ירמיהו, פרק ל״ב, פסוק ג׳

Jeremiah found himself imprisoned as a direct government reaction to the harsh, detailed prophecies of destruction he delivered. King Zedekiah ordered the prophet to be locked away simply because of the words he spoke, demanding to know why Jeremiah would voice such severe predictions [מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ].

The message itself left no room for doubt, beginning with a clear declaration from God that He was handing Jerusalem over to the Babylonians. However, the true reason for the king's extreme reaction lay in the deeply personal and precise nature of the prophecy. Jeremiah did not stop at predicting the general fall of the city. Instead, he outlined the exact sequence of events that would lead to the king's personal ruin. He foretold that Zedekiah would attempt to escape at the end of the siege, only to be captured and handed over to his enemy. There, he would be judged face-to-face by the king of Babylon for breaking his oath. The prophecy even hinted at the cruel punishment awaiting Zedekiah—his eyes would be gouged out, ensuring that the Babylonian ruler would be the very last thing he ever saw [מלבי״ם]. It was this unsparing description of both the nation's collapse and the king's personal downfall that drove Zedekiah to silence the prophet.