Jeremias 37

¹ And king Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead ofWho was called Jehoiachin, or Jeconiah.Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of BabylonAnd called him Zedekiah, while before his name was Mattaniah, (2Ki_24:17).made king in the land of Judah.

² But neither he, nor his seruants, nor the people of the land would obey the wordes of the Lorde, which he spake by the ministerie of the Prophet Ieremiah.

³ And Zedekiah the kingBecause he was afraid of the Chaldeans who came against him.sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now to the LORD our God for us.

⁴ Now Jeremiah cameThat is, was out of prison and free.in and went out among the people: for they had not put him into prison.

⁵ Then Pharaoh's army hadTo help the Jews.come from Egypt: and when the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they departed from Jerusalem.

⁶ Then came the worde of the Lord vnto the Prophet Ieremiah, saying,

⁷ Thus sayth the Lorde God of Israel, Thus shall ye say to the King of Iudah, that sent you vnto me to inquire of me, Behold, Pharaohs hoste, which is come forth to helpe you, shall returne to Egypt into their owne land.

⁸ And the Caldeans shall come againe, and fight against this citie, and take it and burne it with fire.

⁹ Thus sayth the Lorde, Deceiue not your selues, saying, The Caldeans shall surely depart from vs: for they shal not depart.

¹⁰ For though ye had smitten the whole hoste of the Caldeans that fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet should euery man rise vp in his tent, and burne this citie with fire.

¹¹ When the hoste of the Caldeans was broken vp from Ierusalem, because of Pharaohs armie,

¹² Then Jeremiah went out of Jerusalem to go into theAs some think, to go to Anathoth his own town.land of Benjamin, to separate himself from there in the midst of the people.

¹³ And when he was in theBy which men went into the country of Benjamin.gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard [was] there, whose name [was] Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he took Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Thou fallest away to the Chaldeans.

¹⁴ Then sayde Ieremiah, That is false, I flee not to the Caldeans: but he would not heare him: so Iriiah tooke Ieremiah, and brought him to the princes.

¹⁵ Wherefore the princes were angry with Jeremiah, and beat him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe: for they had made that theBecause it was a vile and straight prison.prison.

¹⁶ When Ieremiah was entred into the dungeon, and into the prisons, & had remained there a long time,

¹⁷ Then Zedekiah the King sent, and tooke him out, and the King asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any worde from the Lord? And Ieremiah sayd, Yea: for, sayd he, thou shalt be deliuered into the hand of the King of Babel.

¹⁸ Moreouer, Ieremiah sayd vnto King Zedekiah, What haue I offended against thee, or against thy seruants, or against this people, that ye haue put me in prison?

¹⁹ Where are nowe your prophets, which prophecied vnto you, saying, The King of Babel shall not come against you, nor against this land?

²⁰ Therefore heare nowe, I pray thee, O my lorde the King: let my prayer be accepted before thee, that thou cause mee not to returne to the house of Iehonathan the scribe, least I die there.

²¹ Then Zedekiah the king commanded that they should commit Jeremiah into the court of the prison, and that they should give him daily a piece of bread out of the baker's street, until all theThat is, so long as there was any bread in the city: thus God provides for his, that he will cause their enemies to preserve them to that end to which he has appointed them.bread in the city should be consumed. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.