Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah
1
1Zedekiah the son of Josiah, 2whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah, reigned instead of 3Coniah the son of Jehoiakim.
2
4But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the LORD that he spoke through Jeremiah the prophet.
3
King Zedekiah sent 5Jehucal the son of 6Shelemiah, and 7Zephaniah the priest, the son of 8Maaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "Please 9pray for us to the LORD our God."
4
10Now Jeremiah was still going in and out among the people, 11for he had not yet been put in prison.
5
12The army of Pharaoh had come out of Egypt. And when 13the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news about them, 14they withdrew from Jerusalem.
6
Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet:
7
"Thus says the LORD, God of Israel: Thus shall you say to the king of Judah who 15sent you to me to inquire of me, 'Behold, 16Pharaoh's army that came to help you is about to 17return to Egypt, to its own land.
8
And 18the Chaldeans shall come back and fight against this city. 19They shall capture it and burn it with fire.
9
Thus says the LORD, Do not deceive yourselves, saying, "The Chaldeans will surely go away from us," for they will not go away.
10
20For even if you should defeat the whole army of Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and there remained of them only wounded men, every man in his tent, they would rise up and 21burn this city with fire.'"
Jeremiah Imprisoned
12
Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem to go to 23the land of Benjamin 24to receive his portion there 25among the people.
13
When he was at 26the Benjamin Gate, a sentry there named Irijah the son of 27Shelemiah, son of Hananiah, seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, 28"You are deserting to the Chaldeans."
14
And Jeremiah said, "It is a lie; I am not deserting to the Chaldeans." But Irijah would not listen to him, and seized Jeremiah and brought him to 29the officials.
15
And the officials were enraged at Jeremiah, and they beat him 30and imprisoned him in the house of Jonathan the secretary, for it had been made a prison.
17
King Zedekiah sent for him and received him. The king questioned him 32secretly in his house and said, "Is there any word from the LORD?" Jeremiah said, "There is." Then he said, 33"You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon."
18
Jeremiah also said to King Zedekiah, "What wrong have I done to you or your servants or this people, 34that you have put me in prison?
19
35Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, 'The king of Babylon will not come against you and against this land'?
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)