¹¹So the Babylonian army left Jerusalem to fight the army of the king of Egypt. ¹²Now Jeremiah tried to travel from Jerusalem to the land of Benjamin to get his share of the property that belonged to his family. ¹³When Jeremiah got to the Benjamin Gate of Jerusalem, the captain in charge of the guards arrested him. The captain’s name was Irijah son of Shelemiah son of Hananiah. Irijah said, “You are leaving us to join the Babylonians!”

¹⁴But Jeremiah said to Irijah, “That’s not true! I am not leaving to join the Babylonians.” Irijah refused to listen to Jeremiah, so he arrested Jeremiah and took him to the officers of Jerusalem. ¹⁵Those rulers were very angry with Jeremiah and beat him. Then they put him in jail in the house of Jonathan the royal secretary, which had been made into a prison. ¹⁶So those people put Jeremiah into a cell in a dungeon, and Jeremiah was there for a long time.

¹⁷Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah and had him brought to the palace. Zedekiah asked him in private, “Is there any message from the Lord?”

Jeremiah answered, “Yes, there is. Zedekiah, you will be handed over to the king of Babylon.” ¹⁸Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “What crime have I done against you or your officers or the people of Jerusalem? Why have you thrown me into prison? ¹⁹Where are your prophets that prophesied this message to you: ‘The king of Babylon will not attack you or this land of Judah?’ ²⁰But now, my master, king of Judah, please listen to me, and please do what I ask of you. Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the royal secretary, or I will die there!”

²¹So King Zedekiah gave orders for Jeremiah to be put under guard in the courtyard of the guard and to be given bread each day from the street of the bakers until there was no more bread in the city. So he stayed under guard in the courtyard of the guard.

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