Jeremiah 37

And ^aking Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of ^bConiah the son of Jehoiakim, ^acwhom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah. ^2dBut neither he, ^dnor his servants, nor the people of the land, did hearken unto the words of the Lord, which he spake by the prophet Jeremiah. ³And Zedekiah the king sent ^eJehucal the son of ^efShelemiah and ^gZephaniah the son of ^hMaaseiah the priest to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now unto the Lord our God for us. ⁴Now Jeremiah ⁱcame in and went out among the people: ^kfor they had not put him into prison. ⁵Then ^lPharaoh’s army was come forth out of Egypt: and when the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of them, ^mthey departed from Jerusalem.

⁶Then came the word of the Lord unto the prophet Jeremiah, saying, ⁷Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, ⁿthat sent you unto me to inquire of me; Behold, ^oPharaoh’s army, which is come forth to help you, ^oshall return to Egypt into their own land. ⁸And ^pthe Chaldeans shall come again, and ^pfight against this city, and ^ptake it, and ^prburn it with fire. ⁹Thus saith the Lord; Deceive not your selves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us: for they shall not depart. ^10qFor though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet should they rise up every man in his tent, and ^rburn this city with fire.

¹¹And it came to pass, that ^swhen the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh’s army, ¹²then Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go ^tinto the land of Benjamin, to separate himself thence ^uin the midst of the people. ¹³And when he was ^vin the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the ward was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of ^fShelemiah, the son of ^wHananiah; and he took Jeremiah the prophet, saying, ^xThou fallest away to the Chaldeans. ¹⁴Then 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 ^ythe princes. ¹⁵Wherefore the princes were wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him, and ^zput him in prison in ^athe house of Jonathan the scribe: for they had made that the prison.

¹⁶When Jeremiah was entered into ^bthe dungeon, and into the cabins, and Jeremiah had remained there many days; ¹⁷then Zedekiah the king sent, and ^ctook him out: and the king asked him ^dsecretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from the Lord? And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said he, ^ethou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon. ¹⁸Moreover Jeremiah said unto king Zedekiah, What have I offended against thee, or against thy servants, or against this people, that ye have put me in prison? ^19fWhere are now your prophets which prophesied unto you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land? ²⁰Therefore hear now, I pray thee, O my lord the king: ^glet my supplication, I pray thee, be accepted before thee, ^gthat thou cause me not to return to ^athe house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there. ²¹Then Zedekiah the king commanded that they should commit Jeremiah ^hinto the court of the prison, and that they should give him daily ⁱa piece of bread out of the bakers’ street, ^kuntil all the bread in the city were spent. Thus Jeremiah remained ^hin the court of the prison.

XXXVIII.