37King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia made Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah in the place of Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim.H4428H6667H1121H2977H4427H3659H1121H3079H5019H4428H894H4427H776H30632But neither Zedekiah nor his officials nor the people obeyed the message which the LORD had given me.H5650H5971H776H8085H1697H3068H1696H3027H5030H34143King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to ask me to pray to the LORD our God on behalf of our nation.H6667H4428H7971H3081H1121H8018H6846H1121H4641H3548H5030H3414H559H6419H3068H4304I had not yet been put in prison and was still moving about freely among the people.H3414H935H3318H8432H5971H5414H1004H36285The Babylonian army had been besieging Jerusalem, but when they heard that the Egyptian army had crossed the Egyptian border, they retreated.H6547H2428H3318H4714H3778H6696H3389H8085H8088H5927H33896Then the LORD, the God of Israel, told meH1697H3068H5030H3414H5597to say to Zedekiah, "The Egyptian army is on its way to help you, but it will return home.H559H3068H430H3478H559H4428H3063H7971H1875H6547H2428H3318H5833H7725H4714H7768Then the Babylonians will come back, attack the city, capture it, and burn it down.H3778H7725H3898H5892H3920H8313H7849I, the LORD, warn you not to deceive yourselves into thinking that the Babylonians will not come back, because they will.H559H3068H5377H5315H559H3778H1980H3212H321210Even if you defeat the whole Babylonian army, so that only wounded men are left, lying in their tents, they would still get up and burn this city to the ground."H5221H2428H3778H3898H7604H1856H582H6965H376H168H8313H5892H784
Jeremiah Is Arrested and Imprisoned
11The Babylonian army retreated from Jerusalem because the Egyptian army was approaching.H2428H3778H5927H3389H6440H6547H242812So I started to leave Jerusalem and go to the territory of Benjamin to take possession of my share of the family property.H3414H3318H3389H3212H776H1144H2505H8432H597113But when I reached the Benjamin Gate, the officer in charge of the soldiers on duty there, a man by the name of Irijah, the son of Shelemiah and grandson of Hananiah, stopped me and said, "You are deserting to the Babylonians!"H8179H1144H1167H6488H8034H3376H1121H8018H1121H2608H8610H3414H5030H559H5307H377814I answered, "That's not so! I'm not deserting." But Irijah would not listen to me. Instead, he arrested me and took me to the officials.H559H3414H8267H5307H3778H8085H3376H8610H3414H935H826915They were furious with me and had me beaten and locked up in the house of Jonathan, the court secretary, whose house had been made into a prison.H8269H7107H3414H5221H5414H612H1004H3083H5608H6213H360816I was put in an underground cell and kept there a long time.H3414H935H1004H953H2588H3414H3427H7227H311717Later on King Zedekiah sent for me, and there in the palace he asked me privately, "Is there any message from the LORD?" "There is," I answered, and added, "You will be handed over to the king of Babylonia."H6667H4428H7971H3947H4428H7592H5643H1004H559H1697H3068H3414H559H3426H559H5414H3027H4428H89418Then I asked, "What crime have I committed against you or your officials or this people, to make you put me in prison?H3414H559H4428H6667H2398H5650H5971H5414H1004H360819What happened to your prophets who told you that the king of Babylonia would not attack you or the country?H346H5030H5012H559H4428H894H935H77620And now, Your Majesty, I beg you to listen to me and do what I ask. Please do not send me back to the prison in Jonathan's house. If you do, I will surely die there."H8085H113H4428H8467H5307H6440H7725H1004H3083H5608H419121So King Zedekiah ordered me to be locked up in the palace courtyard. I stayed there, and each day I was given a loaf of bread from the bakeries until all the bread in the city was gone.H6667H4428H6680H6485H3414H2691H4307H5414H3117H3603H3899H644H2351H3899H5892H8552H3414H3427H2691H4307