King Zedekiah's Request to Jeremiah
371King Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, made Zedekiah son of Josiah king in place of Coniah[] son of Jehoiakim. 2But neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land obeyed the word of the Lord that he spoke through the prophet Jeremiah. 3Nevertheless, King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelamiah with Zephaniah son of Ma'aseiah, the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah to ask, “Please pray to the Lord our God for us.”
4Jeremiah was still moving about freely among the people, for they had not yet put him into prison. 5Pharaoh's army had come out of Egypt, and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.
6Then the word of the Lord came to the prophet Jeremiah.
7The Lord, the God of Israel, says to tell this to the king of Judah, who sent you to me to inquire of me. Be warned. Pharaoh's army, which has come out to help you, will go back to Egypt, to their own land. 8Then the Chaldeans will return and attack this city. They will capture it and burn it down.
9The Lord says: “Do not deceive yourselves by saying, ‘The Chaldeans will surely leave us.’ They will not. 10For even if you would defeat the whole Chaldean army attacking you, and there were only wounded men left, who were confined to their tents, they would still get up and burn this city down.”
11When the Chaldean army had withdrawn from Jerusalem to face Pharaoh's army, 12Jeremiah left Jerusalem to go to the territory of Benjamin to claim his share of the property among the people there. 13But as he arrived at the Benjamin Gate, the sentry who was in charge there, named Irijah son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah, seized Jeremiah the prophet. He said, “You are deserting to the Chaldeans!”
14But Jeremiah said, “That is false! I am not deserting to the Chaldeans.”
But Irijah did not listen to him. He seized Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. 15Angry with Jeremiah, they beat him, and they imprisoned him in the house of Jonathan the scribe, because they were using that house as a prison.
16Jeremiah was kept in a vaulted cistern for a long time. 17Then King Zedekiah sent for him and had him brought out. The king asked him secretly in his house, “Is there any word from the Lord?”
Jeremiah answered, “There is. He said, ‘You will be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon.’”
18Jeremiah also said to King Zedekiah, “How have I sinned against you, against your servants, or against this people, that you have put me in prison? 19Where are your prophets now, who prophesied to you, ‘The king of Babylon will not attack you or this land?’ 20Now, my lord the king, please listen to me. Let my petition come before you: Please do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, or I will die there.”
21Then Zedekiah the king ordered that Jeremiah be placed in the courtyard of the guard. Every day they gave him a loaf of bread from the street of the bakers until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.