11. Now when the Babylonian army had withdrawn from Jerusalem due to Pharaoh’s advance,
12. Jeremiah set out for the land of Benjamin to secure his share of the family property.
13. He got as far as the Benjamin Gate in Jerusalem when the guard there named Irijah, Shelemiah’s son and Hananiah’s grandson, arrested the prophet Jeremiah, saying, "You are deserting to the Babylonians."
14. "That’s a lie," Jeremiah replied. "I’m not deserting to the Babylonians." But Irijah wouldn’t listen to him. He arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials,
15. who were furious with him. They beat him and threw him into the house of the scribe Jonathan, which had been turned into a prison.
16. So Jeremiah was put in a cistern, which was like a dungeon, where he remained a long time.
17. Later King Zedekiah sent for him and questioned Jeremiah secretly in the palace: "Is there a word from the Lord?""There is," Jeremiah replied. "You are going to be handed over to the king of Babylon."
18. Then Jeremiah asked King Zedekiah, "What have I done wrong to you or your attendants or this people that you should throw me into prison?
19. Where are your prophets now who prophesied that the king of Babylon wouldn’t attack you and this land?
20. Now, my master and king, I beg you, don’t send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, or I’ll die there."
21. So King Zedekiah gave orders that Jeremiah be held in the prison quarters and that he receive a loaf of bread daily from the street vendors—until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the prison quarters.