| Berean Study Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made Zedekiah son of Josiah the king of Judah, and he reigned in place of Coniah son of Jehoiakim. | 1Zedekiah son of Josiah succeeded Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim as the king of Judah. He was appointed by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. |
| 2But he and his officers and the people of the land refused to obey the words that the LORD had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet. | 2But neither King Zedekiah nor his attendants nor the people who were left in the land listened to what the LORD said through Jeremiah. |
| 3Yet King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet with the message, “Please pray to the LORD our God for us!” | 3Nevertheless, King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the priest, son of Maaseiah, to ask Jeremiah, “Please pray to the LORD our God for us.” |
| 4Now Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people, for they had not yet put him in prison. | 4Jeremiah had not yet been imprisoned, so he could come and go among the people as he pleased. |
| 5Pharaoh’s army had left Egypt, and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report, they withdrew from Jerusalem. | 5At this time the army of Pharaoh Hophra of Egypt appeared at the southern border of Judah. When the Babylonian army heard about it, they withdrew from their siege of Jerusalem. |
| 6Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet: | 6Then the LORD gave this message to Jeremiah: |
| 7“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. | 7“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: The king of Judah sent you to ask me what is going to happen. Tell him, ‘Pharaoh’s army is about to return to Egypt, though he came here to help you. |
| 8Then the Chaldeans will return and fight against this city. They will capture it and burn it down. | 8Then the Babylonians will come back and capture this city and burn it to the ground.’ |
| 9This is what the LORD says: Do not deceive yourselves by saying, ‘The Chaldeans will go away for good,’ for they will not! | 9“This is what the LORD says: Do not fool yourselves into thinking that the Babylonians are gone for good. They aren’t! |
| 10Indeed, 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.” | 10Even if you were to destroy the entire Babylonian army, leaving only a handful of wounded survivors, they would still stagger from their tents and burn this city to the ground!” Jeremiah Is Imprisoned |
| 11When the Chaldean army withdrew from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh’s army, | 11When the Babylonian army left Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s approaching army, |
| 12Jeremiah started to leave Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to claim his portion there among the people. | 12Jeremiah started to leave the city on his way to the territory of Benjamin, to claim his share of the property among his relatives there. |
| 13But 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!” | 13But as he was walking through the Benjamin Gate, a sentry arrested him and said, “You are defecting to the Babylonians!” The sentry making the arrest was Irijah son of Shelemiah, grandson of Hananiah. |
| 14“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. | 14“That’s not true!” Jeremiah protested. “I had no intention of doing any such thing.” But Irijah wouldn’t listen, and he took Jeremiah before the officials. |
| 15The 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. | 15They were furious with Jeremiah and had him flogged and imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the secretary. Jonathan’s house had been converted into a prison. |
| 16So Jeremiah went into a cell in the dungeon and remained there a long time. | 16Jeremiah was put into a dungeon cell, where he remained for many days. |
| 17Later, 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.” | 17Later King Zedekiah secretly requested that Jeremiah come to the palace, where the king asked him, “Do you have any messages from the LORD?” “Yes, I do!” said Jeremiah. “You will be defeated by the king of Babylon.” |
| 18Then Jeremiah asked King Zedekiah, “How have I sinned against you or your servants or these people, that you have put me in prison? | 18Then Jeremiah asked the king, “What crime have I committed? What have I done against you, your attendants, or the people that I should be imprisoned like this? |
| 19Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, claiming, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you or this land’? | 19Where are your prophets now who told you the king of Babylon would not attack you or this land? |
| 20But 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.” | 20Listen, my lord the king, I beg you. Don’t send me back to the dungeon in the house of Jonathan the secretary, for I will die there.” |
| 21So 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. | 21So King Zedekiah commanded that Jeremiah not be returned to the dungeon. Instead, he was imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace. The king also commanded that Jeremiah be given a loaf of fresh bread every day as long as there was any left in the city. So Jeremiah was put in the palace prison. |
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