Jeremiah 37
37
Zedekiah Calls for Jeremiah
1Zedekiah son of Josiah succeeded Jehoiachin#37:1a Hebrew Coniah, a variant spelling of Jehoiachin. son of Jehoiakim as the king of Judah. He was appointed by King Nebuchadnezzar#37:1b Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, a variant spelling of Nebuchadnezzar. of Babylon. 2But neither King Zedekiah nor his attendants nor the people who were left in the land listened to what the Lord said through Jeremiah.
3Nevertheless, King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the priest, son of Maaseiah, to ask Jeremiah, “Please pray to the Lord our God for us.” 4Jeremiah had not yet been imprisoned, so he could come and go among the people as he pleased.
5At this time the army of Pharaoh Hophra#37:5a Hebrew army of Pharaoh; see 44:30. of Egypt appeared at the southern border of Judah. When the Babylonian#37:5b Or Chaldean; also in 37:10, 11. army heard about it, they withdrew from their siege of Jerusalem.
6Then the Lord gave this message to Jeremiah: 7“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: The king of Judah sent you to ask me what is going to happen. Tell him, ‘Pharaoh’s army is about to return to Egypt, though he came here to help you. 8Then the Babylonians#37:8 Or Chaldeans; also in 37:9, 13. will come back and capture this city and burn it to the ground.’
9“This is what the Lord says: Do not fool yourselves into thinking that the Babylonians are gone for good. They aren’t! 10Even if you were to destroy the entire Babylonian army, leaving only a handful of wounded survivors, they would still stagger from their tents and burn this city to the ground!”
Jeremiah Is Imprisoned
11When the Babylonian army left Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s approaching army, 12Jeremiah started to leave the city on his way to the territory of Benjamin, to claim his share of the property among his relatives there.#37:12 Hebrew to separate from there in the midst of the people. 13But as he was walking through the Benjamin Gate, a sentry arrested him and said, “You are defecting to the Babylonians!” The sentry making the arrest was Irijah son of Shelemiah, grandson of Hananiah.
14“That’s not true!” Jeremiah protested. “I had no intention of doing any such thing.” But Irijah wouldn’t listen, and he took Jeremiah before the officials. 15They were furious with Jeremiah and had him flogged and imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the secretary. Jonathan’s house had been converted into a prison. 16Jeremiah was put into a dungeon cell, where he remained for many days.
17Later King Zedekiah secretly requested that Jeremiah come to the palace, where the king asked him, “Do you have any messages from the Lord?”
“Yes, I do!” said Jeremiah. “You will be defeated by the king of Babylon.”
18Then Jeremiah asked the king, “What crime have I committed? What have I done against you, your attendants, or the people that I should be imprisoned like this? 19Where are your prophets now who told you the king of Babylon would not attack you or this land? 20Listen, my lord the king, I beg you. Don’t send me back to the dungeon in the house of Jonathan the secretary, for I will die there.”
21So King Zedekiah commanded that Jeremiah not be returned to the dungeon. Instead, he was imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace. The king also commanded that Jeremiah be given a loaf of fresh bread every day as long as there was any left in the city. So Jeremiah was put in the palace prison.
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Jeremiah 37: NLT
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Jeremiah 37
37
Jeremiah Is Put in Prison
1Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, appointed Zedekiah to be king of Judah. He was the son of Josiah. Zedekiah ruled in place of Jehoiachin, the son of Jehoiakim. 2Zedekiah and his attendants didn’t pay any attention to what the Lord had said through Jeremiah the prophet. And the people of the land didn’t pay any attention either.
3But King Zedekiah sent Jehukal to Jeremiah the prophet. Zedekiah sent Zephaniah the priest along with him. Jehukal was the son of Shelemiah. Zephaniah was the son of Maaseiah. Jehukal and Zephaniah brought the king’s message to Jeremiah. It said, “Please pray to the Lord our God for us.”
4At that time Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people. Jeremiah had not yet been put in prison. 5The armies of Babylon were attacking Jerusalem. They received a report that Pharaoh’s army had marched out of Egypt to help Zedekiah. So armies of Babylon pulled back from Jerusalem.
6A message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. 7The Lord is the God of Israel. He says, “The king of Judah has sent you to ask me for advice. Tell him, ‘Pharaoh’s army has marched out to help you. But it will go back to its own land. It will return to Egypt. 8Then the armies of Babylon will come back here. They will attack this city. They will capture it. Then they will burn it down.’
9“The Lord says, ‘Do not fool yourselves. You think, “The Babylonians will leave us alone.” But they will not! 10Suppose you destroy all the armies of Babylon that are attacking you. Suppose only wounded men are left in their tents. Even then they will come out and burn down this city.’ ”
11The armies of Babylon had pulled back from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army. 12So Jeremiah started to leave the city. He was planning to go to the territory of Benjamin. Jeremiah wanted to get his share of the property among the people there. 13He got as far as the Benjamin Gate. But the captain of the guard arrested him. He said, “You are going over to the side of the Babylonians!” The captain’s name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah. Shelemiah was the son of Hananiah.
14Jeremiah said to Irijah, “That isn’t true! I’m not going to the side of the Babylonians.” But Irijah wouldn’t listen to him. Instead, he arrested Jeremiah. He brought Jeremiah to the officials. 15They were angry with him. So they had him beaten. Then they took him to the house of Jonathan the secretary. It had been made into a prison. That’s where they put Jeremiah.
16Jeremiah was put into a prison cell below ground level. He remained there a long time. 17Then King Zedekiah sent for him. King Zedekiah had Jeremiah brought to the palace. There the king spoke to him in private. The king asked, “Do you have a message from the Lord for me?”
“Yes,” Jeremiah replied. “You will be handed over to the king of Babylon.”
18Then Jeremiah continued, “Why have you put me in prison? What crime have I committed against you? What have I done to your attendants or these people? 19Where are your prophets who prophesied to you? They said, ‘The king of Babylon won’t attack you. He won’t march into this land.’ 20But now please listen, my king and master. Let me make my appeal to you. Please don’t send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary. If you do, I’ll die there.”
21Then King Zedekiah gave the order. His men put Jeremiah in the courtyard of the guard. They gave him a loaf of bread from the street of the bakers. They did it every day until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
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