Jeremiah 37
Evangelical Heritage Version
King Zedekiah’s Request to Jeremiah
37 King Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, made Zedekiah son of Josiah king in place of Jehoiachin[a] son of Jehoiakim. 2 But neither Zedekiah nor his attendants nor the people of the land obeyed the word of the Lord that he spoke through the prophet Jeremiah.
3 Nevertheless, King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah with Zephaniah son of Ma’aseiah, the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah to request, “Please pray to the Lord our God for us.”
4 Jeremiah was still moving about freely among the people, for they had not yet put him into prison. 5 Pharaoh’s army had come out of Egypt, and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.
6 Then the word of the Lord came to the prophet Jeremiah.
7 The Lord, the God of Israel, says to tell this to the king of Judah, who sent you to me to inquire of me. Be warned. Pharaoh’s army, which has come out to help you, will go back to Egypt, to their own land. 8 Then the Chaldeans will return and attack this city. They will capture it and burn it down.
9 The Lord says: “Do not deceive yourselves by saying, ‘The Chaldeans will surely leave us.’ They will not. 10 For even if you would defeat the whole Chaldean army attacking you, and there were only wounded men left who were confined to their tents, they would still get up and burn this city down.”
11 When the Chaldean army had withdrawn from Jerusalem to face Pharaoh’s army, 12 Jeremiah left Jerusalem to go to the territory of Benjamin to claim his share of the property among the people there. 13 But as he arrived at the Benjamin Gate, the sentry who was in charge there, named Irijah son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah, seized Jeremiah the prophet. He said, “You are deserting to the Chaldeans!”
14 But Jeremiah said, “That is false! I am not deserting to the Chaldeans.”
But Irijah did not listen to him. He seized Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. 15 Angry with Jeremiah, they beat him, and they imprisoned him in the house of Jonathan the scribe, because they were using that house as a prison.
16 Jeremiah was kept in a vaulted cistern[b] for a long time. 17 Then King Zedekiah sent for him and had him brought out. The king asked him secretly in his house, “Is there any word from the Lord?”
Jeremiah answered, “There is. He said, ‘You will be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon.’”
18 Jeremiah also said to King Zedekiah, “How have I sinned against you, against your servants, or against this people, that you have put me in prison? 19 Where are your prophets now, who prophesied to you, ‘The king of Babylon will not attack you or this land’? 20 Now, my lord the king, please listen to me. Let my petition come before you: Please do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, or I will die there.”
21 Then Zedekiah the king ordered that Jeremiah be placed in the courtyard of the guard. Every day they gave him a loaf of bread from the street of the bakers until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 37:1 Hebrew Coniah
- Jeremiah 37:16 An underground chamber for storing rainwater, which was roofed over to prevent evaporation
Jeremiah 37
Lexham English Bible
The Babylonians Withdraw to Meet a Threat from Egypt
37 And king Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had made king, reigned as king in the land of Judah in place of Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim. 2 But he and his servants and the people of the land did not listen to the words of Yahweh that he spoke by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet. 3 And king Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying,[a] “Please pray for us to Yahweh our God.” 4 Now Jeremiah was coming and going out in the midst of the people and they had not put him in the house of imprisonment. 5 And the army of Pharaoh had come out from Egypt, and the Chaldeans, who were laying siege to Jerusalem, heard their report and they withdrew from Jerusalem.
6 And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah the prophet, saying,[b] 7 “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘This is what you shall say to the king of Judah, who sent you to me to inquire of me, “Look, the army of Pharaoh, which set out to help you, is going to return to his land Egypt. 8 And the Chaldeans will return, and they will fight against this city, and they will capture it, and they will burn it with fire.”’ 9 Thus says Yahweh: ‘You must not deceive yourselves, saying,[c] “Surely the Chaldeans will go from us,” for they will not go. 10 For even if you struck the whole army of the Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and only men pierced through remained among them, each one in his tent, they would rise up and they would burn this city with fire.’”
Jeremiah is Arrested and Put in Prison
11 And then,[d] at the withdrawing of the army of the Chaldeans from Jerusalem before[e] the army of Pharaoh, 12 Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to receive a portion from there in the midst of the people. 13 And when[f] he was at the Gate of Benjamin, there was a sentry on duty[g] whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, and he seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying,[h] “You are deserting to the Chaldeans!” 14 And Jeremiah said, “That is a lie! I am not deserting to the Chaldeans.” But he would not listen to him. So Irijah seized Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. 15 And the officials were angry at Jeremiah and they struck him. And they put him in prison,[i] in the house of Jonathan the secretary, for they had converted it to the prison[j]. 16 So Jeremiah came to the dungeon[k], even to the vaulted cells, and Jeremiah stayed there many days.
17 Then King Zedekiah sent and fetched him. And the king questioned him in secrecy in his house, and he said, “Is there a word from Yahweh?” And Jeremiah said, “There is.” And he said, “You will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon.”
18 Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “What did I do wrong to you, or to your servants, or to this people, that you have put me in prison?[l] 19 And where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying,[m] ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you and against this land’? 20 Now then, my lord the king, please let my plea fall before you.[n] You must not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, so that I will not die there.” 21 So King Zedekiah commanded, and they handed Jeremiah over in the courtyard of the guard, and they gave to him a round loaf of bread from the street of the bakers every day[o] until the finishing of all the bread from the city. And Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guard.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 37:3 Literally “to say”
- Jeremiah 37:6 Literally “to say”
- Jeremiah 37:9 Literally “to say”
- Jeremiah 37:11 Literally “And it will happen”
- Jeremiah 37:11 Literally “from the face of”
- Jeremiah 37:13 Literally “And it was”
- Jeremiah 37:13 Literally “an owner of supervision”
- Jeremiah 37:13 Literally “to say”
- Jeremiah 37:15 Literally “the house of the fetters”
- Jeremiah 37:15 Literally “house of the imprisonment”
- Jeremiah 37:16 Literally “house of the cistern”
- Jeremiah 37:18 Literally “the house of the imprisonment”
- Jeremiah 37:19 Literally “to say”
- Jeremiah 37:20 Literally “to the face of you”
- Jeremiah 37:21 Literally “for the day”
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