Jeremiah 37

37 ¹ Zedekiah son of Josiah reigned as king in place of Coniah son of Jehoiakim, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had made him king in the land of Judah. ² But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of our Father, which he spoke through Jeremiah the prophet.

³ King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "Please pray to our Father on our behalf."

⁴ Now Jeremiah was still coming and going among the people, for they had not yet put him in prison. ⁵ Pharaoh's army had marched out of Egypt, and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report of them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.

⁶ Then the word of our Father came to Jeremiah the prophet:

⁷ This is what our Father of Israel says: Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of me: Look, Pharaoh's army, which marched out to help you, is going to return to its own land, to Egypt. ⁸ Then the Chaldeans will come back and fight against this city; they will capture it and burn it down.

⁹ This is what our Father says: Do not deceive yourselves, thinking, "The Chaldeans are surely leaving us," for they are not leaving. ¹⁰ For even if you struck down the whole Chaldean army that is fighting against you, and only wounded men were left among them, each in his tent, they would rise up and burn this city down.

Jeremiah Arrested and Imprisoned

¹¹ Now when the Chaldean army had withdrawn from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh's army, ¹² Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem for the land of Benjamin to claim his portion there among the people. ¹³ But when he reached the Benjamin Gate, the captain of the guard there, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah son of Hananiah, seized Jeremiah the prophet and said, "You are deserting to the Chaldeans!"

¹⁴ Jeremiah said, "That is a lie. I am not deserting to the Chaldeans." But Irijah would not listen to him; he seized Jeremiah and brought him to the officials.

¹⁵ The officials were furious with Jeremiah, and they beat him and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe, which they had made into a prison.

¹⁶ So Jeremiah went into the vaulted cells of the dungeon, and there he remained many days. ¹⁷ Then King Zedekiah sent for him and had him brought out. The king questioned him privately in his palace and asked, "Is there any word from our Father?" "There is," Jeremiah replied. "You will be handed over to the king of Babylon."

¹⁸ Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, "How have I sinned against you, or your servants, or this people, that you have put me in prison? ¹⁹ Where now are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, 'The king of Babylon will not come against you or against this land'? ²⁰ But now, please listen, my lord the king. Let my plea come before you: do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, or I will die there."

²¹ So King Zedekiah gave orders, and they placed Jeremiah in the courtyard of the guard, giving him a loaf of bread each day from the bakers' street until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.