Jeremiah 37

1Zedekiah son of Josiah reigned as king in place of Coniah son of Jehoiakim; Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made him king in the land of Judah.

2But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of Yahweh that he spoke through the prophet Jeremiah.

3King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to the prophet Jeremiah with this request: “Please pray to Yahweh our God for us.”

4Now Jeremiah was still coming and going among the people, for they had not yet put him in prison.

5Pharaoh’s army had come out of Egypt, and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.

6Then the word of Yahweh came to the prophet Jeremiah:

7“This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: This is what you are to say to the king of Judah, who sent you to me to inquire of me: ‘Pharaoh’s army, which has marched out to help you, is going back to its own land, to Egypt.

8Then the Chaldeans will return and fight against this city; they will capture it and burn it with fire.’

9This is what Yahweh says: Do not deceive yourselves by saying, ‘The Chaldeans will surely go away and leave us,’ for they will not go away.

10Even if you were to defeat the whole army of the Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and only wounded men were left among them, each in his tent, they would get up and burn this city with fire.”

11When the Chaldean army had withdrawn from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army,

12Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to receive his share of property there among the people.

13But when he reached the Benjamin Gate, the officer in charge of the guard there, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah son of Hananiah, arrested the prophet Jeremiah and said, “You are deserting to the Chaldeans!”

14Jeremiah said, “That is a lie! I am not deserting to the Chaldeans.” But Irijah would not listen to him. He arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials.

15The officials were furious with Jeremiah. They beat him and locked him up in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for they had made it into a prison.

16So Jeremiah went into the dungeon, into its vaulted cells, and he stayed there many days.

17Then King Zedekiah sent for him and had him brought, and the king questioned him privately in his palace. He asked, “Is there any word from Yahweh?” Jeremiah answered, “There is.” And he added, “You will be handed over to the king of Babylon.”

18Jeremiah also said to King Zedekiah, “What wrong have I done to you or your servants or this people, that you have put me in prison?

19Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you or against this land’?

20Now please listen, my lord the king. Please let my plea come before you: do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, or I will die there.”

21So King Zedekiah gave orders, and they placed Jeremiah in the courtyard of the guard. He was given a loaf of bread every day from the bakers’ street, until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guard.