11. The Babylonian army retreated from Jerusalem because the Egyptian army was approaching.
12. So I started to leave Jerusalem and go to the territory of Benjamin to take possession of my share of the family property.
13. But when I reached the Benjamin Gate, the officer in charge of the soldiers on duty there, a man by the name of Irijah, the son of Shelemiah and grandson of Hananiah, stopped me and said, “You are deserting to the Babylonians!”
14. I answered, “That's not so! I'm not deserting.” But Irijah would not listen to me. Instead, he arrested me and took me to the officials.
15. They were furious with me and ordered me to be beaten and locked up in the house of Jonathan, the court secretary, whose house had been made into a prison.
16. I was put in an underground cell and kept there a long time.
17. Later on King Zedekiah sent for me, and there in the palace he asked me privately, “Is there any message from the Lord?”“There is,” I answered, and added, “You will be handed over to the king of Babylonia.”
18. Then I asked, “What crime have I committed against you or your officials or this people, to make you put me in prison?
19. What happened to your prophets who told you that the king of Babylonia would not attack you or the country?
20. And now, Your Majesty, I beg you to listen to me and do what I ask. Please do not send me back to the prison in Jonathan's house. If you do, I will surely die there.”
21. So King Zedekiah ordered me to be locked up in the palace courtyard. I stayed there, and each day I was given a loaf of bread from the bakeries until all the bread in the city was gone.