Jeremiah 37
37
King Zedekiah Asks Jeremiah To Pray
1 #
2 K 24.17; 2 Ch 36.10. King Nebuchadnezzar#37.1 Nebuchadnezzar: See the note at 21.2. of Babylonia had removed Jehoiachin#37.1 Jehoiachin: Hebrew “Coniah” (see the note at 22.24). son of Jehoiakim#37.1 Jehoiakim: See the note at 1.3. from being the king of Judah and had made Josiah's#37.1 Josiah's: Josiah was the father of both Jehoiakim and Zedekiah. Josiah ruled 640–609 b.c. son Zedekiah#37.1 Zedekiah: See the note at 1.3. king instead.#37.1 King Nebuchadnezzar … instead: See 2 Kings 24.10-17. 2But Zedekiah, his officials, and everyone else in Judah ignored everything the Lord had told me.
3-5Later, the Babylonian army attacked Jerusalem, but they left after learning that the Egyptian army#37.3-5 Egyptian army: Led by King Apries, also known as Hophra. was headed in this direction.
One day, Zedekiah sent Jehucal and the priest Zephaniah#37.3-5 Jehucal and the priest Zephaniah: Hebrew “Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah.” to talk with me. At that time, I was free to go wherever I wanted, because I had not yet been put in prison. Jehucal and Zephaniah said, “Jeremiah, please pray to the Lord our God for us.”
6-7Then the Lord told me to send them back to Zedekiah with this message:
Zedekiah, you wanted Jeremiah to ask me, the Lord God of Israel, what is going to happen. So I will tell you. The king of Egypt and his army came to your rescue, but soon they will go back to Egypt. 8Then the Babylonians will return and attack Jerusalem, and this time they will capture the city and set it on fire. 9Don't fool yourselves into thinking that the Babylonians will leave as they did before. 10Even if you could defeat their entire army, their wounded survivors would still be able to leave their tents and set Jerusalem on fire.
Jeremiah Is Put in Prison
11The Babylonian army had left because the Egyptian army was on its way to help us. 12So I decided to leave Jerusalem and go to the territory of the Benjamin tribe to claim my share of my family's land. 13I was leaving Jerusalem through Benjamin Gate, when I was stopped by Irijah,#37.13 Irijah: Hebrew “Irijah son of Shelemiah and grandson of Hananiah.” the officer in charge of the soldiers at the gate. He said, “Jeremiah, you're under arrest for trying to join the Babylonians.”
14“I'm not trying to join them!” I answered. But Irijah wouldn't listen, and he took me to the king's officials. 15-16They were angry and ordered the soldiers to beat me. Then I was taken to the house that belonged to Jonathan, one of the king's officials. It had been turned into a prison, and I was kept in a basement room.
After I had spent a long time there, 17King Zedekiah secretly had me brought to his palace, where he asked, “Is there any message for us from the Lord?”
“Yes, there is, Your Majesty,” I replied. “The Lord is going to let the king of Babylonia capture you.”
18Then I continued, “Your Majesty, why have you put me in prison? Have I committed a crime against you or your officials or the nation? 19Have you locked up the prophets who lied to you and said that the king of Babylonia would never attack Jerusalem? 20Please, don't send me back to that prison at Jonathan's house. If you do, I will die there.”
21King Zedekiah had me taken to the prison cells in the courtyard of the palace guards. He told the soldiers to give me a loaf of bread#37.21 a loaf of bread: Bread was the main food of the Israelites. During this time of emergency in Jerusalem, everyone probably received the same amount each day. from one of the bakeries every day until the city ran out of grain.
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Jeremiah 37: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 37
37
Jeremiah Advises Zedekiah
1King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon appointed Zedekiah, son of Josiah, to be king of Judah. Zedekiah succeeded Jehoiakin, son of Jehoiakim. 2But Zedekiah, his administrators, and the common people didn’t listen to what the Lord had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah.
3King Zedekiah sent Jehucal (son of Shelemiah) and the priest Zephaniah (son of Maaseiah) to the prophet Jeremiah. They asked him, “Please pray to the Lord our God for us.”
4Jeremiah was still free to come and go among the people. The people of Jerusalem hadn’t put him in prison yet. 5Pharaoh’s army had come from Egypt, and when the Babylonians who were blockading Jerusalem heard this news, they retreated from Jerusalem.
6The Lord spoke his word to the prophet Jeremiah. He said, 7“This is what the Lord God of Israel says: Say this to the king of Judah, who sent you to get advice from me: ‘Pharaoh’s army has come out to help you. But it will go back to Egypt, its own land. 8Then the Babylonians will return. They will attack the city, capture it, and burn it down.
9“ ‘This is what the Lord says: Don’t deceive yourselves by thinking that the Babylonians will leave you. They will not leave you. 10Even if you would defeat the entire Babylonian army so that they had only a few badly wounded men left in their tents, they would get up and burn down this city.’ ”
11The Babylonian army had retreated from Jerusalem because Pharaoh’s army was coming. 12So Jeremiah wanted to leave Jerusalem and go to the territory of Benjamin to take possession of his property there among the people. 13But when he came to Benjamin Gate, the captain of the guard there, whose name was Irijah, son of Shelemiah and grandson of Hananiah, arrested the prophet Jeremiah. He said, “You’re deserting to the Babylonians!”
14Jeremiah answered, “That’s a lie! I’m not deserting to the Babylonians.” But Irijah wouldn’t listen to him. Irijah arrested Jeremiah and took him to the officials. 15The officials were so angry with Jeremiah that they beat him and put him in prison in the scribe Jonathan’s house, which had been turned into a prison. 16Jeremiah went into a prison cell, and he stayed there a long time.
17Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah, and the king asked him privately in the palace, “Is there any message from the Lord?”
Jeremiah answered, “Yes! There is a message from the Lord. You will be handed over to the king of Babylon.” 18Then Jeremiah asked King Zedekiah, “What crime have I committed against you, your administrators, or these people? Why have you put me in prison? 19Where are the prophets who told you that the king of Babylon wouldn’t attack you and this land? 20But now, Your Majesty, please listen, and accept my plea for mercy. Don’t return me to the scribe Jonathan’s house, or I will die there.”
21King Zedekiah gave the command to have Jeremiah put in the courtyard of the prison. He gave him a loaf of bread every day from the bakers’ street until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the prison.
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