37 ¹ Zedekiah the son of Josiah, whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah, reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim. 37 ² But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of Yahweh which he spoke through Jeremiah the prophet.

37 ³ King Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "Pray for us to Yahweh our God." 37 ⁴ Now Jeremiah was still going in and out among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison. 37 ⁵ The army of Pharaoh had come out of Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news of them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.

37 ⁶ Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah the prophet: 37 ⁷ "Thus says Yahweh, God of Israel: Thus shall you say to the king of Judah who sent you to me to inquire of me, 'Behold, Pharaoh's army which came to help you is about to return to Egypt, to its own land. 37 ⁸ And the Chaldeans shall come back and fight against this city; they shall take it and burn it with fire. 37 ⁹ Thus says Yahweh, Do not deceive yourselves, saying, "The Chaldeans will surely stay away from us," for they will not stay away. 37 ¹⁰ For even if you should defeat the whole army of Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and there remained of them only wounded men, every man in his tent, they would rise up and burn this city with fire.' "