⁴ Then the ^(A)officials said to the king, “Please have this man put to death, since he is ^[a](B)discouraging the men of war who are left in this city and ^[b]all the people, by speaking words like these to them; for this man ^(C)is not seeking the well-being of this people, but rather their harm.” ⁵ And King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your ^[c]hands; for the king ^(D)can do nothing against you.” ⁶ So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the ^(E)cistern of Malchijah the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guardhouse; and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. Now in the cistern there was no water but only ^(F)mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud.

²⁷ Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him. So he reported to them in accordance with all these words which the king had commanded; and they stopped speaking with him, since the ^[a]conversation had not been overheard.