¹⁸ The captain of the guards^(A) also took away Seraiah^(B) the chief priest, Zephaniah^(C) the priest of the second rank, and the three doorkeepers. ¹⁹ From the city he took a court official^[a] who had been appointed over the warriors; five trusted royal aides^[b](D) found in the city; the secretary of the commander of the army, who enlisted the people of the land for military duty; and sixty men from the common people^[c] who were found within the city. ²⁰ Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guards, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.^{(E) 21} The king of Babylon put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah went into exile from its land.^(F)

Zedekiah’s Request Denied

21 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah sent Pashhur^(A) son of Malchijah and the priest Zephaniah^(B) son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah, asking,

²⁴ To Shemaiah the Nehelamite you are to say, ²⁵ “This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: You^[a] in your own name have sent out letters to all the people of Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah^(A) son of Maaseiah, and to all the priests, saying, ²⁶ ‘The Lord has appointed you priest in place of the priest Jehoiada to be the chief officer^(B) in the temple of the Lord, responsible for every madman^(C) who acts like a prophet. You must confine him in the stocks^(D) and an iron collar. ²⁷ So now, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who has been acting like a prophet among you?^{(E) 28} For he has sent word to us in Babylon, claiming, “The exile will be long. Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat their produce.”’” ^(F)

²⁹ The priest Zephaniah read this letter in the hearing of the prophet Jeremiah.