JeremiahChapter 37

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¹Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah. He ruled in place of Coniah son of Jehoiakim. ²But Zedekiah, his officers, and the people of the land would not obey the words of the LORD. The LORD had spoken them through Jeremiah the prophet. ³Still, King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet. They brought this message: "Please pray to the LORD our God for us!" ⁴At that time Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people. They had not yet put him in prison. ⁵Pharaoh's army had marched out of Egypt. The Chaldeans had surrounded Jerusalem to attack it. But when they heard the news, they pulled back from Jerusalem. ⁶Then the LORD gave this message to Jeremiah the prophet. ⁷"This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: The king of Judah sent you to ask me. Tell him this: Look, Pharaoh's army marched out to help you. But it will go back to its own land of Egypt. ⁸Then the Chaldeans will come back and fight against this city. They will capture it and burn it down. ⁹This is what the LORD says: Do not fool yourselves. Do not say, 'The Chaldeans will go away for good.' They will not! ¹⁰Suppose you struck down the whole Chaldean army that is fighting you. Suppose only wounded men were left in their tents. They would still get up and burn this city down." ¹¹The Chaldean army pulled back from Jerusalem because they were afraid of Pharaoh's army. ¹²Then Jeremiah started to leave Jerusalem. He was going to the land of Benjamin to claim his share of property among the people there. ¹³He came to the Gate of Benjamin. The captain of the guard there was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah. He grabbed Jeremiah and said, "You are running away to join the Chaldeans!" ¹⁴"That's a lie," Jeremiah answered. "I'm not running away to the Chaldeans!" But Irijah would not listen to him. He arrested Jeremiah and took him to the officials. ¹⁵The officials were angry with Jeremiah. They beat him and put him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe. They had made that house into a prison. ¹⁶So Jeremiah was put into a cell in the dungeon. He stayed there a long time. ¹⁷Later, King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah and brought him to his palace. There he asked him in secret, "Is there a message from the LORD?" "There is," Jeremiah answered. "You will be handed over to the king of Babylon." ¹⁸Then Jeremiah asked King Zedekiah, "What wrong have I done to you or your servants or these people? Why have you put me in prison? ¹⁹Where are your prophets now? They prophesied to you, 'The king of Babylon will not attack you or this land.' ²⁰But now please listen, my lord the king. Please hear what I ask. Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe. If you do, I will die there." ²¹So King Zedekiah gave orders to keep Jeremiah in the courtyard of the guard. Each day he was given a loaf of bread from the street of the bakers. This went on until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guard.