Jeremiah 37
37
Imprisoned for the Word
1Now Zedekiah son of Josiah reigned as king, instead of Coniah son of Jehoiakim, whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon made king in the land of Judah.
2But neither he nor his servants, nor the people of the land, paid attention to the words of Adonai which He spoke by the prophet Jeremiah.
3Yet King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest to the prophet Jeremiah, saying: “Pray now to Adonai our God for us.”
4Now Jeremiah was coming in and going out among the people, for they had not put him into prison.
5Meanwhile Pharaoh’s army had set out of Egypt, and when the Chaldeans besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they lifted the siege from Jerusalem.
6Then came the word of Adonai to the prophet Jeremiah, saying.
7Thus says Adonai, the God of Israel, thus will you say to the king of Judah, who sent you to Me to inquire of Me: “Now, Pharaoh’s army, which is come forth to help you, will return to Egypt into their own land.
8The Chaldeans will return and fight against this city. Then they will capture it and burn it with fire.”
9Thus says Adonai: “Do not deceive yourselves, saying: ‘The Chaldeans will surely depart from us’—for they will not depart.
10For even if you had struck down the entire Chaldean army fighting against you, and there were left among them only wounded men, each in his tent, they would get up and burn this city down with fire.”
11So it came to pass, when the army of the Chaldeans went up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh’s army,
12that Jeremiah went out of Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to claim his property there among the people.
13But when he was at the Benjamin Gate, a captain of the guard was there, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah son of Hananiah, who arrested the prophet Jeremiah, saying: “You are deserting to the Chaldeans!”
14But Jeremiah said, “That’s a lie! I am not deserting to the Chaldeans!” But Irijah would not listen to him, but arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials.
15The officials were angry with Jeremiah, had him beaten, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for they had made that the prison.
16For Jeremiah went into a vaulted cell in the dungeon pit, and Jeremiah remained there many days.
17Then King Zedekiah sent for him and received him in his palace secretly, and the king asked him: “Is there any word from Adonai?” “There is,” Jeremiah said, and he also said, “You shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon.”
18Moreover Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah: “How have I sinned against you or against your servants or against this people, that you have put me in prison?
19Where now are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying: ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you or against this land?’
20So now please listen, my lord the king! Please let my petition come before you and do not make me return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, so I will not die there.”
21Then Zedekiah the king gave a command, and they committed Jeremiah into the courtyard of the guard. They gave him a loaf of bread from the bakers’ street daily, until all the bread in the city was spent. So Jeremiah stayed in the guard’s courtyard.
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Jeremiah 37: TLV
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Copyright © 2014 - Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society
Jeremiah 37
37
1Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon replaced Jehoiachin#37:1. “Jehoiachin”: here called “Coniah.” son of Jehoiakim with Zedekiah son of Josiah as the ruling king of Judah. 2But Zedekiah and his officers and everyone else in the country refused to obey what the Lord had said through Jeremiah the prophet.
3However, King Zedekiah sent Jehucal#37:3. Or “Jucal.” Jeremiah 38:1. son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the priest, son of Maaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet with the message, “Please pray to the Lord our God for us!”
4(At this time Jeremiah could come and go freely, because as yet they hadn't put him in prison.)
5Pharaoh's army was advancing from Egypt, and when the Babylonian army heard about it, they moved away from Jerusalem.
6Then a message from the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet: 7This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, instructs you to tell the king of Judah, who sent you to ask me for help: Look! Pharaoh's army, which set out to help you, is going to return home to Egypt. 8Then the Babylonians will return and attack Jerusalem. They will capture it and burn it down.
9This is what the Lord says: Don't fool yourselves by saying, “The Babylonians are gone for good,” because they're not! 10In fact, even if you were able to kill the whole Babylonian army attacking you, leaving only wounded men in their tents, they would still get up and burn this city down.
11When the Babylonian army moved away from Jerusalem because of the threat of Pharaoh's army, 12Jeremiah was on his way out of Jerusalem to go to his home in the territory of Benjamin to claim his share of his family's property. 13However, when he reached the Benjamin Gate, the guard captain, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah, arrested him, saying, “You're defecting to the Babylonians!”
14“That's not true,” Jeremiah replied. “I'm not defecting to the Babylonians!”
But Irijah refused to listen to him. He arrested Jeremiah and took him before the officers.#37:14. Probably the same officers mentioned in verse 2. 15The officers were furious with Jeremiah. They had him beaten and locked up in the house of Jonathan the scribe, which had been turned into a prison. 16Jeremiah was placed in a cell in the underground dungeon and was kept there for a long time.
17Some while later King Zedekiah secretly sent for him and had him brought to the royal palace where he asked, “Is there a message from the Lord for me?”
“Yes there is,” Jeremiah replied. “You are going to be handed over to the king of Babylon.”
18Then Jeremiah asked King Zedekiah, “What wrong have I done to you or your servants or these people, for you to put me in prison? 19Where are your prophets now, the ones who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon won't come and attack you and this country’? 20Now please listen to me, my lord the king, and respond positively to my request. Don't send me back to prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe, otherwise I'll die there.”
21King Zedekiah gave the order for Jeremiah to be held in the guard's courtyard and be provided with a loaf of bread every day from a bakery until there was no bread left in the city. So Jeremiah stayed in the guard's courtyard.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com