1And Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned as king, instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah. 2But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, hearkened to the words of Yehovah, which he spoke by the prophet Jeremiah. 3And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now to Yehovah our God for us. 4Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people; for they had not put him into prison. 5And Pharaoh’s army had come out of Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news of them, they withdrew from Jerusalem. 6Then the word of Yehovah came to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, 7Thus says Yehovah, the God of Israel, Thus you shall say to the king of Judah, who sent you to me to inquire of me: Behold, Pharaoh’s army, which has come out to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land. 8And the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city; and they shall take it, and burn it with fire. 9Thus says Yehovah, Do not deceive yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us; for they shall not depart. 10For though you had struck the whole army of the Chaldeans who fight against you, and there remained only wounded men among them, yet they would rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire. 11And it happened that, when the army of the Chaldeans had withdrawn from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh’s army, 12then Jeremiah went out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to receive his portion there, in the midst of the people. 13And when he was in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he laid hold of Jeremiah the prophet, saying, You are deserting to the Chaldeans. 14Then Jeremiah said, It is false; I am not deserting to the Chaldeans. But he did not hearken to him; so Irijah laid hold of Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes. 15And the princes were angry with Jeremiah, and struck him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe; for they had made that the prison. 16When Jeremiah had come into the dungeon house, and into the cells, and Jeremiah had remained there many days; 17then Zedekiah the king sent, and fetched him: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from Yehovah? And Jeremiah said, There is. He said also, You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon. 18Moreover Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, In what have I sinned against you, or against your servants, or against this people, that you have put me in prison? 19Where now are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land? 20And now hear, please, O my lord the king: let my supplication, please, be presented before you, that you do not cause me to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there. 21Then Zedekiah the king commanded, and they committed Jeremiah into the court of the guard; and they gave him daily a loaf of bread out of the bakers’ street, until all the bread in the city was spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.