1Zedekiah, son of Josiah, reigned as king instead of Coniah, son of Jehoiakim, whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had made king in the land of Judah.
2But neither he, nor his officials, nor the people of the land listened to the words of Yahweh, which he spoke through the prophet Jeremiah.
3King Zedekiah sent Jehucal, son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah, son of Maaseiah the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “Please pray to Yahweh our God for us.”
4At that time, Jeremiah was still moving freely among the people, because he had not yet been put in prison.
5Pharaoh’s army had marched out of Egypt, and when the Babylonians who were besieging Jerusalem heard about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.
6Then the word of Yahweh came to the prophet Jeremiah. It said,
7“Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘You must tell the king of Judah, who sent you to me to ask for my guidance: “Look, Pharaoh’s army, which has come to help you, will go back to Egypt, to their own land.
8The Babylonians will come back and fight against this city; they will capture it and burn it with fire.”’
9“Yahweh says, ‘Don’t fool yourselves by saying, “The Babylonians will surely leave us;” because they will not leave.
10Even if you had defeated the entire Babylonian army fighting against you, and only wounded men were left, they would still each get up from their tents and burn this city with fire.’”
11When the Babylonian army had left Jerusalem because they were afraid of Pharaoh’s army,
12Jeremiah left Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin, to claim his property there among the people.
13As he was at the Benjamin Gate, a captain of the guard named Irijah, the son of Shelemiah and grandson of Hananiah, grabbed Jeremiah the prophet and said, “You are deserting to the Babylonians!”
14Jeremiah replied, “That’s not true! I am not deserting to the Babylonians.” But Irijah didn’t listen to him; instead, he seized Jeremiah and brought him to the officials.
15The officials were angry with Jeremiah, beat him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe, because they had made that house into a prison.
16When Jeremiah had been in the dungeon and in the cells for many days,
17King Zedekiah sent for him and had him brought to him. The king secretly asked him in his house, “Is there any message from Yahweh?” Jeremiah said, “There is.” He also added, “You will be handed over to the king of Babylon.”
18Jeremiah also asked King Zedekiah, “How have I wronged you, your officials, or these people, that you have put me in prison?
19Now, where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you or against this land’?
20So please listen, my lord the king: please let my request be brought before you, that you not make me return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, so that I don’t die there.”
21Then King Zedekiah commanded that Jeremiah be put in the court of the guard. They gave him a loaf of bread every day from the bakers’ street until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.