⁸“ ‘ “But if some nations or kingdoms refuse to serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and refuse to be under his control, I will punish them with war, hunger, and terrible diseases, says the Lord. I will use Nebuchadnezzar to destroy them. ⁹So don’t listen to your false prophets, those who use magic to tell the future, those who explain dreams, the mediums, or magicians. They all tell you, ‘You will not be slaves to the king of Babylon.’ ¹⁰They are telling you lies that will cause you to be taken far from your homeland. I will force you to leave your homes, and you will die in another land. ¹¹But the nations who put themselves under the control of the king of Babylon and serve him I will let stay in their own country, says the Lord. The people from those nations will live in their own land and farm it.” ’ ”

¹²I gave the same message to Zedekiah king of Judah. I said, “Put yourself under the control of the king of Babylon and serve him, and you will live. ¹³Why should you and your people die from war, hunger, or disease, as the Lord said would happen to those who do not serve the king of Babylon? ¹⁴But the false prophets are saying, ‘You will never be slaves to the king of Babylon.’ Don’t listen to them because they are prophesying lies to you! ¹⁵‘I did not send them,’ says the Lord. ‘They are prophesying lies and saying the message is from me. So I will send you away, Judah. And you and those prophets who prophesy to you will die.’ ”

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