Jeremiah 37
37
Zedekiah's Request to Jeremiah
1 #
2 Kgs 24.17; 2 Chr 36.10 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia made Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah in the place of Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim. 2But neither Zedekiah nor his officials nor the people obeyed the message which the LORD had given me.
3King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to ask me to pray to the LORD our God on behalf of our nation. 4I had not yet been put in prison and was still moving about freely among the people. 5The Babylonian army had been besieging Jerusalem, but when they heard that the Egyptian army had crossed the Egyptian border, they retreated.
6Then the LORD, the God of Israel, told me 7to say to Zedekiah, “The Egyptian army is on its way to help you, but it will return home. 8Then the Babylonians will come back, attack the city, capture it, and burn it down. 9I, the LORD, warn you not to deceive yourselves into thinking that the Babylonians will not come back, because they will. 10Even if you defeat the whole Babylonian army, so that only wounded men are left, lying in their tents, those men would still get up and burn this city to the ground.”
Jeremiah is Arrested and Imprisoned
11The Babylonian army retreated from Jerusalem because the Egyptian army was approaching. 12So I started to leave Jerusalem and go to the territory of Benjamin to take possession of my share of the family property. 13But when I reached the Benjamin Gate, the officer in charge of the soldiers on duty there, a man by the name of Irijah, the son of Shelemiah and grandson of Hananiah, stopped me and said, “You are deserting to the Babylonians!”
14I answered, “That's not so! I'm not deserting.” But Irijah would not listen to me. Instead, he arrested me and took me to the officials. 15They were furious with me and ordered me to be beaten and locked up in the house of Jonathan, the court secretary, whose house had been made into a prison. 16I was put in an underground cell and kept there a long time.
17Later on King Zedekiah sent for me, and there in the palace he asked me privately, “Is there any message from the LORD?”
“There is,” I answered, and added, “You will be handed over to the king of Babylonia.” 18Then I asked, “What crime have I committed against you or your officials or this people, to make you put me in prison? 19What happened to your prophets who told you that the king of Babylonia would not attack you or the country? 20And now, Your Majesty, I beg you to listen to me and do what I ask. Please do not send me back to the prison in Jonathan's house. If you do, I will surely die there.”
21So King Zedekiah ordered me to be locked up in the palace courtyard. I stayed there, and each day I was given a loaf of bread from the bakeries until all the bread in the city was gone.
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
Jeremiah 37
37
Jeremiah in Prison
1Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon. He appointed Zedekiah son of Josiah as king of Judah. Zedekiah took the place of Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim. 2But Zedekiah, his servants and the people of Judah did not listen to the words of the Lord. The Lord had spoken his words through Jeremiah the prophet.
3Now King Zedekiah sent Jehucal and Zephaniah with a message to Jeremiah the prophet. Jehucal was the son of Shelemiah. And Zephaniah the priest was the son of Maaseiah. This was the message: “Jeremiah, pray to the Lord our God for us.”
4At that time Jeremiah had not yet been put into prison. So he was free to go anywhere he wanted. 5The army of the king of Egypt had marched from Egypt toward Judah. Now the Babylonian army had surrounded the city of Jerusalem so they could attack it. Then they had heard about the Egyptian army marching toward them. So the Babylonian army left Jerusalem to fight the Egyptian army.
6The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah the prophet: 7“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Jehucal and Zephaniah, I know Zedekiah king of Judah sent you to ask me questions. Tell this to King Zedekiah: ‘The army of the king of Egypt marched out of Egypt. They came here to help you against the Babylonian army. But that army will go back to Egypt. 8After that, the Babylonian army will come back here. And they will attack Jerusalem. Then the Babylonian army will take and burn Jerusalem.’
9“This is what the Lord says: People of Jerusalem, do not fool yourselves. Do not say to yourselves: ‘The Babylonian army will surely leave us alone.’ They will not! 10You might defeat all of the Babylonian army that is attacking you. But there would still be a few injured men left in their tents. Even those injured men would come from their tents and burn down Jerusalem!”
11So the Babylonian army left Jerusalem. They left to fight the army of the king of Egypt. 12Now Jeremiah wanted to travel from Jerusalem to his home in the land of Benjamin. He was going there to get his share of the property that belonged to his family. 13Jeremiah got to the Benjamin Gate of Jerusalem. But then the captain in charge of the guards arrested him. The captain’s name was Irijah son of Shelemiah son of Hananiah. So Irijah the captain arrested Jeremiah. Irijah said, “You are leaving us to join the Babylonian side!”
14Jeremiah said to Irijah, “That’s not true! I am not leaving to join the Babylonians.” But Irijah refused to listen to Jeremiah. So he arrested Jeremiah and took him to the officers of Jerusalem. 15Those rulers were very angry with Jeremiah. They gave an order for him to be beaten. Then they put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the royal assistant. Jonathan’s house had been made into a prison. 16So those people put Jeremiah into a cell in a dungeon. And Jeremiah was there for a long time.
17Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah and had him brought to the palace. Zedekiah talked to Jeremiah in private. He asked Jeremiah, “Is there any message from the Lord?”
Jeremiah answered, “Yes, there is a message from the Lord. Zedekiah, you will be handed over to the king of Babylon.” 18Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “What crime have I done against you? What crime have I done to your officers or the people of Jerusalem? Why have you thrown me into prison? 19Where are your prophets now? Those prophets prophesied this message to you: ‘The king of Babylon will not attack you or this land of Judah.’ 20But now, my master, king of Judah, please listen to me. And please do what I ask of you. Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the royal assistant. If you do, I will die there!”
21So King Zedekiah gave orders for Jeremiah to be put under guard in the courtyard. And he ordered that Jeremiah be given bread from the street of the bakers. Jeremiah was to be given bread until there was no more bread in the city. So he stayed under guard in the courtyard.
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.