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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Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 37
37
1And Sovereign Tsiḏqiyahu son of Yoshiyahu reigned instead of Konyahu son of Yehoyaqim, whom Neḇuḵaḏretstsar sovereign of Baḇel set up to reign in the land of Yehuḏah.
2But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land had listened to the words of יהוה which He spoke by the prophet Yirmeyahu.
3And Tsiḏqiyahu the sovereign sent Yehuḵal son of Shelemyah, and the priest, Tsephanyahu son of Ma‛asĕyah, to the prophet Yirmeyahu, saying, “Please pray to יהוה our Elohim for us.”
4Now Yirmeyahu was still coming and going among the people, for they had not yet put him in prison.
5Meanwhile, Pharaoh’s army had set out from Mitsrayim. And when the Kasdim who were besieging Yerushalayim heard news of them, they withdrew from Yerushalayim.
6And the word of יהוה came to Yirmeyahu the prophet, saying,
7“Thus said יהוה the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, ‘Say this to the sovereign of Yehuḏah, who sent you to Me to inquire of Me, “See, Pharaoh’s army which has come up to help you, shall turn back to Mitsrayim, to their own land.
8“And the Kasdim shall return and fight against this city, and take it and burn it with fire.” ’
9“Thus said יהוה, ‘Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Kasdim shall go away from us,” for they do not go.
10For though you had stricken the entire army of the Kasdim who are fighting against you, and there remained only wounded men among them, they would get up, each man in his tent, and burn the city with fire.’ ”
11And it came to be, when the army of the Kasdim left the siege of Yerushalayim for fear of Pharaoh’s army,
12that Yirmeyahu went out of Yerushalayim to go into the land of Binyamin to receive his portion there in the midst of the people.
13And it came to be, as he was in the gate of Binyamin, a master of the guard was there whose name was Yiriyah son of Shelemyah, son of Ḥananyah. And he seized Yirmeyahu the prophet, saying, “You are deserting to the Kasdim!”
14But Yirmeyahu said, “It is a lie! I am not deserting to the Kasdim.” But he did not listen to him, and Yiriyah seized Yirmeyahu and brought him to the heads.
15And the heads were wroth with Yirmeyahu, and struck him and put him in prison in the house of Yehonathan the scribe. For they had made that for a prison.
16When Yirmeyahu had entered into the dungeon and into the cells, then Yirmeyahu remained there many days.
17And Tsiḏqiyahu the sovereign sent and took him out. And the sovereign asked him secretly in his house, and said, “Is there any word from יהוה?” And Yirmeyahu said, “There is.” And he said, “You are given into the hand of the sovereign of Baḇel!”
18And Yirmeyahu said to Tsiḏqiyahu the sovereign, “What have I sinned against you, and against your servants, and against this people, that you have put me into prison?
19“Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The sovereign of Baḇel is not coming against you or against this land?’
20“But now, please hear, O my master the sovereign. Please, let my petition be accepted before you, and do not make me return to the house of Yehonathan the scribe, lest I die there.”
21Tsiḏqiyahu the sovereign then commanded Yirmeyahu to be placed in the court of the guard, and that they should give him daily a piece of bread from the bakers’ street, until all the bread in the city was gone. So Yirmeyahu remained in the court of the guard.
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