Håbet om hjælp fra egypterne forsvinder
1Dengang Kong Nebukadnezar af Babylonien sendte Jekonja, Jojakims søn, i eksil, indsatte han Zidkija, Josias’ søn, som konge i Judas land. 2Hverken Zidkija, hans hoffolk eller den del af befolkningen, der var tilbage i landet, ville høre på de budskaber fra Herren, som jeg gav dem. 3Alligevel sendte kong Zidkija to mænd, nemlig Jukal, søn af Shelemja, og præsten Zefanja, søn af Ma’aseja, hen til mig med følgende anmodning: „Vær venlig at bede til Herren, vores Gud, om at redde os.” 4Det var før, jeg blev sat i fængsel, så jeg kunne færdes frit blandt folket.
5Den egyptiske hær var på vej mod nord, og da babylonierne fik det at vide, brød de op fra deres belejring af Jerusalem. 6Da sagde Herren til mig: 7„Sig til Judas konge, der sendte bud om, at du skulle bede mig om hjælp: Hør, hvad Herren siger: Faraos hær, som er rykket ud for at komme jer til undsætning, vil snart vende tilbage til Egypten, 8og så vil babylonierne komme tilbage hertil og angribe, indtage og brænde byen ned til grunden. 9Tro ikke, at babylonierne er færdige med jer nu. Nej, de kommer snart tilbage. 10Og selv om I ville være i stand til at besejre hele den babyloniske hær, så der kun var sårede krigere tilbage, ville de stadig vakle ud fra deres telte og sætte ild på byen.”
Jeremias sættes i fængsel og derefter i husarrest
11Da den babyloniske hær havde forladt Jerusalem for at rykke ud mod egypterne, 12begav jeg mig på vej ud af byen for at tage hjem til Benjamins land og få papirer på et jordstykke, jeg havde arvet.
13Men da jeg gik gennem Benjaminporten, blev jeg anholdt af portvagten, som troede jeg ville slutte mig til babylonierne. Portvagten hed Jirija, søn af Shelemja, der var søn af Hananja. 14„Det er en misforståelse!” protesterede jeg. „Det kunne aldrig falde mig ind at gå over til babylonierne.” Men Jirija ville ikke høre på mig og førte mig hen til hoffolkene. 15-16De blev rasende og lod mig piske, hvorefter de kastede mig i et fangehul i en kælder i sekretæren Jonatans hus, der var blevet omdannet til fængsel. Dér sad jeg i adskillige dage.
17Senere sendte kong Zidkija bud efter mig, og jeg blev bragt til paladset. Dér spurgte kongen mig i al hemmelighed, om jeg havde et budskab fra Herren. „Ja, det har jeg,” svarede jeg. „Du vil blive udleveret til den babyloniske konge.”
18Derpå sagde jeg til ham: „Hvilken forbrydelse har jeg gjort mig skyldig i, siden jeg er sat i fængsel? Har jeg måske forbrudt mig imod dig eller dine hoffolk eller andre mennesker? 19Og hvor er for øvrigt alle dine profeter, der påstod, at den babyloniske konge ikke ville angribe landet? 20Hør, herre konge: Jeg beder dig om ikke at sende mig tilbage til fangehullet, det er den visse død.”
21Så befalede kong Zidkija, at jeg skulle holdes i forvaring i den kongelige gardes boligkompleks, og hver dag skulle man bringe mig et frisk brød, så længe der var brød at få i byen. Derefter blev jeg holdt under opsyn af garden.
Jeremiah in Prison
1Zedekiah son of Josiah was made king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he reigned in place of Jehoiachin37:1 Hebrew Koniah, a variant of Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim. 2Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.
3King 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.”
4Now Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison. 5Pharaoh’s army had marched out of Egypt, and when the Babylonians37:5 Or Chaldeans; also in verses 8, 9, 13 and 14 who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.
6Then 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. 8Then the Babylonians will return and attack this city; 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! 10Even if you were to defeat the entire Babylonian37:10 Or Chaldean; also in verse 11 army that is attacking you and only wounded men were left in their tents, they would come out and burn this city down.”
11After the Babylonian army had withdrawn from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army, 12Jeremiah started to leave the city to go to the territory of Benjamin to get his share of the property among the people there. 13But when he reached the Benjamin Gate, the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, 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 Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. 15They were angry with Jeremiah and had him beaten and imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the secretary, which they had made into a prison.
16Jeremiah was put into a vaulted cell in a dungeon, where he remained a long time. 17Then King Zedekiah sent for him and had him brought to the palace, where he asked him privately, “Is there any word from the Lord?”
“Yes,” Jeremiah replied, “you will be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon.”
18Then 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? 19Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, ‘The king of Babylon will not attack you or this land’? 20But 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.”
21King 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.
