37:1 Zedekiah son of Josiah was made king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he reigned in place of Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim.
37:2 Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the LORD had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.
37:3 King Zedekiah, however, sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah with the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah the prophet with this message: “Please pray to the LORD our God for us.”
37:4 Now Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison.
37:5 Pharaoh’s army had marched out of Egypt, and when the Babylonians who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.
37:6 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet:
37:7 “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of me, ‘Pharaoh’s army, which has marched out to support you, will go back to its own land, to Egypt.
37:8 Then the Babylonians will return and attack this city; they will capture it and burn it down.’
37:9 “This is what the LORD says: Do not deceive yourselves, thinking, ‘The Babylonians will surely leave us.’ They will not!
37:10 Even if you were to defeat the entire Babylonian army that is attacking you and only wounded men were left in their tents, they would come out and burn this city down.”
37:11 After the Babylonian army had withdrawn from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army,
37:12 Jeremiah started to leave the city to go to the territory of Benjamin to get his share of the property among the people there.
37:13 But when he reached the Benjamin Gate, the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, arrested him and said, “You are deserting to the Babylonians!”
37:14 “That’s not true!” Jeremiah said. “I am not deserting to the Babylonians.” But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials.
37:15 They were angry with Jeremiah and had him beaten and imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the secretary, which they had made into a prison.
37:16 Jeremiah was put into a vaulted cell in a dungeon, where he remained a long time.
37:17 Then King Zedekiah sent for him and had him brought to the palace, where he asked him privately, “Is there any word from the LORD?” “Yes,” Jeremiah replied, “you will be handed over to the king of Babylon.”
37:18 Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “What crime have I committed against you or your officials or this people, that you have put me in prison?
37:19 Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, ‘The king of Babylon will not attack you or this land’?
37:20 But now, my lord the king, please listen. Let me bring my petition before you: Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, or I will die there.”
37:21 King Zedekiah then gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and given bread from the street of the bakers each day until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
37:1 And Zedekiah the son of Josiah, whom Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah, reigned as king instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim.
37:2 But he did not listen, neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land, to the words of Jehovah, which He spoke through Jeremiah the prophet.
37:3 And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Pray to Jehovah our God for us.
37:4 Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people, for they had not yet put him in prison.
37:5 And the army of Pharaoh had come out of Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news of them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.
37:6 Then the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah the prophet, saying,
37:7 Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel, Thus you shall say to the king of Judah, who sent you to Me to inquire of Me: Pharaoh s army, which came out to you to help, is now returning to its own land of Egypt.
37:8 The Chaldeans will again return and fight against this city, and they will capture it and burn it with fire.
37:9 Thus says Jehovah, Do not deceive yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans will surely go away from us; for they will not go away.
37:10 For even if you had struck down the whole army of the Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and only wounded men remained among them, they would rise up each one in his tent and burn this city with fire.
37:11 And when the army of the Chaldeans had withdrawn from Jerusalem at the presence of the army of Pharaoh,
37:12 Jeremiah tried to go out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to receive a portion there among the people.
37:13 When he was at the Gate of Benjamin, there was a captain of the guard there whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, and he seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, You are deserting to the Chaldeans!
37:14 And Jeremiah said, It is false! I am not deserting to the Chaldeans. But he did not listen to him. And Irijah seized Jeremiah and brought him to the princes.
37:15 And the princes were angry with Jeremiah and struck him and put him in prison, in the house of Jonathan the scribe; for they had made it into a prison.
37:16 When Jeremiah came to the dungeon and to the cells, Jeremiah remained there many days.
37:17 And Zedekiah the king sent and took him out; and the king questioned him in his house secretly and said, Is there any word from Jehovah? And Jeremiah said, There is. And he said, You will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.
37:18 And Jeremiah also said to Zedekiah the king, In what have I sinned against you or against your servants or against this people, that you have put me in prison?
37:19 And where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, The king of Babylon will not come against you or against this land?
37:20 And now hear, O my lord the king; let my supplication come before you, and do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there.
37:21 So Zedekiah the king commanded, and they placed Jeremiah in the court of the guard, and gave him a loaf of bread daily from the bakers street, until all the bread was gone from the city. So Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.