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Jeremiah 37

Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah

1 ^aZedekiah the son of Josiah ^bwhom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah, reigned instead of ^cConiah the son of Jehoiakim. 2 ^dBut 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 ^eJehucal the son of ^fShelemiah, and ^gZephaniah the priest, the son of ^hMaaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “Please ⁱpray for us to the Lord our God.” 4 ^jNow Jeremiah was still going in and out among the people ^kfor he had not yet been put in prison. 5 ^lThe army of Pharaoh had come out of Egypt. And when ^mthe Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news about them, ⁿthey 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 ^osent you to me to inquire of me, ‘Behold ^pPharaoh’s army that came to help you is about to ^qreturn to Egypt, to its own land. 8 And ^rthe Chaldeans shall come back and fight against this city. ^sThey 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 ^tFor 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 ^uburn this city with fire.’”

Jeremiah Imprisoned

11 Now when ^vthe Chaldean army had withdrawn from Jerusalem at the approach of Pharaoh’s army, 12 Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem to go to ^wthe land of Benjamin ^xto receive his portion there ^yamong the people. 13 When he was at ^zthe Benjamin Gate, a sentry there named Irijah the son of ^aaShelemiah, son of Hananiah, seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, ^ab“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 ^acthe officials. 15 And the officials were enraged at Jeremiah, and they beat him ^adand imprisoned him in the house of Jonathan the secretary, for it had been made a prison.

16 ^aeWhen 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 ^afsecretly in his house and said, “Is there any word from the Lord?” Jeremiah said, “There is.” Then he said ^ag“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 ^ahthat you have put me in prison? 19 ^aiWhere 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: ^ajlet my humble plea come before you and ^akdo 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 ^althe court of the guard. And a loaf of bread was given him daily from the bakers’ street, ^amuntil all the bread of the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in ^anthe court of the guard.