Chapter 37
1: And king Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of
Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah.
2: But
neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, did hearken unto the words of the LORD, which he
spake by the prophet Jeremiah.
3: And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah
and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now unto the LORD our God
for us.
4: Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people: for they had not put him into
prison.
5: Then Pharaoh's army was come forth out of Egypt: and when the Chaldeans that
besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they departed from Jerusalem.
6: Then came the
word of the LORD unto the prophet Jeremiah, saying,
7: Thus saith the LORD, the God of
Israel; Thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, that sent you unto me to inquire of me; Behold, Pharaoh's
army, which is come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land.
8: And the
Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire.
9: Thus saith the LORD; Deceive not yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us:
for they shall not depart.
10: For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that
fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet should they rise up every man in his
tent, and burn this city with fire.
11: And it came to pass, that when the army of the
Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh's army,
12: Then Jeremiah went
forth out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to separate himself thence in the midst of the
people.
13: And when he was in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the ward was there, whose
name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he took Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Thou
fallest away to the Chaldeans.
14: Then said Jeremiah, It is false; I fall not away to the
Chaldeans. But he hearkened not to him: so Irijah took Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes.
15: Wherefore the princes were wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him, and put him in prison in the house
of Jonathan the scribe: for they had made that the prison.
16: When Jeremiah was entered into
the dungeon, and into the cabins, and Jeremiah had remained there many days;
17: Then
Zedekiah the king sent, and took him out: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there
any word from the LORD? And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said he, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of
the king of Babylon.
18: Moreover Jeremiah said unto king Zedekiah, What have I offended
against thee, or against thy servants, or against this people, that ye have put me in prison?
19: Where are now your prophets which prophesied unto you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not
come against you, nor against this land?
20: Therefore hear now, I pray thee, O my lord the
king: let my supplication, I pray thee, be accepted before thee; that thou cause me not to return to the
house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there.
21: Then Zedekiah the king commanded that
they should commit Jeremiah into the court of the prison, and that they should give him daily a piece of
bread out of the bakers' street, until all the bread in the city were spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the
court of the prison.
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