^32:3For King Zedekiah⁵ had confined Jeremiah there after he had reproved him for prophesying as he did. He had asked Jeremiah, “Why do you keep prophesying these things? Why do you keep saying that the Lord says, ‘I will hand this city over to the king of Babylon? I will let him capture it.⁶^32:4King Zedekiah of Judah will not escape from the Babylonians.⁷ He will certainly be handed over to the king of Babylon. He must answer personally to the king of Babylon and confront him face to face.⁸^32:5Zedekiah will be carried off to Babylon and will remain there until I have fully dealt with him.⁹ I, the Lord, affirm it!¹⁰ Even if you¹¹ continue to fight against the Babylonians,¹² you cannot win.’ ”

Read in Logos

Footnotes

5 Heb “Zedekiah king of Judah.”
6 The translation represents an attempt to break up a very long Hebrew sentence with several levels of subordination and embedded quotations and also an attempt to capture the rhetorical force of the question “Why …” which is probably an example of what E. W. Bullinger (Figures of Speech, ) calls a rhetorical question of expostulation or remonstrance (cf. the note on and compare also the question in 36:29. In all three of these cases translates “How dare you …” which captures the force nicely). The Hebrew text reads, “For Zedekiah king of Judah had confined him, saying, ‘Why are you prophesying, saying, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold I am giving this city into the hands of the king of Babylon and he will capture it.’ ” ’ ”
7 Heb “The Chaldeans.” See the study note on for further explanation.
8 Heb “his [Zedekiah’s] mouth will speak with his [Nebuchadnezzar’s] mouth and his eyes will see his eyes.” The verbs here are an obligatory imperfect and its vav consecutive perfect equivalent. (See §31.4g for discussion and examples of the former and §32.2.1d, n. 16, for the latter.)
9 This is the verb (פָּקַד, paqad) that has been met with several times in the book of Jeremiah, most often in the ominous sense of “punish” (e.g., 6:15; 11:22; 23:24) but also in the good sense of “resume concern for” (e.g., 27:22; 29:10). Here it is obviously in the ominous sense referring to his imprisonment and ultimate death (52:11). Compare Jer 34:2–3 for this same prophecy. The incident in Jer 34:1–7 appears to be earlier than this one. Here Jeremiah is confined to the courtyard of the guardhouse; there he appears to have freedom of movement.
10 Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”
11 The pronouns are plural here, referring to the people of Judah and Jerusalem. Jeremiah had counseled that they surrender (cf. 27:12; 21:8–10) because they couldn’t succeed against the Babylonian army even under the most favorable circumstances (37:3–10).
12 Heb “The Chaldeans.” See the study note on for further explanation.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

For Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him, saying, “Why do you prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall capture it; Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye. And he shall take Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he shall remain until I visit him, declares the Lord. Though you fight against the Chaldeans, you shall not succeed’?”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Now Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him there, saying, “Why do you prophesy as you do? You say, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am about to give this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it. Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape the Babylonians but will certainly be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, and will speak with him face to face and see him with his own eyes. He will take Zedekiah to Babylon, where he will remain until I deal with him, declares the Lord. If you fight against the Babylonians, you will not succeed.’ ”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

King Zedekiah of Judah had imprisoned him, saying, “Why are you prophesying as you do? You say, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look, I am about to hand this city over to Babylon’s king, and he will capture it. King Zedekiah of Judah will not escape from the Chaldeans; indeed, he will certainly be handed over to Babylon’s king. They will speak face to face and meet eye to eye. He will take Zedekiah to Babylon, where he will stay until I attend to him—this is the Lord’s declaration. For you will fight the Chaldeans, but you will not succeed.’ ”

NLTNew Living Translation

King Zedekiah had put him there, asking why he kept giving this prophecy: “This is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will take it. King Zedekiah will be captured by the Babylonians and taken to meet the king of Babylon face to face. He will take Zedekiah to Babylon, and I will deal with him there,’ says the Lord. ‘If you fight against the Babylonians, you will never succeed.’ ”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

where Zedekiah, the king of Judah, had confined him, saying, “Why are you prophesying, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Look, I am going to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it, and Zedekiah, the king of Judah, will not escape from the hand of the Chaldeans, but surely he will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will speak face to face with him and he will see him eye to eye, and to Babylon he will bring Zedekiah, and there he will be until my attending to him,” declares Yahweh. “If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not be successful” ’?”

KJV 1900King James Version

For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, Wherefore dost thou prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it; And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes; And he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there shall he be until I visit him, saith the Lord: though ye fight with the Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper?

Public Domain