Jeremiah 37:11–21

Jeremiah Imprisoned

¹¹Now when ⁿthe Chaldean army had withdrawn from Jerusalem at the approach of Pharaoh’s army, ¹²Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem to go to ^othe land of Benjamin ^pto receive his portion there ^qamong the people. ¹³When he was at ^rthe Benjamin Gate, a sentry there named Irijah the son of ^sShelemiah, son of Hananiah, seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, ^t“You are deserting to the Chaldeans.” 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 ^uthe officials. ¹⁵And the officials were enraged at Jeremiah, and they beat him ^vand imprisoned him in the house of Jonathan the secretary, for it had been made a prison.

^16wWhen Jeremiah had come to the dungeon cells and remained there many days, ¹⁷King Zedekiah sent for him and received him. The king questioned him ^xsecretly in his house and said, “Is there any word from the Lord?” Jeremiah said, “There is.” Then he said, ^y“You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.” ¹⁸Jeremiah also said to King Zedekiah, “What wrong have I done to you or your servants or this people, ^vthat you have put me in prison? ^19zWhere are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you and against this land’? ²⁰Now hear, please, O my lord the king: ^alet my humble plea come before you and ^bdo not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, lest I die there.” ²¹So King Zedekiah gave orders, and they committed Jeremiah to ^cthe court of the guard. And a loaf of bread was given him daily from the bakers’ street, ^duntil all the bread of the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in ^cthe court of the guard.