Jeremiah 37
Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah
aZedekiah the son of Josiah, bwhom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah, reigned instead of cConiah the son of Jehoiakim. 2 aBut 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 aJehucal the son of bShelemiah, and cZephaniah the priest, the son of dMaaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “Please epray for us to the Lord our God.” 4 aNow Jeremiah was still going in and out among the people, bfor he had not yet been put in prison. 5 aThe army of Pharaoh had come out of Egypt. And when bthe Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news about them, cthey 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 asent you to me to inquire of me, ‘Behold, bPharaoh’s army that came to help you is about to creturn to Egypt, to its own land. 8 And athe Chaldeans shall come back and fight against this city. aThey 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 aFor 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 bburn this city with fire.’”
Jeremiah Imprisoned
11 Now when athe Chaldean army had withdrawn from Jerusalem at the approach of Pharaoh’s army, 12 Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem to go to athe land of Benjamin bto receive his portion there camong the people. 13 When he was at athe Benjamin Gate, a sentry there named Irijah the son of bShelemiah, son of Hananiah, seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, c“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 athe officials. 15 And the officials were enraged at Jeremiah, and they beat him aand imprisoned him in the house of Jonathan the secretary, for it had been made a prison.
16 aWhen Jeremiah had come to the dungeon cells and remained there many days, 17 King Zedekiah sent for him and received him. The king questioned him asecretly in his house and said, “Is there any word from the Lord?” Jeremiah said, “There is.” Then he said, b“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, athat you have put me in prison? 19 aWhere are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you and against this land’? 20 Now hear, please, O my lord the king: alet my humble plea come before you and bdo not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, lest I die there.” 21 So King Zedekiah gave orders, and they committed Jeremiah to athe court of the guard. And a loaf of bread was given him daily from the bakers’ street, buntil all the bread of the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in athe court of the guard.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway,
a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.