¹¹The armies of Babylonia had pulled back from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army. ¹²So I started to leave the city. I was planning to go to the territory of Benjamin. I wanted to get my share of the property among the people there. ¹³I got as far as the Benjamin Gate. But the captain of the guard arrested me. He said, “You are going over to the side of the Babylonians!” The captain’s name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah. Shelemiah was the son of Hananiah.

¹⁴I said to Irijah, “That isn’t true! I’m not going to the side of the Babylonians.”

But Irijah wouldn’t listen to me. Instead, he arrested me. He brought me to the officials. ¹⁵They were angry with me. So they had me beaten. Then they took me to the house of the secretary Jonathan. It had been made into a prison. That’s where they put me.

¹⁶I was put into a prison cell that was below ground level. I remained there a long time. ¹⁷Then King Zedekiah sent for me. He had me brought to the palace. There he spoke to me in private. He asked, “Do you have a message from the Lord for me?”

“Yes,” I replied. “You will be handed over to the king of Babylonia.”

¹⁸Then I continued, “Why have you put me in prison? What crime have I committed against you? What have I done to your officials or these people? ¹⁹Where are your prophets who prophesied to you? They said, ‘The king of Babylonia won’t attack you. He won’t march into this land.’

²⁰“But now please listen, my king and master. Let me make my appeal to you. Please don’t send me back to the house of the secretary Jonathan. If you do, I’ll die there.”

²¹Then King Zedekiah gave the order. His men put me in the courtyard of the guard. They gave me bread from the street of the bakers. They did it every day until all of the bread in the city was gone. So I remained in the courtyard of the guard.

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