Jeremiah 37

1 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,

And then king Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, reigned in place of Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim. For Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, appointed him as king in the land of Judah.

2 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.

And neither he himself, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, obeyed the words of the Lord, which he spoke by the hand of Jeremiah, the prophet.

3 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.”

And king Zedekiah sent Jehucal, the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying: “Pray to the Lord our God for us.”

4 And Jeremiah is coming in and going out in the midst of the people (and they have not put him in the prison-house),

Now Jeremiah was walking freely in the midst of the people. For they had not yet sent him into the custody of the prison.

5 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.

And then the army of Pharaoh went forth from Egypt. And hearing this, the Chaldeans, who were besieging Jerusalem, withdrew from Jerusalem.

6 And there is a word of YHWH to Jeremiah the prophet, saying,

And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, saying:

7 “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,

“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: So shall you say to the king of Judah, who sent you to question me: Behold, the army of Pharaoh, which has gone forth in assistance to you, will return to their own land, into Egypt.

8 and the Chaldeans have turned back and fought against this city, and captured it, and burned it with fire.

And the Chaldeans will return and will make war against this city. And they will seize it and burn it with fire.

9 Thus said YHWH: Do not lift up your souls, saying, The Chaldeans surely go from off us, for they do not go;

Thus says the Lord: Do not be willing to deceive your own souls, saying: ‘The Chaldeans will certainly withdraw and go away from us.’ For they will not go away.

10 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.”

But even if you were to strike down the entire army of the Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and if there were left behind from among them only a few wounded men, they would rise up, each one from his tent, and they would burn this city with fire.”

11 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,

Therefore, when the army of the Chaldeans had withdrawn from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army,

12 that Jeremiah goes out from Jerusalem to go [to] the land of Benjamin, to receive a portion there in the midst of the people.

Jeremiah went forth from Jerusalem, to go into the land of Benjamin, and to distribute a possession there, in the sight of the citizens.

13 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!”

And when he had arrived at the gate of Benjamin, the keeper of the gate, whose turn it was to be there, was named Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah. And he apprehended Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are fleeing to the Chaldeans.”

14 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,

And Jeremiah responded: “That is false. I am not fleeing to the Chaldeans.” But he did not listen to him. And so Irijah took Jeremiah, and he brought him to the leaders.

15 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.

Therefore, the leaders were angry with Jeremiah, and so they beat him and sent him to the prison that was in the house of Jonathan, the scribe. For he was the chief over the prison.

16 When Jeremiah has entered into the house of the dungeon, and to the cells, then Jeremiah dwells there many days,

And so Jeremiah went into the house of the prison and into a dungeon. And Jeremiah sat there for many days.

17 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.”

Then Zedekiah the king, sending, took him out and questioned him secretly in his house, and he said: “Do you think that there is any word from the Lord?” And Jeremiah said: “There is.” And he said: “You will be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon.”

18 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?

And Jeremiah said to king Zedekiah: “How have I sinned against you, or your servants, or your people, such that you would cast me into a house of imprisonment?

19 And where [are] your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, The king of Babylon does not come in against you, and against this land?

Where are your prophets, who were prophesying to you, and who were saying: ‘The king of Babylon will not overwhelm you and this land?’

20 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.”

Now therefore, listen, I beg you, my lord the king. Let my petition prevail in your sight. And do not send me back into the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there.”

21 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.

Then king Zedekiah instructed that Jeremiah be confined to the vestibule of the prison, and that they should give him a twist of bread daily, along with stew, until all the bread in the city had been consumed. And Jeremiah remained at the entrance of the prison.