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Read›Jeremiah›Chapter 38

Jeremiah Cast into the Cistern

Jeremiah 38:16

In 11 translations

BSB
But King Zedekiah swore secretly to Jeremiah, “As surely as the LORD 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.”
KJV
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.
WEB
So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, “As Yahweh lives, who made our souls, I will not put you to death, neither will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life.”
ASV
So Zedekiah the king sware secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, As Jehovah 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.
LSV
And King Zedekiah swears to Jeremiah in secret, saying, “YHWH lives, He who made this soul for us, I do not put you to death, nor give you into the hand of these men who are seeking your soul.”
YLT
And the king Zedekiah sweareth unto Jeremiah in secret, saying, 'Jehovah liveth, He who made for us this soul, I do not put thee to death, nor give thee unto the hand of these men who are seeking thy soul.'
DBY
And king Zedekiah swore secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, [As] Jehovah 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.
DRC
Then king Sedecias swore to Jeremias, in private, saying: As the Lord liveth, that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, nor will I deliver thee into the hands of these men that seek thy life.
GNV
So the King sware secretly vnto Ieremiah, saying, As the Lord liueth that made vs these soules, I will not slay thee, nor giue thee into the hands of those men that seeke thy life.
JPS
So Zedekiah the king swore 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.'
LXXE45:16
Thus saith the Lord; Let thy voice cease from weeping, and thine eyes from thy tears: for there is a reward for thy works; and they shall return from the land of thine enemies. And the king swore to him, saying, As the Lord lives who gave us this soul, I will not slay thee, neither will I give thee into the hands of these men.

Word by word Hebrew · tap a word

Words in brackets are English the glossers added; the Hebrew has no word for them, and they can carry a choice of tense or meaning.

Where the editions differ

Editions are published forms of the Hebrew and Greek texts. Meet the editions and sources →

  • Written (Ketiv): אֵת (“obj”). Read aloud (Qere): (“[ ]”) — the form shown in the word-by-word reader.
Spelling, punctuation and minor wording (1)
  • Leningrad Codex reads את; read aloud (Qere) reads (“[ ]”).

Edition differences: STEP Bible, based on work at Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0). Names and codes expanded; consecutive words grouped. Comparisons follow the editions used by the source; see version details.

Original-language editions

WLC
וַיִּשָּׁבַ֞ע הַמֶּ֧לֶךְ צִדְקִיָּ֛הוּ אֶֽל־יִרְמְיָ֖הוּ בַּסֵּ֣תֶר לֵאמֹ֑ר חַי־יְהוָ֞ה את אֲשֶׁר֩ עָשָׂה־לָ֨נוּ אֶת־הַנֶּ֤פֶשׁ הַזֹּאת֙ אִם־אֲמִיתֶ֔ךָ וְאִם־אֶתֶּנְךָ֗ בְּיַד֙ הָאֲנָשִׁ֣ים הָאֵ֔לֶּה אֲשֶׁ֥ר מְבַקְשִׁ֖ים אֶת־נַפְשֶֽׁךָ׃
LXX-Br45:16
Οὕτως εἶπε Κύριος, διαλειπέτω ἡ φωνή σου ἀπὸ κλαυθμοῦ, καὶ οἱ ὀφθαλμοί σου ἀπὸ δακρύων σου, ὅτι ἔστι μισθὸς τοῖς σοῖς ἔργοις, καὶ ἐπιστρέψουσιν ἐκ γῆς ἐχθρῶν, Καὶ ὤμοσεν αὐτῷ ὁ βασιλεὺς, λέγων, ζῇ Κύριος ὃς ἐποίησεν ἡμῖν τὴν ψυχὴν ταύτην, εἰ ἀποκτενῶ σε, καὶ εἰ δώσω σε εἰς χεῖρας τῶν ἀνθρώπων τούτων.

Who and where

👤 God👤 Jeremiah👤 Zedekiah◆ Prophecies of Jeremiah

People, places and events the Theographic dataset links to this verse.

In the reference works topics that cite this verse

From public-domain Bible dictionaries and topical indexes (1884–1915).

Cross-references most cited first

  • Jeremiah 37:17Later, King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah and received him in his palace, where he asked him privately, “Is there a word from the LORD?” “There is,” Jeremiah replied. “You will be delivered into the hand of the king of…
  • Jeremiah 38:1–6Now Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchijah heard that Jeremiah had been telling all the people: “This is what the LORD says: Whoever stays in this city…
  • Isaiah 57:16For I will not accuse you forever, nor will I always be angry; for then the spirit of man would grow weak before Me, with the breath of those I have made.
  • Zechariah 12:1This is the burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel. Thus declares the LORD, who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundation of the earth, who forms the spirit of man within him:
  • John 3:2He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs You are doing if God were not with him.”
  • Jeremiah 34:20I will deliver into the hands of their enemies who seek their lives. Their corpses will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.
  • Numbers 27:16“May the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation
  • Numbers 16:22But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You be angry with the whole congregation?”
  • Hebrews 12:9Furthermore, we have all had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them. Should we not much more submit to the Father of our spirits and live?
  • Ecclesiastes 12:7before the dust returns to the ground from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
  • Isaiah 42:5This is what God the LORD says— He who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its offspring, who gives breath to the people on it and life to those who walk in it:

From the OpenBible.info cross-reference set (votes from readers; not every link is a quotation or allusion).

Verse numbering differs between Bibles
  • 45:16 in some Bibles
  • Mapping unverified: STEPBible TVTMS has rules for this verse in this edition's tradition that would place it elsewhere, but their tests did not match this edition.
  • 38:16 in most Bibles

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