Jeremiah 37:11–21

Jeremiah is Arrested and Put in Prison

¹¹And then,^d at the withdrawing of the army of the Chaldeans from Jerusalem before^e the army of Pharaoh, ¹²Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to receive a portion from there in the midst of the people. ¹³And when^f he was at the Gate of Benjamin, there was a sentry on duty^g whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, and he seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying,^h “You are deserting to the Chaldeans!” ¹⁴And Jeremiah said, “That is a lie! I am not deserting to the Chaldeans.” But he would not listen to him. So Irijah seized Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. ¹⁵And the officials were angry at Jeremiah and they struck him. And they put him in prison,ⁱ in the house of Jonathan the secretary, for they had converted it to the prison^j. ¹⁶So Jeremiah came to the dungeon^k, even to the vaulted cells, and Jeremiah stayed there many days.

¹⁷Then King Zedekiah sent and fetched him. And the king questioned him in secrecy in his house, and he said, “Is there a word from Yahweh?” And Jeremiah said, “There is.” And he said, “You will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon.”

¹⁸Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “What did I do wrong to you, or to your servants, or to this people, that you have put me in prison?^{l 19}And where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying,^m ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you and against this land’? ²⁰Now hear please, my lord the king, please let my plea fall before you.ⁿ You must not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, so that I will not die there.” ²¹So King Zedekiah commanded, and they handed Jeremiah over in the courtyard of the guard, and they gave to him a round loaf of bread from the street of the bakers every day^o until the finishing of all the bread from the city. And Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guard.