Jerusalem’s Last Days

37 Zedekiah son of Josiah^(A) reigned as king in the land of Judah^(B) in place of Jehoiachin^[a](C) son of Jehoiakim, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made him king. ² He and his officers and the people of the land did not obey the words of the Lord^(D) that He spoke through Jeremiah the prophet.

³ Nevertheless, King Zedekiah sent Jehucal^(E) son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah^(F) son of Maaseiah, the priest, to Jeremiah the prophet, requesting, “Please pray to the Lord our God for us!” ⁴ Jeremiah was going about his daily tasks^[b] among the people, for they had not yet put him into the prison.^{(G) 5} Pharaoh’s army had left Egypt,^(H) and when the Chaldeans, who were besieging Jerusalem, heard the report, they withdrew from Jerusalem.

⁶ The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet: ⁷ “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: This is what you will say to Judah’s king,^(I) who is sending you to inquire of Me: Watch: Pharaoh’s army, which has come out to help you,^(J) is going to return to its own land of Egypt. ⁸ The Chaldeans will then return and fight against this city. They will capture it and burn it down.^{(K) 9} This is what the Lord says: Don’t deceive yourselves by saying, ‘The Chaldeans will leave us for good,’ for they will not leave. ¹⁰ Indeed, if you were to strike down the entire Chaldean army that is fighting with you,^(L) and there remained among them only the badly wounded^[c] men, each in his tent, they would get up and burn this city down.”

Jeremiah’s Imprisonment

¹¹ When the Chaldean army withdrew from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army, ¹² Jeremiah started to leave Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to claim his portion there^(M) among the people. ¹³ But when he was at the Benjamin Gate,^(N) an officer of the guard was there, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah, and he apprehended Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are deserting to the Chaldeans.”

¹⁴ “That’s a lie,” Jeremiah replied. “I am not deserting to the Chaldeans!” Irijah would not listen to him but apprehended Jeremiah and took him to the officials. ¹⁵ The officials were angry at Jeremiah and beat him and placed him in jail in the house of Jonathan^(O) the scribe, for it had been made into a prison. ¹⁶ So Jeremiah went into a cell in the dungeon^(P) and stayed there many days.

Jeremiah Summoned by Zedekiah

¹⁷ King Zedekiah later sent for him and received him, and in his house privately asked him, “Is there a word from the Lord?”^(Q)

“There is,” Jeremiah responded, and he continued, “You will be handed over to the king of Babylon.”^{(R) 18} Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “How have I sinned against you or your servants or these people that you have put me in prison? ¹⁹ Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, claiming, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you and this land’?^{(S) 20} So now please listen, my lord the king. May my petition come before you.^(T) Don’t send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, or I will die there.”

²¹ So King Zedekiah gave orders, and Jeremiah was placed in the guard’s courtyard.^(U) He was given a loaf of bread each day from the baker’s street until all the bread was gone from the city. So Jeremiah remained in the guard’s courtyard.