Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah
1 1Zedekiah the son of Josiah,
2whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah, reigned instead of
3Coniah the son of Jehoiakim.
2
4But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the LORD that he spoke through Jeremiah the prophet.
3
King Zedekiah sent
5Jehucal the son of
6Shelemiah, and
7Zephaniah the priest, the son of
8Maaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "Please
9pray for us to the LORD our God."
4
10Now Jeremiah was still going in and out among the people,
11for he had not yet been put in prison.
5
12The army of Pharaoh had come out of Egypt. And when
13the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news about them,
14they withdrew from Jerusalem.
6
Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet:
7
"Thus says the LORD, God of Israel: Thus shall you say to the king of Judah who
15sent you to me to inquire of me, 'Behold,
16Pharaoh's army that came to help you is about to
17return to Egypt, to its own land.
8
And
18the Chaldeans shall come back and fight against this city.
19They shall capture it and burn it with fire.
9
Thus says the LORD, Do not deceive yourselves, saying, "The Chaldeans will surely go away from us," for they will not go away.
10
20For even if you should defeat the whole army of Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and there remained of them only wounded men, every man in his tent, they would rise up and
21burn this city with fire.'"
Jeremiah Imprisoned
11 Now when
22the Chaldean army had withdrawn from Jerusalem at the approach of Pharaoh's army,
12
Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem to go to
23the land of Benjamin
24to receive his portion there
25among the people.
13
When he was at
26the Benjamin Gate, a sentry there named Irijah the son of
27Shelemiah, son of Hananiah, seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying,
28"You are deserting to the Chaldeans."
14
And Jeremiah said, "It is a lie; I am not deserting to the Chaldeans." But Irijah would not listen to him, and seized Jeremiah and brought him to
29the officials.
15
And the officials were enraged at Jeremiah, and they beat him
30and imprisoned him in the house of Jonathan the secretary, for it had been made a prison.
16
31When Jeremiah had come to the dungeon cells and remained there many days,
17
King Zedekiah sent for him and received him. The king questioned him
32secretly in his house and said, "Is there any word from the LORD?" Jeremiah said, "There is." Then he said,
33"You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon."
18
Jeremiah also said to King Zedekiah, "What wrong have I done to you or your servants or this people,
34that you have put me in prison?
19
35Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, 'The king of Babylon will not come against you and against this land'?
20
Now hear, please, O my lord the king:
36let my humble plea come before you and
37do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, lest I die there."
21
So King Zedekiah gave orders, and they committed Jeremiah to
38the court of the guard. And a loaf of bread was given him daily from the bakers' street,
39until all the bread of the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in
40the court of the guard.