Jeremiah 37
1 And
king Zedekiah the
son of
Josiah reigned instead of
Coniah the
son of
Jehoiakim, whom
Nebuchadrezzar king of
Babylon made
king in the
land of
Judah. 2 But neither he, nor his
servants, nor the
people of the
land, did
hearken unto the
words of the
LORD, which he
spake by the
prophet Jeremiah. 3 And
Zedekiah the
king sent Jehucal the
son of
Shelemiah and
Zephaniah the
son of
Maaseiah the
priest to the
prophet Jeremiah, saying,
Pray now unto the
LORD our
God for us.
4 Now
Jeremiah came
in and went
out among the
people: for they had not
put him into
prison.
5 Then
Pharaoh's army was come
forth out of
Egypt: and when the
Chaldeans that
besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they
departed from
Jerusalem. 6 Then came the
word of the
LORD unto the
prophet Jeremiah, saying,
7 Thus
saith the
LORD, the
God of
Israel; Thus shall ye
say to the
king of
Judah, that
sent you unto me to
enquire of me; Behold,
Pharaoh's army, which is come
forth to
help you, shall
return to
Egypt into their own
land. 8 And the
Chaldeans shall come
again, and
fight against this
city, and
take it, and
burn it with
fire. 9 Thus
saith the
LORD; Deceive not
yourselves, saying, The
Chaldeans shall
surely depart from us: for they shall not
depart.
10 For though ye had
smitten the whole
army of the
Chaldeans that
fight against you, and there
remained but
wounded men among them, yet should they rise
up every
man in his
tent, and
burn this
city with
fire. 11 And it came to pass, that when the
army of the
Chaldeans was broken
up from
Jerusalem for
fear of
Pharaoh's army, 12 Then
Jeremiah went
forth out of
Jerusalem to
go into the
land of
Benjamin, to
separate himself thence in the
midst of the
people. 13 And when he was in the
gate of
Benjamin, a
captain of the
ward was there, whose
name was
Irijah, the
son of
Shelemiah, the
son of
Hananiah; and he
took Jeremiah the
prophet, saying, Thou fallest
away to the
Chaldeans. 14 Then
said Jeremiah, It is
false; I fall not
away to the
Chaldeans. But he
hearkened not to him: so
Irijah took Jeremiah, and
brought him to the
princes. 15 Wherefore the
princes were
wroth with
Jeremiah, and
smote him, and
put him in
prison in the
house of
Jonathan the
scribe: for they had
made that the
prison. 16 When
Jeremiah was
entered into the
dungeon, and into the
cabins, and
Jeremiah had
remained there
many days; 17 Then
Zedekiah the
king sent, and took him
out: and the
king asked him
secretly in his
house, and
said, Is there any
word from the
LORD? And
Jeremiah said, There
is: for,
said he, thou shalt be
delivered into the
hand of the
king of
Babylon. 18 Moreover
Jeremiah said unto
king Zedekiah, What have I
offended against thee, or against thy
servants, or against this
people, that ye have
put me in
prison?
19 Where are
now your
prophets which
prophesied unto you,
saying, The
king of
Babylon shall not
come against you, nor against this
land? 20 Therefore
hear now, I pray thee, O my
lord the
king: let my
supplication, I pray thee, be
accepted before thee; that thou cause me not to
return to the
house of
Jonathan the
scribe, lest I
die there.
21 Then
Zedekiah the
king commanded that they should
commit Jeremiah into the
court of the
prison, and that they should
give him
daily a
piece of
bread out of the
bakers '
street, until all the
bread in the
city were
spent. Thus
Jeremiah remained in the
court of the
prison.