Jeremiah 37

1 And king Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah.

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 servants, nor the people of the land, hearkened to the words of the LORD, which he spoke by the prophet Jeremiah.

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 Jehucal the son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now to the LORD our God for us.

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 Jeremiah came in and went out among the people: for they had not put him into prison.

(At this time Jeremiah could come and go freely, because as yet they hadn't put him in prison.)

5 Then Pharaoh's army had come from Egypt: and when the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they departed from Jerusalem.

Pharaoh's army was advancing from Egypt, and when the Babylonian army heard about it, they moved away from Jerusalem.

6 Then came the word of the LORD to the prophet Jeremiah, saying,

Then a message from the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet:

7 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, that sent you to me to inquire of me; Behold, Pharaoh's army, which hath come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own 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 Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire.

Then the Babylonians will return and attack Jerusalem. They will capture it and burn it down.

9 Thus saith the LORD; Deceive not yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans will surely depart from us: for they will 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 army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained [but] wounded men among them, [yet] would they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city 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 And it came to pass, that when the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh's army,

When the Babylonian army moved away from Jerusalem because of the threat of Pharaoh's army,

12 Then Jeremiah went out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to separate himself thence in the midst of 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 he was in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the ward [was] there, whose name [was] Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he took Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Thou fallest away to the Chaldeans.

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 said Jeremiah, [It is] false; I fall not away to the Chaldeans. But he hearkened not to him: so Irijah took Jeremiah, 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 wroth with Jeremiah, and beat him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan 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 Jeremiah had entered into the dungeon, and into the cabins, and Jeremiah had remained there many days;

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 took him out: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there [any] word from the LORD? And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said he, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.

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 Moreover Jeremiah said to king Zedekiah, In what have I offended against thee, or against thy servants, or against this people, that ye have 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] now your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, The king of Babylon 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 hear now, I pray thee, O my lord the king: let my supplication, I pray thee, be accepted before thee; that thou cause me not to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest 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 commit Jeremiah into the court of the prison, and that they should give him daily a piece of bread out of the baker's street, until all the bread in the city should be consumed. Thus Jeremiah 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.