Jeremias 37
1 THE WORD THAT CAME TO JEREMIAS FROM THE LORD, SAYING,
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon replaced Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim with Zedekiah son of Josiah as the ruling king of Judah.
2 Thus speaks the Lord God of Israel, saying, Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book.
But Zedekiah and his officers and everyone else in the country refused to obey what the Lord had said through Jeremiah the prophet.
3 For, behold, the days come, says the Lord, when I will bring back the captivity of my people Israel and Juda, said the Lord: and I will bring them back to the land which I gave to their fathers, and they shall be lords of it.
However, King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the priest, son of Maaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet with the message, “Please pray to the Lord our God for us!”
4 AND THESE ARE THE WORDS WHICH THE LORD SPOKE CONCERNING ISRAEL AND JUDA;
(At this time Jeremiah could come and go freely, because as yet they hadn't put him in prison.)
5 Thus said the Lord: You shall hear a sound of fear, [there is] fear, and there is not peace.
Pharaoh's army was advancing from Egypt, and when the Babylonian army heard about it, they moved away from Jerusalem.
6 Enquire, and see if a male has born a child? and [ask] concerning the fear, wherein they shall hold their loins, and [look for] safety: for I have seen every man, and his hands are on his loins; [their] faces are turned to paleness.
Then a message from the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet:
7 For that day is great, and there is not such [another]; and it is a time of straitness to Jacob; but he shall be saved out of it.
This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, instructs you to tell the king of Judah, who sent you to ask me for help: Look! Pharaoh's army, which set out to help you, is going to return home to Egypt.
8 In that day, said the Lord, I will break the yoke off their neck, and will burst their bonds, and they shall no longer serve strangers:
Then the Babylonians will return and attack Jerusalem. They will capture it and burn it down.
9 but they shall serve the Lord their God; and I will raise up to them David their king.
This is what the Lord says: Don't fool yourselves by saying, “The Babylonians are gone for good,” because they're not!
In fact, even if you were able to kill the whole Babylonian army attacking you, leaving only wounded men in their tents, they would still get up and burn this city down.
When the Babylonian army moved away from Jerusalem because of the threat of Pharaoh's army,
12 Thus says the Lord; I have brought on [you] destruction; your stroke is painful.
Jeremiah was on his way out of Jerusalem to go to his home in the territory of Benjamin to claim his share of his family's property.
13 There is none to judge your cause: you have been painfully treated for healing, there is no help for you.
However, when he reached the Benjamin Gate, the guard captain, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah, arrested him, saying, “You're defecting to the Babylonians!”
14 All your friends have forgotten you; they shall not ask [about you] at all, for I have struck you with he stroke of an enemy, [even] severe correction: your sins have abounded above all your iniquity.
“That's not true,” Jeremiah replied. “I'm not defecting to the Babylonians!” But Irijah refused to listen to him. He arrested Jeremiah and took him before the officers.
15 Your sins have abounded beyond the multitude of your iniquities, [therefore] they have done these things to you. Therefore all that devour you shall be eaten, and all your enemies shall eat all their [own] flesh.
The officers were furious with Jeremiah. They had him beaten and locked up in the house of Jonathan the scribe, which had been turned into a prison.
16 And they that spoil you shall become a spoil, and I will give up to be plundered all that have plundered you.
Jeremiah was placed in a cell in the underground dungeon and was kept there for a long time.
17 For I will bring about your healing, I will heal you of your grievous wound, says the Lord; for you are called Dispersed: she is your prey, for no one seeks after her.
Some while later King Zedekiah secretly sent for him and had him brought to the royal palace where he asked, “Is there a message from Lord for me?” “Yes there is,” Jeremiah replied. “You are going to be handed over to the king of Babylon.”
18 Thus said the Lord; Behold, I will turn the captivity of Jacob, and will have pity upon his prisoners; and the city shall be built upon her hill, and the people shall settle after their manner.
Then Jeremiah asked King Zedekiah, “What wrong have I done to you or your servants or these people, for you to put me in prison?
19 And there shall go forth from them singers, [even] the sound of men making merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not at all be diminished.
Where are your prophets now, the ones who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon won't come and attack you and this country’?
20 And their sons shall go in as before, and their testimonies shall be established before me, and I will visit them that afflict them.
Now please listen to me, my lord the king, and respond positively to my request. Don't send me back to prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe, otherwise I'll die there.”
21 And their mighty ones shall be over them, and their prince shall proceed of themselves; and I will gather them, and they shall return to me: for who is this that has set his heart to return to me? says the Lord.
King Zedekiah gave the order for Jeremiah to be held in the guard's courtyard and be provided with a loaf of bread every day from a bakery until there was no bread left in the city. So Jeremiah stayed in the guard's courtyard.
23 For the wrathful anger of the lord has gone forth, [even] a whirlwind of anger has gone forth: it shall come upon the ungodly.
24 The fierce anger of the Lord shall not return, until he shall execute [it], and until he shall establish the purpose of his heart: in the latter days you shall know these things.
