Jeremiah 37 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

Zedekiah son of Josiah became king, replacing Coniah son of Jehoiakim. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had made Zedekiah king over the land of Judah.

But neither he, nor his officials, nor the people of the land listened to the words that Yahweh spoke through the prophet Jeremiah.

King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah, along with the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, to the prophet Jeremiah with this message: "Please pray to Yahweh our God for us."

Now Jeremiah was still moving freely among the people — he had not yet been thrown into prison.

Meanwhile, Pharaoh's army had marched out of Egypt, and when the Babylonians who were besieging Jerusalem heard the news, they pulled back from the city.

Then the word of Yahweh came to the prophet Jeremiah:

"This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: Tell the king of Judah who sent you to ask me for help — Pharaoh's army that marched out to help you is going to turn around and go back to Egypt.

Then the Babylonians will come back and attack this city. They will capture it and burn it to the ground."

"This is what Yahweh says: Don't fool yourselves into thinking, 'The Babylonians are definitely leaving us alone.' They are not leaving.

Even if you defeated the entire Babylonian army attacking you and all they had left were wounded men lying in their tents — they would still get up and burn this city down."

When the Babylonian army pulled back from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh's approaching forces,

Jeremiah started to leave Jerusalem to go to the territory of Benjamin to finalize a property transaction there among his family.

But when he reached the Benjamin Gate, the guard captain on duty — a man named Irijah son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah — arrested Jeremiah, saying, "You're deserting to the Babylonians!"

"That's not true!" Jeremiah protested. "I'm not deserting to the Babylonians!" But Irijah wouldn't listen and arrested Jeremiah anyway, bringing him before the officials.

The officials were furious with Jeremiah. They beat him and threw him into a makeshift prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe — they had converted it into a detention facility.

So Jeremiah ended up in an underground cell in a vaulted dungeon, and he stayed there for a long time.

Then King Zedekiah sent for him and had him brought to the palace. The king asked him privately, "Is there any word from Yahweh?" Jeremiah answered, "Yes there is. You are going to be handed over to the king of Babylon."

Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, "What have I done wrong against you, or against your officials, or against this people, that you've thrown me in prison?

And where are your prophets now — the ones who prophesied to you saying, 'The king of Babylon won't attack you or this land'?

Please listen to me now, my lord the king. Let me bring my request before you: don't send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, or I will die there."

So King Zedekiah gave the order, and they moved Jeremiah to the courtyard of the guard. They gave him a loaf of bread from the bakers' street every day, until all the bread in the city ran out. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.