Jeremiah 37

English Standard Version

Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah

37 ^(A)Zedekiah the son of Josiah, ^(B)whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah, reigned instead of ^(C)Coniah the son of Jehoiakim. ²^(D)But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the Lord that he spoke through Jeremiah the prophet.

³King Zedekiah sent ^(E)Jehucal the son of ^(F)Shelemiah, and ^(G)Zephaniah the priest, the son of ^(H)Maaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “Please ^(I)pray for us to the Lord our God.” ⁴^(J)Now Jeremiah was still going in and out among the people, ^(K)for he had not yet been put in prison. ⁵^(L)The army of Pharaoh had come out of Egypt. And when ^(M)the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news about them, ^(N)they withdrew from Jerusalem.

⁶Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet: ⁷“Thus says the Lord, God of Israel: Thus shall you say to the king of Judah who ^(O)sent you to me to inquire of me, ‘Behold, ^(P)Pharaoh's army that came to help you is about to ^(Q)return to Egypt, to its own land. ⁸And ^(R)the Chaldeans shall come back and fight against this city. ^(S)They shall capture it and burn it with fire. ⁹Thus says the Lord, Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,” for they will not go away. ¹⁰^(T)For even if you should defeat the whole army of Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and there remained of them only wounded men, every man in his tent, they would rise up and ^(U)burn this city with fire.’”

Jeremiah Imprisoned

¹¹Now when ^(V)the Chaldean army had withdrawn from Jerusalem at the approach of Pharaoh's army, ¹²Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem to go to ^(W)the land of Benjamin ^(X)to receive his portion there ^(Y)among the people. ¹³When he was at ^(Z)the Benjamin Gate, a sentry there named Irijah the son of ^(AA)Shelemiah, son of Hananiah, seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, ^(AB)“You are deserting to the Chaldeans.” ¹⁴And Jeremiah said, “It is a lie; I am not deserting to the Chaldeans.” But Irijah would not listen to him, and seized Jeremiah and brought him to ^(AC)the officials. ¹⁵And the officials were enraged at Jeremiah, and they beat him ^(AD)and imprisoned him in the house of Jonathan the secretary, for it had been made a prison.

¹⁶^(AE)When Jeremiah had come to the dungeon cells and remained there many days, ¹⁷King Zedekiah sent for him and received him. The king questioned him ^(AF)secretly in his house and said, “Is there any word from the Lord?” Jeremiah said, “There is.” Then he said, ^(AG)“You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.” ¹⁸Jeremiah also said to King Zedekiah, “What wrong have I done to you or your servants or this people, ^(AH)that you have put me in prison? ¹⁹^(AI)Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you and against this land’? ²⁰Now hear, please, O my lord the king: ^(AJ)let my humble plea come before you and ^(AK)do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, lest I die there.” ²¹So King Zedekiah gave orders, and they committed Jeremiah to ^(AL)the court of the guard. And a loaf of bread was given him daily from the bakers' street, ^(AM)until all the bread of the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in ^(AN)the court of the guard.

Psalm 10

English Standard Version

Why Do You Hide Yourself?

10 Why, O Lord, do you stand ^(A)far away?
Why ^(B)do you hide yourself in ^(C)times of trouble?

²In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor;
    let them ^(D)be caught in the schemes that they have devised.
³For the wicked ^(E)boasts of the desires of his soul,
    and the one greedy for gain ^(F)curses^[a] and ^(G)renounces the Lord.
⁴In the pride of his face^[b] the wicked does not ^(H)seek him;^[c]
    all his thoughts are, ^(I)“There is no God.”
⁵His ways prosper at all times;
    your judgments are on high, ^(J)out of his sight;
    as for all his foes, he ^(K)puffs at them.
⁶He ^(L)says in his heart, “I shall not be moved;
    throughout all generations I ^(M)shall not meet adversity.”
⁷^(N)His mouth is filled with cursing and ^(O)deceit and ^(P)oppression;
    ^(Q)under his tongue are ^(R)mischief and ^(S)iniquity.
⁸He sits in ambush in the villages;
    in ^(T)hiding places he murders the innocent.
His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;
⁹    he lurks in ambush like ^(U)a lion in his ^(V)thicket;
he ^(W)lurks that he may seize the poor;
    he seizes the poor when he draws him into his ^(X)net.
¹⁰The helpless are crushed, sink down,
    and fall by his might.
¹¹He says in his heart, “God has forgotten,
    he has ^(Y)hidden his face, he ^(Z)will never see it.”

¹²^(AA)Arise, O Lord; O God, ^(AB)lift up your hand;
    ^(AC)forget not the afflicted.
¹³Why does the wicked ^(AD)renounce God
    and say in his heart, “You will not ^(AE)call to account”?
¹⁴But you do see, for you ^(AF)note mischief and vexation,
    that you may take it into your hands;
to you the helpless ^(AG)commits himself;
    you have been ^(AH)the helper of the fatherless.
¹⁵^(AI)Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;
    ^(AJ)call his wickedness to account till you find none.

¹⁶^(AK)The Lord is king forever and ever;
    the ^(AL)nations perish from his land.
¹⁷O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted;
    you will ^(AM)strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear
¹⁸to ^(AN)do justice to the fatherless and ^(AO)the oppressed,
    so that ^(AP)man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.