Jer 37 | NASB2020 | STEP | Now Zedekiah the son of Josiah whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had made king in the land of Judah , reigned as king in place of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim .

Jeremiah 37

Jeremiah Warns against Trust in Pharaoh

1 Now ^aZedekiah the son of Josiah whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had ^bmade king in the land of Judah, reigned as king in place of ^cConiah the son of Jehoiakim. 2 But ^dneither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the Lord which He spoke through Jeremiah the prophet.

3 Yet ^eKing Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and ^fthe priest Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “ ^gPlease pray to the Lord our God in our behalf.” 4 Now Jeremiah was still coming and going among the people, for they had not yet ^hput him in prison. 5 Meanwhile, ⁱPharaoh’s army had set out from Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who had been besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they ^jwithdrew from Jerusalem.

6 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, 7 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘ ^kThis is what you are to say to the king of Judah, who sent you to Me to inquire of Me: “Behold, ^lPharaoh’s army, which has come out to help you, is going to return to its own land of Egypt. 8 Then the Chaldeans will ^mreturn and fight against this city, and they will capture it and burn it with fire.”’ 9 This is what the Lord says: ‘Do not ⁿdeceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will certainly go away from us,” for they will not go. 10 For ^oeven if you had defeated the entire army of Chaldeans who were fighting against you, and there were only wounded men left among them, each man in his tent, they would rise up and ^pburn this city with fire.’”

Jeremiah Imprisoned

11 Now it happened when the army of the Chaldeans had withdrawn from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army, 12 that Jeremiah left Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin in order to ^qtake ^{▼▼Or part in a dividing}possession of some property there among the people. 13 While he was at the ^sGate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah the son of Hananiah was there; and he ^tarrested Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are deserting to the Chaldeans!” 14 But Jeremiah said, “ ^uA lie! I am not deserting to the Chaldeans”; yet he would not listen to him. So Irijah arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. 15 Then the officials were ^vangry at Jeremiah and they beat him, and ^wput him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for they had made it into the prison. 16 For Jeremiah had come into the ^{▼▼Lit house of the cistern-pit
,} ^ydungeon, that is, the vaulted cell; and Jeremiah stayed there many days.

17 Now King Zedekiah sent men and took him out; and in his palace the king ^zsecretly asked him and said, “Is there a ^aaword from the Lord?” And Jeremiah said, “There is!” Then he said, “You will be ^abhanded over to the king of Babylon!” 18 Moreover, Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “ ^acIn what way have I sinned against you, or your servants, or this people, that you have put me in prison? 19 And ^adwhere are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The ^aeking of Babylon will not come against you or against this land’? 20 But now, please listen, my lord the king; please let my ^afplea ^{▼▼Lit fall}come before you and do not make me return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, so that I will not die there.” 21 Then King Zedekiah gave a command, and they placed Jeremiah in custody in the ^ahcourtyard of the guardhouse, and gave him a loaf of ^aibread daily from the bakers’ street, until all the bread in the city was ^ajgone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guardhouse.