JEREMIAH 37

[당찬 엄마]

Jeremiah in Prison

   1 Zedekiah son of Josiah was made king of Judah by

Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he reigned in place of

Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim.   2 Neither he nor his

attendants nor the people of the land paid any

attention to the words the LORD had spoken through

Jeremiah the prophet.

   3 King Zedekiah, however, sent Jehukal son of

Shelemiah with the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah

to Jeremiah the prophet with this message: "Please

pray to the LORD our God for us."

   4 Now Jeremiah was free to come and go among the

people, for he had not yet been put in prison.

5 Pharaoh's army had marched out of Egypt, and when

the Babylonians who were besieging Jerusalem

heard the report about them, they withdrew from

Jerusalem.

   6 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the

prophet:   7 "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel,

says: Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of

me, 'Pharaoh's army, which has marched out to support

you, will go back to its own land, to Egypt.   8 Then the

Babvlonians will return and attack this cit; they will

capture it and burn it down.'

   9 "This is what the LORD says: Do not deceive

yourselves, thinking, 'The Babylonians will surely leave

us.' They will not!   10 Even if you were to defeat the

entire Babyloniah army that is attacking you and

only wounded men were left in their tents, they would

come out and burn this city down."

   11 After the Babylonian army had withdrawn from

Jerusalem because of Pharalh's army,   12 Jeremiah

started to leave the city to go to the territory of

Benjamin to get his share of the property among the

people there.   13 But when he reached the Benjamin

Gate, the captain of the guard, whose name was lrijah

son of Shelemiah, the son of Hanaiah, arrested him

and said, "You are deserting to the Babylonians!"

   14 "That's not true!" Jeremiah said. "I am not deserting

to the Babylonians." But lrijah would not listen to him;

instead, he arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the

officials.   15 They were angry with Jeremiah and had him

beaten and imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the

secretary,which they had made into a prison.

   16 Jeremiah was put into a vaulted cell in a dungeon,

where he remained a long time.   17 Then King Zedekiah

sent for him and had him brought to the palace, where

he asked him privately, "Is there any word from the LORD?"

   "Yer," Jeremiah replied, "you will be delivered into the

hands of the king of Babylon."

   18 Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, "What crime

have I committed against you or your attendants or this

people, that you have put me in prison?   19 Where are

your prophets who prophesied to you, 'The king of

Babylon will not attack you or this land'?   20 But now, my

lord the king, please listen. Let me bring my petition

before you: Do not send me back to the house of

Jonathan the secretary, or I will die there."

   21 King Zedekiah then gave orders for Jeremiah to be

placed in the courtyard of the guard and given a loaf of

bread from the street of the bakers each day until all

the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained

in the courtyard of the guard.