Jeremiah 38:17–26

¹⁷Jeremiah therefore said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord, the God of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘If indeed you surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, ^othen you will live, this city will not be burned down, and you and your household will survive. ¹⁸But if you do not surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city will be handed over to the Chaldeans. ^pThey will burn it down, and you yourself will not escape from them.’ ”

¹⁹But King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am worried about the Judeans who have deserted to the Chaldeans. They may hand me over to the Judeans to abuse me.” ^q

²⁰“They will not hand you over,” Jeremiah replied. “Obey the voice of the Lord in what I am telling you, so it may go well for you and you can live. ²¹But if you refuse to surrender, this is the verdict ^rthat the Lord has shown me: ²²‘All the women ^swho remain in the palace of Judah’s king will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon and will say:

Your trusted friends ^tmisled ^uyou

and overcame you.

Your feet sank into the mire,

and they deserted you.

²³All your wives and sons will be brought out to the Chaldeans. ^vYou yourself will not escape from them, for you will be seized by the king of Babylon and this city will burn down.’ ”

²⁴Then Zedekiah warned Jeremiah, “Don’t let anyone know about these things or you will die. ²⁵If the officials hear that I have spoken with you ^wand come and demand of you, ‘Tell us what you said to the king; don’t hide anything from us and we won’t kill you. Also, what did the king say to you?’ ²⁶then you will tell them, ‘I was bringing before the king my petition that he not return me to the house of Jonathan to die there.’ ” ^x