Jeremiah 38:17–23

¹⁷Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says Yahweh ^aGod of hosts, the ^bGod of Israel, ‘If you will indeed ^cgo out to the ¹officers of the king of Babylon, then ²you will live, this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will live.

¹⁸‘But if you will ^anot go out to the ¹officers of the king of Babylon, then this city ^bwill be given over to the hand of the Chaldeans; and they will burn it with fire, and ^cyou yourself will not escape from their hand.’”

¹⁹Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I ^aam anxious because of the Jews who have ^1bgone over to the Chaldeans, lest they give me over into their hand and they ^cdeal severely with me.”

²⁰But Jeremiah said, “They will not give you over. Please ^alisten to the voice of Yahweh in what I am saying to you, that it may go ^bwell with you and ^1cyou may live.

²¹“But if you keep refusing to go out, this is the word which Yahweh has shown me:

²²‘And behold, all of the ^awomen who have remained in the house of the king of Judah are going to be brought out to the ¹officers of the king of Babylon; and behold, those women will say,

“²Your close friends

Have misled and overpowered you;

While your feet were sunk in the mud,

They turned back.”

²³‘And they will also bring out all your wives and your ^asons to the Chaldeans, and ^byou yourself will not escape from their hand, but will be seized by the hand of the king of Babylon, and ^cthis city will be burned with fire.’”