Jeremiah 37

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 ^†yourselves, 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.

^16*When 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.