Jeremiah 38:14–28

¹⁴Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him into the ^||third entry that is in the house of the Lord: and the king said unto Jeremiah, I will ask thee a thing; hide nothing from me. ¹⁵Then Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, If I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death? and if I give thee counsel, wilt thou not hearken unto me? ¹⁶So Zedekiah the king sware ^xsecretly unto Jeremiah, saying, ^yAs the Lord liveth, ^zthat made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee into the hand of ^athese men that seek thy life. ¹⁷Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; If thou wilt assuredly ^bgo forth ^cunto the king of Babylon’s princes, then ^dthy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house: ¹⁸But ^bif thou wilt not go forth ^cto the king of Babylon’s princes, then ^eshall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, ^eand they shall burn it with fire, and ^fthou shalt not escape out of their hand. ¹⁹And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews ^gthat are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they ^hmock me. ²⁰But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver thee. ^dObey, I beseech thee, the voice of the Lord, which I speak unto thee: so ⁱit shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live. ²¹But if thou refuse ^bto go forth, this is the word that the Lord hath shewed me: ²²And, behold, all the women that are left in the king of Judah’s house shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, and those women shall say, ^†Thy friends ^khave set thee on, and ^lhave prevailed against thee: thy feet ^mare sunk in the mire, and ⁿthey are turned away back. ²³So they shall bring out all thy wives and ^othy children to the Chaldeans: and ^fthou shalt not escape out of their hand, but shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon: and ^†ethou shalt cause this city to be burned with fire.

²⁴Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words, and thou shalt not die. ²⁵But ^pif the princes hear that I have talked with thee, and they come unto thee, and say unto thee, Declare unto us now what thou hast said unto the king, hide it not from us, and we will not put thee to death; also what the king said unto thee: ²⁶Then thou shalt say unto them, ^qI presented my supplication before the king, that ^rhe would not cause me to return to Jonathan’s house, to die there. ²⁷Then came all the princes unto Jeremiah, and asked him: and he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So ^†they left off speaking with him; for the matter was not perceived. ^28sSo Jeremiah abode ^tin the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken: and he was there when Jerusalem was taken.