Jeremiah was put into a prison

11 When the army from Babylonia left Jerusalem because the army from Egypt was approaching, 12 I started to leave the city. I intended to go to the area where the descendants of Benjamin live, in order to take possession of my share of the property from my family. 13 But as I was walking out the Benjamin Gate, a guard seized me and said, “You are deserting us and going to the soldiers from Babylonia!” The man who seized me was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah and grandson of Hananiah.

14 But I protested and said, “That is not true! I was not intending to do that!” But Irijah would not pay attention to what I said. He took me to the king’s officials. 15 They were very angry with me. They commanded the guards to beat me and then to put me in the house where Jonathan the king’s secretary stayed. They had changed Jonathan’s house to make it become a prison.

16 They put me in a dungeon/cell in that prison, and I remained there for several days. 17 Then King Zedekiah secretly sent a servant to me, who took me to the palace. There the king asked me, “Do you have any messages from Yahweh?” I replied, “Yes, the message is that you will be handed over to the king of Babylon.”

18 Then I asked the king, “What crime have I committed [RHQ] against you or against your officials or against the Israeli people, with the result that you have commanded that I be put in a prison? 19 Your prophets predicted that the army of the king of Babylon would not attack you or this land. Why were [RHQ] their messages not fulfilled? 20 Your majesty, I plead with you to listen to me. Do not send me back to the dungeon/cell in the house of Jonathan your secretary, because if you do that, I will die there.”

21 So King Zedekiah commanded that I not be sent back to the prison cell. Instead, I was allowed to be watched by the guards in the courtyard of the palace. The king also commanded that they should bring me a loaf of fresh bread every day, until there was no bread left in the city. So they put me in that courtyard and I remained there.