Jeremiah_Chapter 37

Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, replaced Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim, as king, and Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, made him king in the land of Judah.

But Zedekiah, his servants, and the people of the land did not listen to the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet Jeremiah.

King Zedekiah sent Judah, the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah the priest, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Pray to the Lord our God for us.

At that time Jeremiah went in and out among the people, because they had not yet imprisoned him in prison.

Pharaoh’s army had already come out of Egypt, and the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard their news and withdrew from Jerusalem.

The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, saying,

This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: The king of Judah has sent you to inquire of me, and you must say to him, ‘The army that came out to help you, Pharaoh, will return to the land of Egypt.’.

The Chaldeans will come again and attack this city, and they will take it and burn it with fire.

Thus says the Lord, Do not deceive yourselves, saying that the Chaldeans will surely leave us, for they will not leave.

Even if you defeat the entire Chaldean army that is fighting against you, the rest of the wounded will rise up from their tents and burn this city with fire.

When the Chaldean army withdrew from Jerusalem out of fear of Pharaoh’s army,

Jeremiah mixed among the people and left Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin, where he obtained his inheritance.

When he arrived at the gate of Benjamin, there was a gatekeeper named Elijah, the son of Shelemiah, the grandson of Hananiah. He took Jeremiah the prophet and said, “You have surrendered to the Chaldeans.”.

Jeremiah said, You are lying, I am not surrendering to the Chaldeans. Elijah did not listen to him, so she caught him and brought him to the leader.

The leader was angry with Jeremiah, so he struck him and imprisoned him in the house of the scribe Jonathan, because they regarded it as a prison.

Jeremiah came to the prison and entered the cell, where he was imprisoned for many days.

King Zedekiah sent someone to bring him up and privately asked him in his own palace, ‘Has any word from the Lord come?’. Jeremiah said, Yes. And he said, You will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.

And Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, What have I offended you, or your servants, or this people, that you have imprisoned me in prison?

Where is the prophet who prophesied to you that the king of Babylon would not come against you and the prophets of this land now?

Lord my king, hear now and allow me to plead before you, so that I may not return to the house of the scribe Jonathan, or I may die there.

So King Zedekiah ordered that they hand Jeremiah over to the courtyard of the guards and give him a loaf of bread every day from the bakery street until all the bread in the city is used up. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guards.