⁴to tell Zedekiah that the Lord, the God of Israel, had said, “Zedekiah, I am going to defeat your army that is fighting against the king of Babylonia and his army. I will pile up your soldiers’ weapons in the centre of the city. ⁵I will fight against you with all my might, my anger, my wrath, and my fury. ⁶I will kill everyone living in this city; people and animals alike will die of a terrible disease. ⁷But as for you, your officials, and the people who survive the war, the famine, and the disease—I will let all of you be captured by King Nebuchadnezzar and by your enemies, who want to kill you. Nebuchadnezzar will put you to death. He will not spare any of you or show mercy or pity to any of you. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

⁸Then the Lord told me to say to the people, “Listen! I, the Lord, am giving you a choice between the way that leads to life and the way that leads to death. ⁹Anyone who stays in the city will be killed in war or by starvation or disease. But those who go out and surrender to the Babylonians, who are now attacking the city, will not be killed; they will at least escape with their lives. ¹⁰I have made up my mind not to spare this city, but to destroy it. It will be given over to the king of Babylonia and he will burn it to the ground. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

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