Hebrew Names Version HNV
The Message Bible MSG
1 Tzidkiyahu the son of Yoshiyahu reigned as king, instead of Konyahu the son of Yehoiakim, whom Nevukhadretztzar king of Bavel made king in the land of Yehudah.
1
King Zedekiah son of Josiah, a puppet king set on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the land of Judah, was now king in place of Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim.
2 But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, did listen to the words of the LORD, which he spoke by the prophet Yirmeyahu.
2
But neither he nor his officials nor the people themselves paid a bit of attention to the Message God gave by Jeremiah the prophet.
3 Tzidkiyahu the king sent Yehukhal the son of Shelemyahu, and Tzefanyah the son of Ma`aseyah, the Kohen, to the prophet Yirmeyahu, saying, Pray now to the LORD our God for us.
3
However, King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the priest, son of Maaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "Pray for us - pray hard! - to the Master, our God."
4 Now Yirmeyahu came in and went out among the people; for they had not put him into prison.
4
Jeremiah was still moving about freely among the people in those days. This was before he had been put in jail.
5 Par`oh's army was come forth out of Mitzrayim; and when the Kasdim who were besieging Yerushalayim heard news of them, they broke up from Yerushalayim.
5
Pharaoh's army was marching up from Egypt. The Chaldeans fighting against Jerusalem heard that the Egyptians were coming and pulled back.
6 Then came the word of the LORD to the prophet Yirmeyahu, saying,
6
Then Jeremiah the prophet received this Message from God:
7 Thus says the LORD, the God of Yisra'el, Thus shall you tell the king of Yehudah, who sent you to me to inquire of me: Behold, Par`oh's army, which is come forth to help you, shall return to Mitzrayim into their own land.
7
"I, the God of Israel, want you to give this Message to the king of Judah, who has just sent you to me to find out what he should do. Tell him, 'Get this: Pharaoh's army, which is on its way to help you, isn't going to stick it out. No sooner will they get here than they'll leave and go home to Egypt.
8 The Kasdim shall come again, and fight against this city; and they shall take it, and burn it with fire.
8
And then the Babylonians will come back and resume their attack, capture this city and burn it to the ground.
9 Thus says the LORD, Don't deceive yourselves, saying, The Kasdim shall surely depart from us; for they shall not depart.
9
I, God, am telling you: Don't kid yourselves, reassuring one another, "The Babylonians will leave in a few days." I tell you, they aren't leaving.
10 For though you had struck the whole army of the Kasdim who fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yes would they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire.
10
Why, even if you defeated the entire attacking Chaldean army and all that was left were a few wounded soldiers in their tents, the wounded would still do the job and burn this city to the ground.'"
11 It happened that, when the army of the Kasdim was broken up from Yerushalayim for fear of Par`oh's army,
11
When the Chaldean army pulled back from Jerusalem,
12 then Yirmeyahu went forth out of Yerushalayim to go into the land of Binyamin, to receive his portion there, in the midst of the people.
12
Jeremiah left Jerusalem to go over to the territory of Benjamin to take care of some personal business.
13 When he was in the gate of Binyamin, a captain of the guard was there, whose name was Yeriyah, the son of Shelemyahu, the son of Hananyah; and he laid hold on Yirmeyahu the prophet, saying, You are falling away to the Kasdim.
13
When he got to the Benjamin Gate, the officer on guard there, Irijah son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah, grabbed Jeremiah the prophet, accusing him, "You're deserting to the Chaldeans!"
14 Then said Yirmeyahu, It is false; I am not falling away to the Kasdim. But he didn't listen to him; so Yeriyah laid hold on Yirmeyahu, and brought him to the princes.
14
"That's a lie," protested Jeremiah. "I wouldn't think of deserting to the Chaldeans."
15 The princes were angry with Yirmeyahu, and struck him, and put him in prison in the house of Yonatan the Sofer; for they had made that the prison.
15
The police were furious with Jeremiah. They beat him up and threw him into jail in the house of Jonathan the secretary of state. (They were using the house for a prison cell.)
16 When Yirmeyahu was come into the dungeon-house, and into the cells, and Yirmeyahu had remained there many days;
16
So Jeremiah entered an underground cell in a cistern turned into a dungeon. He stayed there a long time.
17 Then Tzidkiyahu the king sent, and fetched him: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from the LORD? Yirmeyahu said, There is. He said also, You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Bavel.
17
Later King Zedekiah had Jeremiah brought to him. The king questioned him privately, "Is there a Message from God?" "There certainly is," said Jeremiah. "You're going to be turned over to the king of Babylon."
18 Moreover Yirmeyahu said to king Tzidkiyahu, Wherein have I sinned against you, or against your servants, or against this people, that you have put me in prison?
18
Jeremiah continued speaking to King Zedekiah: "Can you tell me why you threw me into prison? What crime did I commit against you or your officials or this people?
19 Where now are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, The king of Bavel shall not come against you, nor against this land?
19
And tell me, whatever has become of your prophets who preached all those sermons saying that the king of Babylon would never attack you or this land?
20 Now please hear, my lord the king: please let my supplication be presented before you, that you not cause me to return to the house of Yonatan the Sofer, lest I die there.
20
Listen to me, please, my master - my king! Please don't send me back to that dungeon in the house of Jonathan the secretary. I'll die there!"
21 Then Tzidkiyahu the king commanded, and they committed Yirmeyahu into the court of the guard; and they gave him daily a loaf of bread out of the bakers' street, until all the bread in the city was spent. Thus Yirmeyahu remained in the court of the guard.
21
So King Zedekiah ordered that Jeremiah be assigned to the courtyard of the palace guards. He was given a loaf of bread from Bakers' Alley every day until all the bread in the city was gone. And that's where Jeremiah remained - in the courtyard of the palace guards.
The Hebrew Names Version is in the public domain.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.