Jeremiah 37
1 And King Zedekiah the sonne of Iosiah reigned for Coniah the sonne of Iehoiakim, whome Nebuchad-nezzar King of Babel made King in the land of Iudah.
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon replaced Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim with Zedekiah son of Josiah as the ruling king of Judah.
2 But neither he, nor his seruants, nor the people of the land would obey the wordes of the Lord, which he spake by the ministerie of the Prophet Ieremiah.
But Zedekiah and his officers and everyone else in the country refused to obey what the Lord had said through Jeremiah the prophet.
3 And Zedekiah the King sent Iehucal the sonne of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the sonne of Maaseiah the Priest to the Prophet Ieremiah, saying, Pray now vnto the Lord our God for vs.
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!”
4 (Now Ieremiah went in and out among the people: for they had not put him into the prison.
(At this time Jeremiah could come and go freely, because as yet they hadn't put him in prison.)
5 Then Pharaohs hoste was come out of Egypt: and when the Caldeans that besieged Ierusalem, heard tidings of them, they departed from Ierusalem)
Pharaoh's army was advancing from Egypt, and when the Babylonian army heard about it, they moved away from Jerusalem.
6 Then came the worde of the Lord vnto the Prophet Ieremiah, saying,
Then a message from the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet:
7 Thus sayth the Lord God of Israel, Thus shall ye say to the King of Iudah, that sent you vnto me to inquire of me, Behold, Pharaohs hoste, which is come forth to helpe you, shall returne to Egypt into their owne land.
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.
8 And the Caldeans shall come againe, and fight against this citie, and take it and burne it with fire.
Then the Babylonians will return and attack Jerusalem. They will capture it and burn it down.
9 Thus sayth the Lord, Deceiue not your selues, saying, The Caldeans shall surely depart from vs: for they shall not depart.
This is what the Lord says: Don't fool yourselves by saying, “The Babylonians are gone for good,” because they're not!
10 For though ye had smitten the whole hoste of the Caldeans that fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet should euery man rise vp in his tent, and burne this citie with fire.
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.
11 When the hoste of the Caldeans was broken vp from Ierusalem, because of Pharaohs armie,
When the Babylonian army moved away from Jerusalem because of the threat of Pharaoh's army,
12 Then Ieremiah went out of Ierusalem to goe into the land of Beniamin, separating himselfe thence from among the people.
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.
13 And when hee was in the gate of Beniamin, there was a chiefe officer, whose name was Iriiah, the sonne of Shelemiah, the sonne of Hananiah, and he tooke Ieremiah the Prophet, saying, Thou fleest to the Caldeans.
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!”
14 Then sayde Ieremiah, That is false, I flee not to the Caldeans: but he would not heare him: so Iriiah tooke Ieremiah, and brought him to the princes.
“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.
15 Wherefore the princes were angry with Ieremiah, and smote him, and layde him in prison in the house of Iehonathan the scribe: for they had made that the prison.
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.
16 When Ieremiah was entred into the dungeon, and into the prisons, and had remained there a long time,
Jeremiah was placed in a cell in the underground dungeon and was kept there for a long time.
17 Then Zedekiah the King sent, and tooke him out, and the King asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any worde from the Lord? And Ieremiah sayd, Yea: for, sayd he, thou shalt be deliuered into the hand of the King of Babel.
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.”
18 Moreouer, Ieremiah sayd vnto King Zedekiah, What haue I offended against thee, or against thy seruants, or against this people, that ye haue put me in prison?
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?
19 Where are nowe your prophets, which prophecied vnto you, saying, The King of Babel shall not come against you, nor against this land?
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’?
20 Therefore heare nowe, I pray thee, O my lorde the King: let my prayer be accepted before thee, that thou cause mee not to returne to the house of Iehonathan the scribe, least I die there.
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.”
21 Then Zedekiah the King commanded, that they should put Ieremiah in the court of the prison, and that they should giue him dayly a piece of bread out of the bakers streete vntill all the bread in the citie were eaten vp. Thus Ieremiah remained in the court of the prison.
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.
