzar had elevated Zedekiah to the kingship, the latter had sworn an oath to him that he would pay tribute and maintain a favorable disposition to the one who had appointed him. But when a short time had passed, he violated the terms of the agreement and both did not pay the tribute and appealed to Egypt for help. Since he had taken these oaths not by some idols lacking any souls but by the Creator of all, and yet he had dared to violate them, the Lord God then ordered him to go out to the Chaldeans and in this way to render service for his perjury.

Source: ON JEREMIAH 8:38