Jeremiah in Prison

37 Zedekiahp son of Josiah was made kingq of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he reigned in place of Jehoiachina r son of Jehoiakim. 2 Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attentions to the words the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.

3 King Zedekiah, however, sentt Jehukalu son of Shelemiah with the priest Zephaniahv son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah the prophet with this message: “Please prayw to the Lord our God for us.”

4 Now Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison.x 5 Pharaoh’s army had marched out of Egypt,y and when the Babyloniansb who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they withdrewz from Jerusalem.a

6 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet: 7 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquireb of me, ‘Pharaoh’s army, which has marchedc out to support you, will go back to its own land, to Egypt.d 8 Then the Babylonians will return and attack this city; they will capturee it and burnf it down.’

9 “This is what the Lord says: Do not deceiveg yourselves, thinking, ‘The Babylonians will surely leave us.’ They will not! 10 Even if you were to defeat the entire Babylonianc army that is attacking you and only wounded men were left in their tents, they would come out and burnh this city down.”

11 After the Babylonian army had withdrawni from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army, 12 Jeremiah started to leave the city to go to the territory of Benjamin to get his share of the propertyj among the people there. 13 But when he reached the Benjamin Gate,k the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, arrested him and said, “You are deserting to the Babylonians!”l

14 “That’s not true!” Jeremiah said. “I am not deserting to the Babylonians.” But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrestedm Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. 15 They were angry with Jeremiah and had him beatenn and imprisonedo in the housep of Jonathan the secretary, which they had made into a prison.

16 Jeremiah was put into a vaulted cell in a dungeon, where he remained a long time. 17 Then King Zedekiah sentq for him and had him brought to the palace, where he askedr him privately,s “Is there any word from the Lord?”

“Yes,” Jeremiah replied, “you will be deliveredt into the hands of the king of Babylon.”

18 Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “What crimeu have I committed against you or your attendants or this people, that you have put me in prison? 19 Where are your prophetsv who prophesied to you, ‘The king of Babylon will not attack you or this land’? 20 But now, my lord the king, please listen. Let me bring my petition before you: Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, or I will die there.”w

21 King Zedekiah then gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and given a loaf of bread from the street of the bakers each day until all the breadx in the city was gone.y So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.z