| 1. | And reign doth king Zedekiah son of Josiah instead of Coniah son of Jehoiakim whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had caused to reign in the land of Judah, |
| 2. | and he hath not hearkened, he, and his servants, and the people of the land, unto the words of Jehovah, that He spake by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet. |
| 3. | And Zedekiah the king sendeth Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest, unto Jeremiah the prophet, saying, `Pray, we beseech thee, for us unto Jehovah our God.' |
| 4. | And Jeremiah is coming in and going out in the midst of the people, (and they have not put him in the prison-house), |
| 5. | and the force of Pharaoh hath come out of Egypt, and the Chaldeans, who are laying siege against Jerusalem, hear their report, and go up from off Jerusalem. |
| 6. | And there is a word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah the prophet, saying: |
| 7. | `Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Thus do ye say unto the king of Judah, who is sending you unto Me, to seek Me: Lo, the force of Pharaoh that is coming out to you for help hath turned back to its land, to Egypt, |
| 8. | and the Chaldeans have turned back, and fought against this city, and captured it, and burnt it with fire. |
| 9. | `Thus said Jehovah: Lift not up your souls saying, The Chaldeans surely go from off us, for they do not go; |
| 10. | for though ye had smitten all the force of the Chaldeans who are fighting with you, and there were left of them wounded men -- each in his tent -- they rise, and have burnt this city with fire.' |
| 11. | And it hath come to pass, in the going up of the force of the Chaldeans from off Jerusalem, because of the force of Pharaoh, |
| 12. | that Jeremiah goeth out from Jerusalem to go `to' the land of Benjamin, to receive a portion thence in the midst of the people. |
| 13. | And it cometh to pass, he is at the gate of Benjamin, and there `is' a master of the ward -- and his name is Irijah son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah -- and he catcheth Jeremiah the prophet, saying, `Unto the Chaldeans thou art falling.' |
| 14. | And Jeremiah saith, `Falsehood -- I am not falling unto the Chaldeans;' and he hath not hearkened unto him, and Irijah layeth hold on Jeremiah, and bringeth him in unto the heads, |
| 15. | and the heads are wroth against Jeremiah, and have smitten him, and put him in the prison-house -- the house of Jonathan the scribe, for it they had made for a prison-house. |
| 16. | When Jeremiah hath entered into the house of the dungeon, and unto the cells, then Jeremiah dwelleth there many days, |
| 17. | and the king Zedekiah sendeth, and taketh him, and the king asketh him in his house in secret, and saith, `Is there a word from Jehovah?' And Jeremiah saith, `There is,' and he saith, `Into the hand of the king of Babylon thou art given.' |
| 18. | And Jeremiah saith unto the king Zedekiah, `What have I sinned against thee, and against thy servants, and against this people, that ye have given me unto a prison-house? |
| 19. | And where `are' your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, The king of Babylon doth not come in against you, and against this land? |
| 20. | And now, hearken, I pray thee, my lord, O king, let my supplication fall, I pray thee, before thee, and cause me not to return `to' the house of Jonathan the scribe, that I die not there.' |
| 21. | And the king Zedekiah commandeth, and they commit Jeremiah into the court of the prison, also to give to him a cake of bread daily from the bakers' street, till the consumption of all the bread of the city, and Jeremiah dwelleth in the court of the prison. |