In chapter 38 of Jeremiah’s prophecies, we meet two men and their friends. The first is King Zedekiah and his friend Pashur son of Malchiah, a royal official and advisor. Pashur was the kind of friend who would bend over backward for someone else if it benefited him. Pashur’s advice was given in self-interest, but the king was fool enough not to care or know the difference.