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.

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

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, [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 Ieremiah went in and out among the people: for they had not put him into the 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 Then Pharaohs hoste was come out of Egypt: and when the Caldeans that besieged Ierusalem, heard tidings of them, they departed from Ierusalem)

[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 came the worde of the Lord vnto the Prophet Ieremiah, saying,

Then Yahweh gave this message to me:

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.

“[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 And the Caldeans shall come againe, and fight against this citie, and take it and burne it with fire.

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

9 Thus sayth the Lord, Deceiue not your selues, saying, The Caldeans shall surely depart from vs: for they shall not depart.

[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 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.

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 hoste of the Caldeans was broken vp from Ierusalem, because of Pharaohs armie,

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

12 Then Ieremiah went out of Ierusalem to goe into the land of Beniamin, separating himselfe thence from 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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 When Ieremiah was entred into the dungeon, and into the prisons, and had remained there a long time,

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

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.

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 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 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 nowe your prophets, which prophecied vnto you, saying, The King of Babel shall not come against you, nor against 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 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.

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 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.

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.