Jeremiah 37:17
Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took him out: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from the LORD? And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said he, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.
The verse belongs to the historical section of Jeremiah, chapters 32 through 45, which covers the two years before the fall of Jerusalem. From Jeremiah 20 onward the chapters are not in chronological order, having been disarranged when placed together in book form, though clear data is given for placing them in order. In that order chapter 37 follows chapters 27, 28, 21, and 34 and comes before chapters 32, 33, and 38. It belongs to the story of the weeping prophet amid sad conditions in Judah that caused him to weep, including false prophets, utter repudiation of the law of God and the principles of righteousness, and persecutions of the prophet himself, preserved to show the enormity of sin and its sure consequences.
Jerusalem was under siege when Zedekiah inquired, and hope of escape through Egypt did not change the message. The Egyptian move against the Chaldeans meant nothing, for the Chaldeans would not depart. Even if their whole army were struck down and only wounded men remained, they would rise up every man from his tent and burn the city with fire. Zedekiah, who asked Jeremiah repeatedly for a word for himself and his people, had him taken out of confinement and asked him secretly in his house whether there was any word from the Lord. Jeremiah answered affirmatively with a direct, unwelcome message of judgment that Zedekiah would be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.
Jeremiah had been accused of deserting to the Chaldeans and imprisoned. His faithful personal testimony to the king led to his being put in the dungeon because many heeded his words. He was punished as a traitor for speaking God's message, illustrating that proclaiming truth can bring trouble and opposition. After the answer Zedekiah relented toward Jeremiah, granted his request not to be returned to the dungeon, and let him remain in the prison court with daily bread.
He began to show faith in the prophet, set free every servant and debtor and oppressed person according to the jubilee, and entered a covenant not to deliver Jeremiah again into the princes' hands but to follow the light God would give. This opened the way for the final offer that his soul and the city would be spared if he surrendered. The verse poses the question whether God still speaks and calls readers to resist despair and to trust that God's word and hope remain.