Chapter summary

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon made Zedekiah king of Judah, though Zedekiah and his people ignored the words of the prophet Jeremiah. When Pharaoh’s army advanced from Egypt, the Chaldeans temporarily lifted their siege of Jerusalem, prompting Zedekiah to ask Jeremiah to pray to the Lord. Jeremiah relayed the Lord's message that Pharaoh’s army would return to Egypt and the Chaldeans would come back, capture Jerusalem, and burn it down. While leaving Jerusalem for the land of Benjamin, Jeremiah was arrested at the gate by the captain of the guard Irijah, who falsely accused him of deserting to the Chaldeans. The angry officials beat Jeremiah and imprisoned him in the house of Jonathan the scribe for a long time. Later, King Zedekiah brought Jeremiah to the palace for a private consultation, where Jeremiah reaffirmed that the king would be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon and successfully requested not to be sent back to the scribe's house. Consequently, Zedekiah ordered Jeremiah to be detained in the courtyard of the guard and supplied with a daily loaf of bread until the city's food ran out.

Summary automatically generated from the Bible text.