37 And reign doth king Zedekiah son of Josiah instead of Coniah son of Jehoiakim whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had caused to reign in the land of Judah,

² and he hath not hearkened, he, and his servants, and the people of the land, unto the words of Jehovah, that He spake by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet.

³ And Zedekiah the king sendeth Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest, unto Jeremiah the prophet, saying, `Pray, we beseech thee, for us unto Jehovah our God.'

⁴ And Jeremiah is coming in and going out in the midst of the people, (and they have not put him in the prison-house),

⁵ and the force of Pharaoh hath come out of Egypt, and the Chaldeans, who are laying siege against Jerusalem, hear their report, and go up from off Jerusalem.

⁶ And there is a word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah the prophet, saying:

⁷ `Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Thus do ye say unto the king of Judah, who is sending you unto Me, to seek Me: Lo, the force of Pharaoh that is coming out to you for help hath turned back to its land, to Egypt,

⁸ and the Chaldeans have turned back, and fought against this city, and captured it, and burnt it with fire.

⁹ `Thus said Jehovah: Lift not up your souls saying, The Chaldeans surely go from off us, for they do not go;

¹⁰ for though ye had smitten all the force of the Chaldeans who are fighting with you, and there were left of them wounded men -- each in his tent -- they rise, and have burnt this city with fire.'

¹¹ And it hath come to pass, in the going up of the force of the Chaldeans from off Jerusalem, because of the force of Pharaoh,

¹² that Jeremiah goeth out from Jerusalem to go [to] the land of Benjamin, to receive a portion thence in the midst of the people.

¹³ And it cometh to pass, he is at the gate of Benjamin, and there [is] a master of the ward -- and his name is Irijah son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah -- and he catcheth Jeremiah the prophet, saying, `Unto the Chaldeans thou art falling.'

¹⁴ And Jeremiah saith, `Falsehood -- I am not falling unto the Chaldeans;' and he hath not hearkened unto him, and Irijah layeth hold on Jeremiah, and bringeth him in unto the heads,

¹⁵ and the heads are wroth against Jeremiah, and have smitten him, and put him in the prison-house -- the house of Jonathan the scribe, for it they had made for a prison-house.

¹⁶ When Jeremiah hath entered into the house of the dungeon, and unto the cells, then Jeremiah dwelleth there many days,

¹⁷ and the king Zedekiah sendeth, and taketh him, and the king asketh him in his house in secret, and saith, `Is there a word from Jehovah?' And Jeremiah saith, `There is,' and he saith, `Into the hand of the king of Babylon thou art given.'

¹⁸ And Jeremiah saith unto the king Zedekiah, `What have I sinned against thee, and against thy servants, and against this people, that ye have given me unto a prison-house?

¹⁹ And where [are] your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, The king of Babylon doth not come in against you, and against this land?

²⁰ And now, hearken, I pray thee, my lord, O king, let my supplication fall, I pray thee, before thee, and cause me not to return [to] the house of Jonathan the scribe, that I die not there.'

²¹ And the king Zedekiah commandeth, and they commit Jeremiah into the court of the prison, also to give to him a cake of bread daily from the bakers' street, till the consumption of all the bread of the city, and Jeremiah dwelleth in the court of the prison.