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?