Jeremiah:37

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* King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon appointed Zedekiah , son of Josiah , to be king of Judah . Zedekiah succeeded Jehoiakin , son of Jehoiakim . * Zedekiah , his administrators , and the common people did not listen to what Jehovah spoke through the prophet Jeremiah . * King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to the prophet Jeremiah . They asked him : »Please pray to Jehovah our God for us .« * Jeremiah was still free to come and go among the people . The people of Jerusalem had not put him in prison yet . * Pharaoh 's army came from Egypt . When the Babylonians who were blockading Jerusalem heard this news , they retreated from Jerusalem . * Jehovah spoke his word to the prophet Jeremiah : * »This is what Jehovah the God of Israel says : ‘Say this to the king of Judah , who sent you to get advice from me : »Pharaoh 's army has come out to help you . But it will go back to Egypt , its own land . * »Then the Babylonians will return . They will attack the city , capture it , and burn it down .« * »Jehovah says : ‘Do not deceive yourselves by thinking that the Babylonians will leave you . They will not leave you . * »Even if you would defeat the entire Babylonian army so that they had only a few badly wounded men left in their tents , they would get up and burn down this city !« ’« * The Babylonian army retreated from Jerusalem because Pharaoh 's army was coming . * Jeremiah wanted to leave Jerusalem and go to the territory of Benjamin to take possession of his property there among the people . * When he came to Benjamin Gate , the captain of the guard there , whose name was Irijah , son of Shelemiah and grandson of Hananiah , arrested the prophet Jeremiah . He said : »You are deserting to the Babylonians !« * Jeremiah answered : »That is not true ! I am not deserting to the Babylonians .« But Irijah would not listen to him . Irijah arrested Jeremiah and took him to the officials . * The officials were so angry with Jeremiah that they beat him and put him in prison in the scribe Jonathan 's house , which had been turned into a prison . * Jeremiah went into a prison cell , and he stayed there a long time . * Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah , and the king asked him privately in the palace : »Is there any message from Jehovah ? Jeremiah answered : Yes ! There is a message from Jehovah . You will be handed over to the king of Babylon .« * Then Jeremiah asked King Zedekiah : »What crime have I committed against you , your administrators , or these people ? Why have you put me in prison ? * »Where are the prophets who told you that the king of Babylon would not attack you and this land ? * »Your Majesty , please listen , and accept my plea for mercy . Do not return me to the scribe Jonathan 's house , or I will die there .« * King Zedekiah gave the command to have Jeremiah put in the courtyard of the prison . He gave him a loaf of bread every day from the bakers ' street until all the bread in the city was gone . So Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the prison .

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