Jeremias 37
1 THE WORD THAT CAME TO JEREMIAS FROM THE LORD, SAYING,
And King Zedekiah son of Josiah reigns instead of Coniah son of Jehoiakim whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had caused to reign in the land of Judah,
2 Thus speaks the Lord God of Israel, saying, Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book.
and he has not listened—he, and his servants, and the people of the land—to the words of YHWH that He spoke by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet.
3 For, behold, the days come, says the Lord, when I will bring back the captivity of my people Israel and Juda, said the Lord: and I will bring them back to the land which I gave to their fathers, and they shall be lords of it.
And Zedekiah the king sends Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “Pray, we implore you, for us to our God YHWH.”
4 AND THESE ARE THE WORDS WHICH THE LORD SPOKE CONCERNING ISRAEL AND JUDA;
And Jeremiah is coming in and going out in the midst of the people (and they have not put him in the prison-house),
5 Thus said the Lord: You shall hear a sound of fear, [there is] fear, and there is not peace.
and the force of Pharaoh has come out of Egypt, and the Chaldeans who are laying siege against Jerusalem hear their report, and go up from off Jerusalem.
6 Enquire, and see if a male has born a child? and [ask] concerning the fear, wherein they shall hold their loins, and [look for] safety: for I have seen every man, and his hands are on his loins; [their] faces are turned to paleness.
And there is a word of YHWH to Jeremiah the prophet, saying,
7 For that day is great, and there is not such [another]; and it is a time of straitness to Jacob; but he shall be saved out of it.
“Thus said YHWH, God of Israel: Thus you say to the king of Judah who is sending you to Me, to seek Me: Behold, the force of Pharaoh that is coming out to you for help has turned back to its land, to Egypt,
8 In that day, said the Lord, I will break the yoke off their neck, and will burst their bonds, and they shall no longer serve strangers:
and the Chaldeans have turned back and fought against this city, and captured it, and burned it with fire.
9 but they shall serve the Lord their God; and I will raise up to them David their king.
Thus said YHWH: Do not lift up your souls, saying, The Chaldeans surely go from off us, for they do not go;
for though you had struck all the force of the Chaldeans who are fighting with you, and there were left of them wounded men—they rise, each in his tent, and have burned this city with fire.”
And it has come to pass, in the going up of the force of the Chaldeans from off Jerusalem, because of the force of Pharaoh,
12 Thus says the Lord; I have brought on [you] destruction; your stroke is painful.
that Jeremiah goes out from Jerusalem to go [to] the land of Benjamin, to receive a portion there in the midst of the people.
13 There is none to judge your cause: you have been painfully treated for healing, there is no help for you.
And it comes to pass, he is at the Gate of Benjamin, and there [is] a master of the ward, and his name is Irijah son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah; and he catches Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are defecting to the Chaldeans!”
14 All your friends have forgotten you; they shall not ask [about you] at all, for I have struck you with he stroke of an enemy, [even] severe correction: your sins have abounded above all your iniquity.
And Jeremiah says, “Falsehood! I am not defecting to the Chaldeans”; and he has not listened to him, and Irijah lays hold on Jeremiah, and brings him to the heads,
15 Your sins have abounded beyond the multitude of your iniquities, [therefore] they have done these things to you. Therefore all that devour you shall be eaten, and all your enemies shall eat all their [own] flesh.
and the heads are angry against Jeremiah, and have struck him, and put him in the prison-house—the house of Jonathan the scribe, for they had made it for a prison-house.
16 And they that spoil you shall become a spoil, and I will give up to be plundered all that have plundered you.
When Jeremiah has entered into the house of the dungeon, and to the cells, then Jeremiah dwells there many days,
17 For I will bring about your healing, I will heal you of your grievous wound, says the Lord; for you are called Dispersed: she is your prey, for no one seeks after her.
and King Zedekiah sends, and takes him, and the king asks him in his house in secret, and says, “Is there a word from YHWH?” And Jeremiah says, “There is,” and he says, “You are given into the hand of the king of Babylon.”
18 Thus said the Lord; Behold, I will turn the captivity of Jacob, and will have pity upon his prisoners; and the city shall be built upon her hill, and the people shall settle after their manner.
And Jeremiah says to King Zedekiah, “What have I sinned against you, and against your servants, and against this people, that you have put me into a prison-house?
19 And there shall go forth from them singers, [even] the sound of men making merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not at all be diminished.
And where [are] your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, The king of Babylon does not come in against you, and against this land?
20 And their sons shall go in as before, and their testimonies shall be established before me, and I will visit them that afflict them.
And now, please listen, O my lord the king; please let my supplication fall before you, and do not cause me to return [to] the house of Jonathan the scribe, that I do not die there.”
21 And their mighty ones shall be over them, and their prince shall proceed of themselves; and I will gather them, and they shall return to me: for who is this that has set his heart to return to me? says the Lord.
And King Zedekiah commands, and they commit Jeremiah into the court of the prison, also to give a cake of bread to him daily from the bakers’ street, until the consumption of all the bread of the city, and Jeremiah dwells in the court of the prison.
23 For the wrathful anger of the lord has gone forth, [even] a whirlwind of anger has gone forth: it shall come upon the ungodly.
24 The fierce anger of the Lord shall not return, until he shall execute [it], and until he shall establish the purpose of his heart: in the latter days you shall know these things.
