37:1 And Melekh Tzidkiyah Ben Yoshiyahu (יאשׁיּהוּ) reigned instead of Konyah Ben Yehoyakim, whom Nevukadretztzar melekh Bavel made king in ha eretz Yehudah.
37:2 But neither he, nor his avadim, nor the people of the land, did hearken unto the Dvar YHWH (יהוה), which he spake by ha Navi YirmeYahu.
37:3 And Tzidkiyah ha melekh sent Yehukal Ben Shelemyah and Zefanyah Ben Maaseyah ha kohen to ha Navi YirmeYahu, saying, Pray now unto YHWH (יהוה) Eloheinu for us.
37:4 Now YirmeYahu came in and went out among the people: for they had not put him into bayit hakeleh (prison).
37:5 Then pharaoh's army was come forth out of Mitzrayim: and when the Kasdim that besieged Yerushalayim heard tidings of them, they departed from Yerushalayim.
37:6 Then came Dvar YHWH (יהוה) unto ha Navi YirmeYahu, saying:
37:7 Thus saith YHWH (יהוה), Elohei Yisrael;
Thus shall ye say to melekh Yehudah, that sent you unto me to enquire of me; hinneh, pharaoh's army, which is come forth to help you, shall return to Mitzrayim into their own land.
37:8 And the Kasdim shall come again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire.
37:9 Thus saith YHWH (יהוה):
Deceive not yourselves, saying, The Kasdim shall surely depart from us: for they shall not depart.
37:10 For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Kasdim that fight against you, and there remained [but] wounded men among them, [yet] should they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire.
37:11 And it came to pass, that when the army of the Kasdim was broken up from Yerushalayim for fear of pharaoh's army,
37:12 Then YirmeYahu went forth out of Yerushalayim to go into ha eretz Benyamin, to separate himself thence in the midst of the people.
37:13 And when he was in the sha'ar Benyamin, a captain of the ward [was] there, whose name [was] Yiriyah Ben Shelemyah, Ben Chananyahu (חנניהוּ); and he took YirmeYahu ha Navi, saying, Thou fallest away to the Kasdim.
37:14 Then said YirmeYahu, [It is] false; I fall not away to the Kasdim. But he hearkened not to him: so Yiriyah took YirmeYahu, and brought him to the sarim.
37:15 Wherefore the sarim were wroth with YirmeYahu, and smote him, and put him in bayit hakeleh (prison) in ha bayit Yonatan the scribe: for they had made that the bayit hakeleh (prison).
37:16 When YirmeYahu was entered into the dungeon, and into the cabins, and YirmeYahu had remained there many days;
37:17 Then Tzidkiyah ha melekh sent, and took him out: and ha melekh asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there [any] word from YHWH (יהוה)? And YirmeYahu said, There is: for, said he, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of melekh Bavel.
37:18 Moreover YirmeYahu said unto melekh Tzidkiyah, What have I offended against thee, or against thy avadim, or against this people, that ye have put me in bayit hakeleh (prison)?
37:19 Where [are] now your Neviim which prophesied unto you, saying, melekh Bavel shall not come against you, nor against this land?
37:20 Therefore hear now, I pray thee, O my master ha melekh: let my supplication, I pray thee, be accepted before thee; that thou cause me not to return to ha bayit Yonatan the scribe, lest I die there.
37:21 Then Tzidkiyah ha melekh commanded that they should commit YirmeYahu into the Khatzer (courtyard) of the guardhouse, and that they should give him daily a piece of lechem out of the bakers' street, until all the lechem in the city were spent. Thus YirmeYahu remained in the Khatzer (courtyard) of the guardhouse.