Jeremiah 37:3

3 And king Zedekiah sent Jehucal, the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah, the priest, the son of Maaseiah, to Jeremy, the prophet, and said, Pray thou for us our Lord God. (And King Zedekiah sent Jehucal, the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah, the priest, the son of Maaseiah, to the prophet Jeremiah, and said, Pray thou for us to the Lord our God.)

Jeremiah 37:3 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 37:3

And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and
Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest
That is, Zephaniah the priest, as the accents shaw; though his father Maaseiah was doubtless a priest too; according to the Syriac version, both Jehucal, called Jucal, ( Jeremiah 38:1 ) ; and Zephaniah, were priests; since it reads in the plural number, "priests": these the king sent as messengers to the Prophet Jeremiah, saying, pray now unto the Lord our God for us.
This message was sent either upon the rumour of the Chaldeans coming against Jerusalem, as some think; or rather when it had departed from the city, and was gone to meet the army of the king of Egypt; so that this petition to the prophet was to pray that the king of Egypt alight get the victory over the Chaldean army, and that that might not return unto them. Thus wicked men will desire the prayers of good men in times of distress, when their words, their cautions, admonitions, exhortations, and prayers too, are despised by them at another time.

Jeremiah 37:3 In-Context

1 And king Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, reigned for Jeconiah , the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, made king in the land of Judah.

2 And he, and his servants, and his people obeyed not to the words of the Lord, which he spake in the hand of Jeremy, the prophet. (And he, and his officers, and his people did not obey the words of the Lord, which he spoke by the prophet Jeremiah.)

3 And king Zedekiah sent Jehucal, the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah, the priest, the son of Maaseiah, to Jeremy, the prophet, and said, Pray thou for us our Lord God. (And King Zedekiah sent Jehucal, the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah, the priest, the son of Maaseiah, to the prophet Jeremiah, and said, Pray thou for us to the Lord our God.)

4 Forsooth Jeremy went freely in the midst of the people; for they had not (yet) sent him into the keeping of the prison.

5 Therefore the host of Pharaoh went out of Egypt, and [the] Chaldees, that besieged Jerusalem, heard such a message, and went away from Jerusalem. (And so, Pharaoh's army went forth out of Egypt, and when the Chaldeans, who were besieging Jerusalem, heard this news, they went away from Jerusalem.)