1Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, appointed Zedekiah to be king of Judah. He was the son of Josiah. Zedekiah ruled in place of Jehoiachin, the son of Jehoiakim.2Zedekiah and his attendants didn’t pay any attention to what the LORD had said through Jeremiah the prophet. And the people of the land didn’t pay any attention either.3But King Zedekiah sent Jehukal to Jeremiah the prophet. Zedekiah sent Zephaniah the priest along with him. Jehukal was the son of Shelemiah. Zephaniah was the son of Maaseiah. Jehukal and Zephaniah brought the king’s message to Jeremiah. It said, ‘Please pray to the LORD our God for us.’4At that time Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people. Jeremiah had not yet been put in prison.5The armies of Babylon were attacking Jerusalem. They received a report that Pharaoh’s army had marched out of Egypt to help Zedekiah. So armies of Babylon pulled back from Jerusalem.6A message from the LORD came to Jeremiah.7The LORD is the God of Israel. He says, ‘The king of Judah has sent you to ask me for advice. Tell him, “Pharaoh’s army has marched out to help you. But it will go back to its own land. It will return to Egypt.8Then the armies of Babylon will come back here. They will attack this city. They will capture it. Then they will burn it down.”9‘The LORD says, “Do not fool yourselves. You think, ‘The Babylonians will leave us alone.’ But they will not!10Suppose you destroy all the armies of Babylon that are attacking you. Suppose only wounded men are left in their tents. Even then they will come out and burn down this city.” ’11The armies of Babylon had pulled back from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army.12So Jeremiah started to leave the city. He was planning to go to the territory of Benjamin. Jeremiah wanted to get his share of the property among the people there.13He got as far as the Benjamin Gate. But the captain of the guard arrested him. He said, ‘You are going over to the side of the Babylonians!’ The captain’s name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah. Shelemiah was the son of Hananiah.14Jeremiah said to Irijah, ‘That isn’t true! I’m not going to the side of the Babylonians.’ But Irijah wouldn’t listen to him. Instead, he arrested Jeremiah. He brought Jeremiah to the officials.15They were angry with him. So they had him beaten. Then they took him to the house of Jonathan the secretary. It had been made into a prison. That’s where they put Jeremiah.16Jeremiah was put into a prison cell below ground level. He remained there a long time.17Then King Zedekiah sent for him. King Zedekiah had Jeremiah brought to the palace. There the king spoke to him in private. The king asked, ‘Do you have a message from the LORD for me?’ ‘Yes’, Jeremiah replied. ‘You will be handed over to the king of Babylon.’18Then Jeremiah continued, ‘Why have you put me in prison? What crime have I committed against you? What have I done to your attendants or these people?19Where are your prophets who prophesied to you? They said, “The king of Babylon won’t attack you. He won’t march into this land.”20But now please listen, my king and master. Let me make my appeal to you. Please don’t send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary. If you do, I’ll die there.’21Then King Zedekiah gave the order. His men put Jeremiah in the courtyard of the guard. They gave him a loaf of bread from the street of the bakers. They did it every day until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
Jeremiah 37
English Standard Version
Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah
1Zedekiah the son of Josiah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah, reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim. (2Ki 24:17; 2Ch 36:10; Jer 22:24; Eze 17:13)2But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the Lord that he spoke through Jeremiah the prophet. (2Ch 36:12)3King Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “Please pray for us to the Lord our God.” (Jer 21:1; Jer 21:2; Jer 35:4; Jer 37:13; Jer 38:1)4Now Jeremiah was still going in and out among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison. (Nu 27:17; Jer 32:2; Jer 33:1)5The army of Pharaoh had come out of Egypt. And when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem. (Jer 32:2; Jer 34:21; Jer 37:11; Eze 17:15)6Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet:7“Thus says the Lord, God of Israel: Thus shall you say to the king of Judah who sent you to me to inquire of me, ‘Behold, Pharaoh’s army that came to help you is about to return to Egypt, to its own land. (2Ki 24:7; Jer 21:2; Jer 46:17; La 4:17; Eze 29:2; Eze 29:6)8And the Chaldeans shall come back and fight against this city. They shall capture it and burn it with fire. (Jer 34:22)9Thus says the Lord, Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,” for they will not go away.10For even if you should defeat the whole army of Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and there remained of them only wounded men, every man in his tent, they would rise up and burn this city with fire.’” (Jer 21:4; Jer 37:8)
Jeremiah Imprisoned
11Now when the Chaldean army had withdrawn from Jerusalem at the approach of Pharaoh’s army, (Jer 37:5)12Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to receive his portion there among the people. (Jer 1:1; Jer 32:8; Jer 32:9; Jer 37:4; Jer 39:14)13When he was at the Benjamin Gate, a sentry there named Irijah the son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah, seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are deserting to the Chaldeans.” (Jer 21:9; Jer 37:3; Jer 38:1; Jer 38:7; Jer 38:19; Jer 39:9; Jer 52:15; Zec 14:10)14And Jeremiah said, “It is a lie; I am not deserting to the Chaldeans.” But Irijah would not listen to him, and seized Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. (Jer 36:12)15And the officials were enraged at Jeremiah, and they beat him and imprisoned him in the house of Jonathan the secretary, for it had been made a prison. (Heb 11:36)16When Jeremiah had come to the dungeon cells and remained there many days, (Jer 38:6)17King Zedekiah sent for him and received him. The king questioned him secretly in his house and said, “Is there any word from the Lord?” Jeremiah said, “There is.” Then he said, “You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.” (Jer 21:7; Jer 38:16)18Jeremiah also said to King Zedekiah, “What wrong have I done to you or your servants or this people, that you have put me in prison? (Jer 37:15)19Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you and against this land’? (Jer 28:2; Jer 28:11; Jer 28:17)20Now hear, please, O my lord the king: let my humble plea come before you and do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, lest I die there.” (Jer 38:26; Jer 38:28)21So King Zedekiah gave orders, and they committed Jeremiah to the court of the guard. And a loaf of bread was given him daily from the bakers’ street, until all the bread of the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard. (Jer 32:2; Jer 38:9; Jer 52:6; Eze 4:10; Eze 4:16)