Giê-rê-mi 37

Zedekiah asks Jeremiah to pray

¹Zedekiah son of Josiah reigned as king in place of Coniah son of Jehoiakim. Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had made him king in the land of Judah. ²But neither he nor his officials nor the people of the land paid attention to the words the LORD 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 the LORD our God for us.” ⁴At that time Jeremiah was still coming and going among the people; he had not yet been put in prison. ⁵Pharaoh’s army had marched out of Egypt. The Chaldeans besieging Jerusalem heard the news about them and withdrew from the city.

⁶Then the word of the LORD came to the prophet Jeremiah: ⁷“The LORD, the God of Israel, says this: Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to seek my answer: ‘Pharaoh’s army, which has set out to help you, is going back to its own land, to Egypt. ⁸Then the Chaldeans will come back and attack this city. They will capture it and set it on fire.

⁹The LORD says this: Do not fool yourselves by thinking, “The Chaldeans are sure to leave us for good.” They will not leave. ¹⁰Even if you were to defeat the entire Chaldean army that is fighting against you, and only badly wounded men were left among them, each lying in his tent, they would still get up and burn this city down.’” ¹¹When the Chaldean army had withdrawn from Jerusalem because Pharaoh’s army was approaching,

Jeremiah is arrested

¹²Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin, to receive his share of property there among the people.^{a 13}When he reached the Benjamin Gate, a captain of the guard named Irijah son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah, was there. He arrested the prophet Jeremiah and said, “You are deserting to the Chaldeans!” ¹⁴“That is a lie!” Jeremiah said. “I am not deserting to the Chaldeans.” Irijah refused to listen. 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 secretary, which they had turned into a prison. ¹⁶So Jeremiah was put in the cistern house, in its vaulted cells, and he stayed there for a long time.^b

Zedekiah questions Jeremiah in secret

¹⁷Then King Zedekiah sent for him and had him brought to the palace, where he questioned him in private. “Is there any word from the LORD?” the king asked. “There is,” Jeremiah replied. “You will be handed over to the king of Babylon.”

¹⁸Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “What wrong have I done to you or your officials or this people, that you have put me in prison? ¹⁹Where are your prophets now, who prophesied to you that the king of Babylon would not come against you or against this land? ²⁰Now please listen, my lord the king. Please accept my plea: do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, or I will die there.” ²¹So King Zedekiah gave orders, and Jeremiah was placed in the court of the guard. Each day he was given a loaf of bread from the street of the bakers, until there was no bread left in the city. And Jeremiah stayed in the court of the guard.