The account of the fall of Jerusalem ends with attention coming back to Ebed-melech who had intervened to rescue Jeremiah from certain death under Zedekiah’s rule (Jeremiah 38:1–13). The Lord has a message for Ebed-melech which came to Jeremiah while he was in the court of the guard shortly after Ebed-melech had pulled him out of the cistern. The message has probably been placed here in the narrative to show that Ebed-melech had survived the invasion with Jeremiah and that the Lord fulfilled the promise he made to Ebed-melech1. The Lord’s message to Ebed-melech is that he will keep his promise of sending judgment on Jerusalem, but he will deliver Ebed-melech from the invasion. His life would be spared because he had put his trust in the Lord when he risked his own life to save the Lord’s prophet. Ebed-melech is presented as one of the very few who had listened to what the Lord was saying through Jeremiah and trusted the Lord with his life.
16 Va, parle à Ebed-Mélec, l'Ethiopien, et dis-lui: Ainsi parle l'Eternel des armées, le Dieu d'Israël: Voici, je vais faire venir sur cette ville les choses que j'ai annoncées pour le mal et non pour le bien; elles arriveront en ce jour devant toi.