¹ And king Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, made king in the land of Judah.

² But not he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, listened to the words of Jehovah which He spoke by Jeremiah the prophet.

³ And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal, the son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah the priest, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Pray now for us to Jehovah our God.

⁴ And Jeremiah came in and went out among the people, for they had not put him into prison.

⁵ And Pharaoh's army had come forth out of Egypt. And when the Chaldeans who besieged Jerusalem heard news of them, they departed from Jerusalem.

⁶ And the word of Jehovah was to the prophet Jeremiah, saying,

⁷ So says Jehovah, the God of Israel, You shall say this 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.

⁸ And the Chaldeans shall come again and fight against this city, and they will capture it and burn it with fire.

⁹ So says Jehovah, Do not deceive yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans will surely leave us, for they shall not leave.

¹⁰ For though you had stricken the entire army of the Chaldeans who fight against you, and only wounded men remained among them, yet they would rise up, each man in his tent, and burn this city with fire.

¹¹ And it happened, when the army of the Chaldeans departed from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh's army,

¹² then Jeremiah went out of Jerusalem, to go into the land of Benjamin to receive a portion from there in the midst of the people.

¹³ And it happened, he being in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard was there, and his name was Irijah the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah. And he seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, You are falling to the Chaldeans.

¹⁴ And Jeremiah said, A lie! I am not falling to the Chaldeans. But he did not listen to him. And Irijah took Jeremiah and brought him to the rulers.

¹⁵ And the rulers were angry with Jeremiah and struck him, and they put him in the house of binding, the house of Jonathan the scribe. For they had made it into a prison house.

¹⁶ When Jeremiah had gone into the house of the pit, and into the cells, then Jeremiah remained there many days.

¹⁷ And Zedekiah the king sent and took him out. And the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there word from Jehovah? And Jeremiah said, There is. For He said, You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.

¹⁸ And Jeremiah said to king Zedekiah, What have I sinned against you, or against your servants, or against this people, that you have put me into the prison house?

¹⁹ Where now are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, or against this land?

²⁰ And now hear, I beg you, O my lord the king, please let my plea fall before you, so that you do not make me return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, that I not die there.

²¹ And Zedekiah the king commanded, and they committed Jeremiah into the court of the guardhouse, and that they should give him a piece of bread out of the baker's street daily, until all the bread of the city was gone. And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guardhouse.