Jeremiah 37:11–21

¹¹When the Chaldean army withdrew from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh’s army, ¹²Jeremiah started to leave Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to claim his portion there^d among the people. ¹³But when he reached the Gate of Benjamin, the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, seized him and said, “You are deserting to the Chaldeans!”

¹⁴“That is a lie,” Jeremiah replied. “I am not deserting to the Chaldeans!”

But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested Jeremiah and took him to the officials.

¹⁵The officials were angry with Jeremiah, and they beat him and placed him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for it had been made into a prison.

¹⁶So Jeremiah went into a cell in the dungeon and remained there a long time.

¹⁷Later, King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah and received him in his palace, where he asked him privately, “Is there a word from the LORD?”

“There is,” Jeremiah replied. “You will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.”

¹⁸Then Jeremiah asked King Zedekiah, “How have I sinned against you or your servants or these people, that you have put me in prison? ¹⁹Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, claiming, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you or this land’? ²⁰But now please listen, O my lord the king. May my petition come before you. Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, or I will die there.”

²¹So King Zedekiah gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and given a loaf of bread daily from the street of the bakers, until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.