37 And king Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, reigned for Jeconiah[a], the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, made king in the land of Judah.
2 And he, and his servants, and his people obeyed not to the words of the Lord, which he spake in the hand of Jeremy, the prophet. (And he, and his officers, and his people did not obey the words of the Lord, which he spoke by the prophet Jeremiah.)
3 And king Zedekiah sent Jehucal, the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah, the priest, the son of Maaseiah, to Jeremy, the prophet, and said, Pray thou for us our Lord God. (And King Zedekiah sent Jehucal, the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah, the priest, the son of Maaseiah, to the prophet Jeremiah, and said, Pray thou for us to the Lord our God.)
4 Forsooth Jeremy went freely in the midst of the people; for they had not (yet) sent him into the keeping of the prison.
5 Therefore the host of Pharaoh went out of Egypt, and [the] Chaldees, that besieged Jerusalem, heard such a message, and went away from Jerusalem. (And so, Pharaoh’s army went forth out of Egypt, and when the Chaldeans, who were besieging Jerusalem, heard this news, they went away from Jerusalem.)
6 And the word of the Lord was made to Jeremy, the prophet, and said,
7 The Lord God of Israel saith these things, Thus ye shall say to the king of Judah, that sent you to ask me, Lo! the host of Pharaoh, which went out to you into help, shall turn again into his land, into Egypt. (The Lord God of Israel saith these things, Thus ye shall say to the king of Judah, who sent you to ask me, Lo! Pharaoh’s army, which went out to help you, shall return to their own land, yea, to Egypt.)
8 And Chaldees shall come again, and shall fight against this city, and shall take it, and shall burn it with fire. (And then the Chaldeans shall return, and shall fight against this city, and shall take it, and shall burn it down.)
9 The Lord saith these things, Do not ye deceive your souls, saying, Chaldees going shall go away, and shall depart from us; for they shall not go away. (The Lord saith these things, Do not ye deceive yourselves, by saying, The Chaldeans going away shall truly go away, and shall indeed depart from us; for they shall not go away from you.)
10 But though ye slay all the host of Chaldees, that fight against you, and some wounded men of them be left, each man shall rise from his tent, and they shall burn this city with fire. (But even if ye might kill all of the Chaldean army, who fight against you, and only some of their wounded men be left, each wounded man shall rise up out of his tent, and they shall burn down this city.)
11 Therefore when the host of Chaldees had gone away from Jerusalem, for (fear of) the host of Pharaoh, (And so when the Chaldean army had gone away from Jerusalem, for fear of Pharaoh’s army,)
12 Jeremy went out of Jerusalem, to go into the land of Benjamin, and to part there the possession in the sight of [the] citizens. (Jeremiah went out of Jerusalem, to go to the land of Benjamin, and to take possession of his portion of the family property before the citizens there.)
13 And when he was come to the gate of Benjamin, there was a keeper of the gate by whiles (the guard, or the gate-keeper, was there), Irijah by name, the son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah; and he took (hold of) Jeremy, the prophet, and said, Thou fleest to [the] Chaldees.
14 And Jeremy answered, It is false; I flee not to [the] Chaldees. And he heard not Jeremy, but Irijah took Jeremy, and brought him to the princes. (And Jeremiah answered, That is false; I do not flee to the Chaldeans. But Irijah would not listen to him, and he took Jeremiah, and brought him to the officers.)
15 Wherefore the princes were wroth against Jeremy, and beat him, and sent him into the prison, that was in the house of Jonathan, the scribe; for he was sovereign on the prison (for he was the ruler of the prison).
16 Therefore Jeremy entered into the house of the pit, and into the prison of travail; and Jeremy sat there many days (and Jeremiah sat there for many days).
17 Therefore king Zedekiah sent, and took him away, and asked him privily in his house, and said, Guessest thou, whether a word is of the Lord? And Jeremy said, There is. And Jeremy said, Thou shalt be betaken into the hand of the king of Babylon. (And so King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah, and had him brought to his house, and privately asked him, Knowest thou, is there a word from the Lord? And Jeremiah said, There is. And Jeremiah said, Thou shalt be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon.)
18 And Jeremy said to Zedekiah, the king, What have I sinned to thee, and to thy servants, and to thy people, for thou hast sent me into the house of [the] prison? (And Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, What have I sinned against thee, and thy officers, and thy people, so that thou hast sent me into the prison house?)
19 Where be your prophets, that prophesied to you, and said, The king of Babylon shall not come on you, and on this land? (Where be your prophets, who prophesied to you, and said, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, or against this land?)
20 Now therefore, my lord the king, I beseech, hear thou, my prayer be worth(y) in thy sight, and send thou not me again into the house of Jonathan, the scribe, lest I die there. (And so now, my lord the king, I beseech thee, hear thou, let my prayer be worthy in thy sight, and do not thou send me again into the house of Jonathan, the writer, lest I die there.)
21 Therefore Zedekiah commanded, that Jeremy should be betaken into the porch of the prison, and that a cake of bread should be given to him each day, without stew, till all the loaves of the city were wasted; and Jeremy dwelled in the porch of the prison. (And so Zedekiah commanded that Jeremiah should be taken to the courtyard of the prison, and that a loaf of bread should be given to him each day, but without stew, until all the loaves of the city were gone; and so Jeremiah lived in the courtyard of the prison.)
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 37:1 Also known as Coniah and Jehoiachin.