Jeremiah 37
1 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon replaced Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim with Zedekiah son of Josiah as the ruling king of Judah.
And Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned as king in the place of Conyahu the son of Jehoyakim, whom Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah.
2 But Zedekiah and his officers and everyone else in the country refused to obey what the Lord had said through Jeremiah the prophet.
But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, did hearken unto the words of the Lord, which he had spoken by means of Jeremiah the prophet.
3 However, King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the priest, son of Maaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet with the message, “Please pray to the Lord our God for us!”
And king Zedekiah sent Jehuchal the son of Shelemyah and Zephanyahu the son of Ma'asseyah the priest unto Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Pray now in our behalf unto the Lord our God.
4 (At this time Jeremiah could come and go freely, because as yet they hadn't put him in prison.)
Now Jeremiah came and went out among the people; and they put him not into the prison-house.
5 Pharaoh's army was advancing from Egypt, and when the Babylonian army heard about it, they moved away from Jerusalem.
But the army of Pharaoh was come forth out of Egypt: and when the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem heard the report of them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.
6 Then a message from the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet:
Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah the prophet, saying,
7 This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, instructs you to tell the king of Judah, who sent you to ask me for help: Look! Pharaoh's army, which set out to help you, is going to return home to Egypt.
Thus hath said the Lord, the God of Israel, Thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, that hath sent you unto me to inquire of me, Behold, Pharaoh's army, which is come forth to help you, returneth into its own land to Egypt.
8 Then the Babylonians will return and attack Jerusalem. They will capture it and burn it down.
But the Chaldeans will come again, and fight against this city, and capture it, and burn it with fire.
9 This is what the Lord says: Don't fool yourselves by saying, “The Babylonians are gone for good,” because they're not!
Thus hath said the Lord, Deceive not yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans will certainly go away from us; for they will not go away.
10 In fact, even if you were able to kill the whole Babylonian army attacking you, leaving only wounded men in their tents, they would still get up and burn this city down.
For if even ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained among them [only such] men as are pierced through: yet should they rise up, every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire.
11 When the Babylonian army moved away from Jerusalem because of the threat of Pharaoh's army,
And it came to pass, when the army of the Chaldeans had withdrawn from Jerusalem because of the army of Pharaoh,
12 Jeremiah was on his way out of Jerusalem to go to his home in the territory of Benjamin to claim his share of his family's property.
That Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to make his escape thence in the midst of the people.
13 However, when he reached the Benjamin Gate, the guard captain, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah, arrested him, saying, “You're defecting to the Babylonians!”
But as he was in the gate of Benjamin, there was there a captain of the guardsmen, whose name was Yiriyah, the son of Shelemyah, the son of Chananyah; and he seized hold of Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Thou runnest away to the Chaldeans.
14 “That's not true,” Jeremiah replied. “I'm not defecting to the Babylonians!” But Irijah refused to listen to him. He arrested Jeremiah and took him before the officers.
But Jeremiah said, It is false; I am not running away to the Chaldeans. But he listened not to him; and Yiriyah seized hold of Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes.
15 The officers were furious with Jeremiah. They had him beaten and locked up in the house of Jonathan the scribe, which had been turned into a prison.
Thereupon were the princes wroth with Jeremiah, and struck him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe; for that had they made into a prison-house.
16 Jeremiah was placed in a cell in the underground dungeon and was kept there for a long time.
When Jeremiah had been placed in the dungeon, within the traders' shops, where Jeremiah remained many days:
17 Some while later King Zedekiah secretly sent for him and had him brought to the royal palace where he asked, “Is there a message from Lord for me?” “Yes there is,” Jeremiah replied. “You are going to be handed over to the king of Babylon.”
King Zedekiah sent, and had him taken out, and the king asked him in his house in secret, and said, “Is there any word from the Lord?” And Jeremiah said, “There is:” and he said, Into the hand of the king of Babylon shalt thou be given up.
18 Then Jeremiah asked King Zedekiah, “What wrong have I done to you or your servants or these people, for you to put me in prison?
And Jeremiah said unto king Zedekiah, What have I sinned against thee, and against thy servants, and against this people, that ye have put me into the prison-house?
19 Where are your prophets now, the ones who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon won't come and attack you and this country’?
And where are now your prophets who have prophesied unto you, saying, The king of Babylon will not come against you, and against this land?
20 Now please listen to me, my lord the king, and respond positively to my request. Don't send me back to prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe, otherwise I'll die there.”
Yet now, do but hear, I pray thee, O my lord the king: let me offer my humble supplication, I pray thee, before thee, that thou wilt not make me return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there.
21 King Zedekiah gave the order for Jeremiah to be held in the guard's courtyard and be provided with a loaf of bread every day from a bakery until there was no bread left in the city. So Jeremiah stayed in the guard's courtyard.
Then commanded king Zedekiah that they should put Jeremiah in ward in the court of the prison, and that they should give him a loaf of bread for every day out of the bakers' street, until all the bread was spent out of the city. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.
