1 ARST After Jehoiakim died, his son Jehoiachin became king for only three months, after which King Josiah’ s son Zedekiah became the king of Judah. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, appointed him to be the new king. BSB BSB: Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made Zedekiah son of Josiah the king of Judah, and he reigned in place of Coniah son of Jehoiakim.
2 ARST But King Zedekiah and his palace officials and the other people in the land paid no attention to the messages that Yahweh gave me. BSB BSB: But he and his officers and the people of the land refused to obey the words that the LORD had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.
4 ARST At that time Jeremiah had not yet been put in prison, so he could go and come wherever and whenever he wanted to, without being hindered. BSB BSB: Now Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people, for they had not yet put him in prison.
5 ARST At that time, the army of Hophra, the king of Egypt, came to the southern border of Judah. When the army of Babylonia heard about that, they stopped surrounding Jerusalem and left there to fight against the army from Egypt. BSB BSB: Pharaoh’s army had left Egypt, and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report, they withdrew from Jerusalem.
6 ARST Then Yahweh gave this message to me: BSB BSB: Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet:
7 ARST “I, Yahweh, the God of Israel, say this: The king of Judah has sent messengers to you to ask me what is going to happen. Tell the king that even though the army of the king of Egypt came to help him, they are about to return to Egypt. BSB BSB: “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says that you are to tell the king of Judah, who sent you to Me: Behold, Pharaoh’s army, which has marched out to help you, will go back to its own land of Egypt.
8 ARST Then the army of Babylonia will return here, capture this city, and burn everything in it. BSB BSB: Then the Chaldeans will return and fight against this city. They will capture it and burn it down.
9 ARST So, this is what Jeremiah said to you Israelites:‘You should not deceive yourselves, thinking that the army from Babylonia has gone and will not return. That is not true. BSB BSB: This is what the LORD says: Do not deceive yourselves by saying, ‘The Chaldeans will go away for good,’ for they will not!
10 ARST And even if your soldiers could destroy almost all of the soldiers from Babylonia who are attacking you, and allow only those who were wounded to remain alive in their tents, those men would come out of their tents and completely burn this city.’” BSB BSB: Indeed, if you were to strike down the entire army of the Chaldeans that is fighting against you, and only wounded men remained in their tents, they would still get up and burn this city down.”
11 ARST When the army from Babylonia left Jerusalem because the army from Egypt was approaching, BSB BSB: When the Chaldean army withdrew from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh’s army,
12 ARST Jeremiah started to leave the city. He intended to go to the area where the descendants of Benjamin live, in order to take possession of my share of the property from my family. BSB BSB: Jeremiah started to leave Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to claim his portion there among the people.
13 ARST But as he was walking out the Benjamin Gate, the head guard seized Jeremiah and said,“You are deserting us and going to the soldiers from Babylonia!” The man who seized him was Irijah son of Shelemiah, and grandson of Hananiah. BSB BSB: But when he reached the Gate of Benjamin, the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, seized him and said, “You are deserting to the Chaldeans!”
14 ARST But Jeremiah protested and said,“That is not true! I was not intending to do that!” But Irijah would not pay attention to what Jeremiah said. He took Jeremiah to the king’ s officials. BSB BSB: “That is a lie,” Jeremiah replied. “I am not deserting to the Chaldeans!” But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested Jeremiah and took him to the officials.
15 ARST They were very angry with him. They commanded the guards to beat Jeremiah and then to put him in the house where Jonathan the king’ s secretary stayed. They had changed Jonathan’ s house to make it become a prison. BSB BSB: The officials were angry with Jeremiah, and they beat him and placed him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for it had been made into a prison.
16 ARST They put Jeremiah in a dungeon in that prison, and he remained there for several days. BSB BSB: So Jeremiah went into a cell in the dungeon and remained there a long time.
17 ARST Then King Zedekiah secretly sent a servant to him, who took Jeremiah to the palace. There the king asked him,“Do you have any messages from Yahweh?” Jeremiah replied,“Yes, the message is that you will be put into the hands of the king of Babylon.” BSB BSB: Later, King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah and received him in his palace, where he asked him privately, “Is there a word from the LORD?” “There is,” Jeremiah replied. “You will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.”
18 ARST Then Jeremiah asked the king,“What crime have I committed against you or against your officials or against the Israelite people, with the result that you have commanded that I be put in a prison? BSB BSB: Then Jeremiah asked King Zedekiah, “How have I sinned against you or your servants or these people, that you have put me in prison?
19 ARST Your prophets predicted that the army of the king of Babylon would not attack you or this land. Why were their messages not fulfilled? BSB BSB: Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, claiming, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you or this land’?
20 ARST Your majesty, I plead with you to listen to me. Do not send me back to the dungeon in the house of Jonathan your secretary, because if you do that, I will die there.” BSB BSB: But now please listen, O my lord the king. May my petition come before you. Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, or I will die there.”
21 ARST So King Zedekiah commanded that Jeremiah not be sent back to the prison cell. Instead, he was allowed to be watched by the guards in the courtyard of the palace. The king also commanded that they should bring him a loaf of fresh bread every day, until there was no bread left in the city. So they put Jeremiah in that courtyard and he remained there. BSB BSB: So King Zedekiah gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and given a loaf of bread daily from the street of the bakers, until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.