Jeremiah 37
New Living Translation
Zedekiah Calls for Jeremiah
37 Zedekiah son of Josiah succeeded Jehoiachin[a] son of Jehoiakim as the king of Judah. He was appointed by King Nebuchadnezzar[b] of Babylon. 2 But neither King Zedekiah nor his attendants nor the people who were left in the land listened to what the Lord said through Jeremiah.
3 Nevertheless, King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the priest, son of Maaseiah, to ask Jeremiah, “Please pray to the Lord our God for us.” 4 Jeremiah had not yet been imprisoned, so he could come and go among the people as he pleased.
5 At this time the army of Pharaoh Hophra[c] of Egypt appeared at the southern border of Judah. When the Babylonian[d] army heard about it, they withdrew from their siege of Jerusalem.
6 Then the Lord gave this message to Jeremiah: 7 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: The king of Judah sent you to ask me what is going to happen. Tell him, ‘Pharaoh’s army is about to return to Egypt, though he came here to help you. 8 Then the Babylonians[e] will come back and capture this city and burn it to the ground.’
9 “This is what the Lord says: Do not fool yourselves into thinking that the Babylonians are gone for good. They aren’t! 10 Even if you were to destroy the entire Babylonian army, leaving only a handful of wounded survivors, they would still stagger from their tents and burn this city to the ground!”
Jeremiah Is Imprisoned
11 When the Babylonian army left Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s approaching army, 12 Jeremiah started to leave the city on his way to the territory of Benjamin, to claim his share of the property among his relatives there.[f] 13 But as he was walking through the Benjamin Gate, a sentry arrested him and said, “You are defecting to the Babylonians!” The sentry making the arrest was Irijah son of Shelemiah, grandson of Hananiah.
14 “That’s not true!” Jeremiah protested. “I had no intention of doing any such thing.” But Irijah wouldn’t listen, and he took Jeremiah before the officials. 15 They were furious with Jeremiah and had him flogged and imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the secretary. Jonathan’s house had been converted into a prison. 16 Jeremiah was put into a dungeon cell, where he remained for many days.
17 Later King Zedekiah secretly requested that Jeremiah come to the palace, where the king asked him, “Do you have any messages from the Lord?”
“Yes, I do!” said Jeremiah. “You will be defeated by the king of Babylon.”
18 Then Jeremiah asked the king, “What crime have I committed? What have I done against you, your attendants, or the people that I should be imprisoned like this? 19 Where are your prophets now who told you the king of Babylon would not attack you or this land? 20 Listen, my lord the king, I beg you. Don’t send me back to the dungeon in the house of Jonathan the secretary, for I will die there.”
21 So King Zedekiah commanded that Jeremiah not be returned to the dungeon. Instead, he was imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace. The king also commanded that Jeremiah be given a loaf of fresh bread every day as long as there was any left in the city. So Jeremiah was put in the palace prison.
Footnotes
- 37:1a Hebrew Coniah, a variant spelling of Jehoiachin.
- 37:1b Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, a variant spelling of Nebuchadnezzar.
- 37:5a Hebrew army of Pharaoh; see 44:30.
- 37:5b Or Chaldean; also in 37:10, 11.
- 37:8 Or Chaldeans; also in 37:9, 13.
- 37:12 Hebrew to separate from there in the midst of the people.
Jeremiah 37
Legacy Standard Bible
Jeremiah Warns Against Trust in Pharaoh
37 Now (A)Zedekiah the son of Josiah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had (B)made king in the land of Judah, reigned as king in place of (C)Coniah the son of Jehoiakim. 2 But (D)neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of Yahweh which He spoke through Jeremiah the prophet.
3 Yet (E)King Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah and (F)Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “(G)Please pray to Yahweh our God on our behalf.” 4 Now Jeremiah was still coming in and going out among the people; they had not yet (H)put him in the prison. 5 Meanwhile, (I)Pharaoh’s military force had come out from Egypt; and the Chaldeans who had been besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them. So they (J)withdrew from Jerusalem.
6 Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, 7 “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘(K)Thus you are to say to the king of Judah, who sent you to Me to inquire of Me: “Behold, (L)the military force of Pharaoh which has come out for your assistance is going to return to its own land of Egypt. 8 The Chaldeans will also (M)return and fight against this city, and they will capture it and burn it with fire.”’ 9 Thus says Yahweh, ‘Do not (N)deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,” for they will not go. 10 For (O)even if you had struck down the entire military force of the Chaldeans who were fighting against you, and there were only wounded men remaining among them, each man in his tent, they would rise up and (P)burn this city with fire.’”
Jeremiah Imprisoned
11 Now it happened when the military force of the Chaldeans had withdrawn from Jerusalem because of the military force of Pharaoh, 12 that Jeremiah went out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin in order to (Q)obtain his portion of some property there among the people. 13 Now it happened that while he was at the (R)Gate of Benjamin, the master of the guard whose name was Irijah the son of Shelemiah the son of Hananiah was there; and he (S)seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are [a]going over to the Chaldeans!” 14 But Jeremiah said, “(T)A lie! I am not [b]going over to the Chaldeans”; yet he would not listen to him. So Irijah seized Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. 15 Then the officials were (U)angry at Jeremiah and struck him, and they (V)put him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe because they had made that house into the prison. 16 For Jeremiah had come into the [c](W)pit, that is, the vaulted cell; and Jeremiah stayed there many days.
17 Then King Zedekiah sent and took him out; and in his palace the king (X)secretly asked him and said, “Is there a (Y)word from Yahweh?” And Jeremiah said, “There is!” Then he said, “You will be (Z)given into the hand of the king of Babylon!” 18 Moreover, Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “(AA)In what way have I sinned against you or against your servants or against this people, that you have put me in prison? 19 (AB)Where then are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The (AC)king of Babylon will not come against you or against this land’? 20 But now, please listen, O my lord the king; please let my (AD)supplication [d]come before you, and do not make me return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, that I may not die there.” 21 Then King Zedekiah gave commandment, and they committed Jeremiah to the (AE)court of the guard and gave him a loaf of (AF)bread daily from the bakers’ street, until all the bread in the city had (AG)come to an end. So Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 37:13 Lit falling
- Jeremiah 37:14 Lit falling
- Jeremiah 37:16 Lit house of the pit
- Jeremiah 37:20 Lit fall
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