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          DASV: Jeremiah 37    

1 Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned as king, instead of
Jehoiachin the son of Jehoiakim. He was appointed king of the
land of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
2 But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land,
listened to the words of the LORD, which he spoke by the prophet
Jeremiah.
3 King Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah
the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah, saying,
"Please pray to the LORD our God for us."
4 Now Jeremiah could come and go as he pleased among the people
for they had not yet put him in prison.
5 Meanwhile Pharaoh's army had come out of Egypt; and when the
Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news of them, they
withdrew from their attack of Jerusalem.
6 Then the word of the LORD came to the prophet Jeremiah, saying,
7 "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: This is what
you will tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of me:
Pharaoh's army, which had come here to help you, will return
back to their own land, to Egypt.
8 The Chaldeans will come back and attack this city. They will
capture it and burn it down.
9 This is what the LORD says, Do not deceive yourselves, saying,
'The Chaldeans will certainly withdraw from us;' for they will
not go away.
10 For even if you had defeated the whole army of the Chaldeans
who had attacked you, so that there would be only wounded men
among them, yet they still would get up each one of them from
his tent and burn this city down."

11 When the army of the Chaldeans had withdrawn from Jerusalem
as a result of the approach of Pharaoh's army,
12 then Jeremiah went out of Jerusalem to go into the land
of Benjamin, to receive his share of property there among the
people.
13 When he was passing through the Benjamin Gate, a captain
of the guard was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of
Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah. He arrested Jeremiah the
prophet, saying, "You are deserting to the Chaldeans."
14 Then Jeremiah said, "That's a lie; I am not deserting to
the Chaldeans." But he refused to listen to him. So Irijah
arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials.
15 The officials were angry with Jeremiah and beat him, then
put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe,
for they had converted it into a prison.
16 Jeremiah was put in prison into a cistern cell and
was kept there a long time.

17 Then King Zedekiah sent and brought him out. The king
secretly asked him in his palace, "Is there any word from
the LORD?" Jeremiah replied, "There is," then he said,
"you will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon."
18 Then Jeremiah complained to King Zedekiah, "What have
I done wrong against you or against your servants or this
people, that you have put me in prison?
19 Where are your prophets now who prophesied to you,
saying, 'The king of Babylon will not come against you or
against this land?'
20 So now hear, I beg you, O my lord the king, please let
my pleading come before you, that you do not return me
to the house of Jonathan the scribe, or I will end up
dying there."
21 Then Zedekiah the king commanded, and they confined
Jeremiah in the courtyard of the guard. They gave him
a loaf of bread daily out of the bakers' street, until
all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah stayed
in the courtyard of the guard.

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