Jeremiah 37
1 King Zedekiah son of Josiah reigned in place of Coniah son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had made king in the land of Judah.
2 Neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the LORD, which he spoke through the prophet Jeremiah.
3 King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to the prophet Jeremiah with this message: “Please pray to the LORD our God for us.”
4 Jeremiah was coming and going among the people, because he had not yet been put in the prison.
5 Pharaoh’s army had set out from Egypt. When the Chaldeans besieging Jerusalem heard the news about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.
6 Then the word of the LORD came to the prophet Jeremiah:
7 “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to me to inquire of me, ‘Look, Pharaoh’s army, which has set out to help you, is going back to its own land, Egypt.
8 The Chaldeans will return, fight against this city, capture it, and burn it with fire.’
9 This is what the LORD says: Do not deceive yourselves by saying, ‘The Chaldeans are surely leaving us.’ They are not going to leave.
10 Even if you defeated the entire army of the Chaldeans fighting against you, and only wounded men were left among them, each man would rise from his tent and burn this city with fire.’”
11 The Chaldean army had withdrawn from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army.
12 Jeremiah left Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin and receive his share there among the people.
13 When he was at the Gate of Benjamin, a guard officer named Irijah son of Shelemiah son of Hananiah was there. He seized the prophet Jeremiah and said, “You are defecting to the Chaldeans.”
14 Jeremiah said, “That’s a lie! I am not defecting 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. They beat him and put him in prison, in the house of Jonathan the secretary, which they had turned into a prison.
16 Jeremiah was taken to the cistern house, into the cells, and he remained there many days.
17 Then King Zedekiah sent for him. The king questioned him privately in his house: “Is there any word from the LORD?” Jeremiah answered, “There is.” He added, “You will be handed over to the king of Babylon.”
18 Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “What have I done wrong to you, your servants, or this people, that you have put me in prison?
19 And where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you or this land’?
20 Now please listen, my lord the king. Let my plea reach you, and do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, or I will die there.”
21 So King Zedekiah gave an order, and Jeremiah was placed in the courtyard of the guard. He was given a loaf of bread each day from the bakers’ street, until all the bread in the city was gone. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
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