⁶ So they took Jeremiah and put him into the cistern of Malkijah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard.^(A) They lowered Jeremiah by ropes^(B) into the cistern; it had no water in it,^(C) only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.^(D)

² The army of the king of Babylon was then besieging^(A) Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was confined^(B) in the courtyard of the guard^(C) in the royal palace of Judah.