CHAPTER 37
1 And king Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, reigned for Jeconiah*, the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, made king in the land of Judah.
2 And he, and his servants, and his people obeyed not to the words of the Lord, which he spake in the hand of Jeremy, the prophet.
3 And king Zedekiah sent Jehucal, the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah, the priest, the son of Maaseiah, to Jeremy, the prophet, and said, Pray thou for us our Lord God.
4 Forsooth Jeremy went freely in the midst of the people; for they had not sent him into the keeping of the prison.
5 Therefore the host of Pharaoh went out of Egypt, and [the] Chaldees, that besieged Jerusalem, heard such a message, and went away from Jeru-salem.
6 And the word of the Lord was made to Jeremy, the prophet, and said,
7 The Lord God of Israel saith these things, Thus ye shall say to the king of Judah, that sent you to ask me, Lo! the host of Pharaoh, which went out to you into help, shall turn again into his land, into Egypt.
8 And Chaldees shall come again, and shall fight against this city, and shall take it, and shall burn it with fire.
9 The Lord saith these things, Do not ye deceive your souls, saying, Chaldees going shall go away, and shall depart from us; for they shall not go away.
10 But though ye slay all the host of Chaldees, that fight against you, and some wounded men of them be left, each man shall rise from his tent, and they shall burn this city with fire.
11 Therefore when the host of Chaldees had gone away from Jerusalem, for the host of Pharaoh,
12 Jeremy went out of Jerusalem, to go into the land of Benjamin, and to part there the possession in the sight of [the] citizens.
13 And when he was come to the gate of Benjamin, there was a keeper of the gate by whiles, Irijah by name, the son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah; and he took Jeremy, the prophet, and said, Thou fleest to [the] Chaldees.
14 And Jeremy answered, It is false; I flee not to [the] Chaldees. And he heard not Jeremy, but Irijah took Jeremy, and brought him to the princes.
15 Wherefore the princes were wroth against Jeremy, and beat him, and sent him into the prison, that was in the house of Jonathan, the scribe; for he was sovereign on the prison.
16 Therefore Jeremy entered into the house of the pit, and into the prison of travail; and Jeremy sat there many days.
17 Therefore king Zedekiah sent, and took him away, and asked him privily in his house, and said, Guessest thou, whether a word is of the Lord? And Jeremy said, There is. And Jeremy said, Thou shalt be betaken into the hand of the king of Babylon.
18 And Jeremy said to Zedekiah, the king, What have I sinned to thee, and to thy servants, and to thy people, for thou hast sent me into the house of [the] prison?
19 Where be your prophets, that prophesied to you, and said, The king of Babylon shall not come [up] on you, and on this land?
20 Now therefore, my lord the king, I beseech, hear thou, my prayer be worthy in thy sight, and send thou not me again into the house of Jonathan, the scribe, lest I die there.
21 Therefore Zedekiah commanded, that Jeremy should be betaken into the porch of the prison, and that a cake of bread should be given to him each day, without stew, till all the loaves of the city were wasted; and Jeremy dwelled in the porch of the prison.
* CHAPTER 37:1 Also known as Coniah and Jehoiachin.