The Lord sent a message to Zedekiah. “Here’s what I am going to do. Pharaoh’s army will return to Egypt. Babylon will come back and burn this city to the ground. You can’t stop them. Even if your army went out and defeated them, leaving only a few wounded men alive, those few men would get up, come into the city, and burn it to the ground.”

Jeremiah decided to go outside the city walls and look at some property he owned. A guard saw him walking out of the city gate. He said, “You’re going to the Babylonian army.”

The prophet said, “No, I’d never do that.” But the guard didn’t believe him, and took him to the city officials. They were furious with him and had him beaten and put in a dungeon. He stayed there a long time.

Soon the Babylonians came back and once again encircled the city. Zedekiah secretly sent for Jeremiah, and brought him to the palace. The king said, “Do you have a message from the Lord?”

Jeremiah said, “Yes I do. He says, ‘You’ll be defeated by the Babylonians.’ ”

Then the prophet said to the king, “Don’t send me back to that dungeon. I’ll die if you do. What have I done? Everything I’ve said has come true. Where are the prophets who said Babylon wouldn’t return? I beg you. Don’t send me back.”

So King Zedekiah gave the command that Jeremiah wasn’t to go back to the dungeon. He was kept in the palace prison, where he received better care.

Soon there was no food in the city because the Babylonians had stopped everything from going in or out. The rulers of Jerusalem sent a message to Jeremiah. “Please, pray and ask God to deliver us! Perhaps he will give us a miracle like he’s done in the past.”

The Lord sent a message back to them, “No! I won’t deliver you. I’m the one fighting against you. I’ve given you to the king of Babylon. You’ll suffer hunger, disease and plagues. People and animals will die. Those who live through this will be given to the Babylonians.”