Jeremiah 37

1 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made Zedekiah son of Josiah the king of Judah, and he reigned in place of Coniah son of Jehoiakim.

After Jehoiakim died, [his son Jehoiachin became king for only three months, after which] King Josiah’s son Zedekiah became the King of Judah. Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, appointed him to be the new king.

2 But he and his officers and the people of the land refused to obey the words that the LORD had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.

But King Zedekiah and his palace officials and the other people in the land paid no attention to the messages that Yahweh gave me.

3 Yet King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet with the message, “Please pray to the LORD our God for us!”

However, [one day] King Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the priest, who was the son of Maaseiah, to me. They requested me to pray to Yahweh our God for our [nation].

4 Now Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people, for they had not yet put him in prison.

At that time I had not yet been put in prison, so I could come and go wherever and whenever I wanted to, [without being hindered].

5 Pharaoh’s army had left Egypt, and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report, they withdrew from Jerusalem.

[At that time], the army of [Hophra], the King of Egypt, came [to the southern border of Judah]. When the army of Babylonia heard about that, they stopped surrounding Jerusalem and left there [to fight against the army from Egypt].

6 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet:

Then Yahweh gave this message to me:

7 “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says that you are to tell the king of Judah, who sent you to Me: Behold, Pharaoh’s army, which has marched out to help you, will go back to its own land of Egypt.

“[I], Yahweh, the God whom [you] Israelis [say you belong to], say this: ‘The King of Judah has sent [messengers] to you to ask me [what is going to happen]. Tell the king that even though the army of the King of Egypt came to help him, they are about to return to Egypt.

8 Then the Chaldeans will return and fight against this city. They will capture it and burn it down.

Then the army of Babylonia will return here and capture this city and burn everything in it.’

9 This is what the LORD says: Do not deceive yourselves by saying, ‘The Chaldeans will go away for good,’ for they will not!

[So], this is what I say [to you Israelis]: ‘You should not deceive yourselves, thinking that the army from Babylonia has gone and will not return. That is not true.

10 Indeed, if you were to strike down the entire army of the Chaldeans that is fighting against you, and only wounded men remained in their tents, they would still get up and burn this city down.”

And even if your soldiers could destroy almost all of the soldiers from Babylonia who are attacking you, and allow only a few of them who were wounded to remain alive in their tents, they would come out [of their tents] and burn this city completely!”’”

11 When the Chaldean army withdrew from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh’s army,

When the army from Babylonia left Jerusalem because the army from Egypt was approaching,

12 Jeremiah started to leave Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to claim his portion there among the people.

I started to leave the city. I intended to go to the area [where the descendants of] Benjamin live, in order to take possession of my share of the property from my family.

13 But when he reached the Gate of Benjamin, the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, seized him and said, “You are deserting to the Chaldeans!”

But as I was walking out the Benjamin Gate, a guard seized me and said, “You are deserting [us and going] to [the soldiers from] Babylonia!” The man who seized me was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah and grandson of Hananiah.

14 “That is a lie,” Jeremiah replied. “I am not deserting to the Chaldeans!” But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested Jeremiah and took him to the officials.

But I [protested and] said, “That is not true! I was not intending to do that!” But Irijah would not pay attention to what I said. He took me to the [king’s] officials.

15 The officials were angry with Jeremiah, and they beat him and placed him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for it had been made into a prison.

They were very angry with me. They [commanded the guards to] beat me and [then to] put me in the house where Jonathan the king’s secretary stayed. They had changed Jonathan’s house to make it become a prison.

16 So Jeremiah went into a cell in the dungeon and remained there a long time.

They put me in a dungeon/cell in that prison, and I remained there for several days.

17 Later, King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah and received him in his palace, where he asked him privately, “Is there a word from the LORD?” “There is,” Jeremiah replied. “You will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.”

Then King Zedekiah secretly sent a servant to me, who took me to the palace. There the king asked me, “Do you have any messages from Yahweh?” I replied, “Yes, [the message is that] you will be handed over to the king of Babylon.”

18 Then Jeremiah asked King Zedekiah, “How have I sinned against you or your servants or these people, that you have put me in prison?

Then I asked the king, “What crime have I committed [RHQ] against you or against your officials or against the Israeli people, with the result that you have [commanded that] I be put in a prison?

19 Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, claiming, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you or this land’?

Your prophets predicted that the army of the king of Babylon would not attack you or this land. Why were [RHQ] [their messages] not fulfilled?

20 But now please listen, O my lord the king. May my petition come before you. Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, or I will die there.”

Your majesty, I plead with you to listen to me. Do not send me back to the dungeon/cell in the house of Jonathan your secretary, because [if you do that, ] I will die there.”

21 So King Zedekiah gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and given a loaf of bread daily from the street of the bakers, until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.

So King Zedekiah commanded that [I not be sent back to the prison cell. Instead, ] I was allowed to be watched by the guards in the courtyard [of the palace]. [The king] also [commanded that they should] bring me a loaf of fresh bread every day, until there was no bread left in the city. So [they put me] in that courtyard and I remained there.