37Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylonia, appointed Zedekiah to be king of Judah. He was the son of Josiah. Zedekiah ruled in place of Jehoiachin, the son of Jehoiakim. ²Zedekiah and his attendants didn’t pay any attention to what the Lord had said through me. And the people of the land didn’t pay any attention either.

³But King Zedekiah sent Jehucal to me. He sent the priest Zephaniah along with him. Jehucal was the son of Shelemiah. Zephaniah was the son of Maaseiah. Jehucal and Zephaniah brought the king’s message to me. It said, “Please pray to the Lord our God for us.”

⁴At that time I was free to come and go among the people. I had not yet been put in prison. ⁵The armies of Babylonia were attacking Jerusalem. They received a report that Pharaoh’s army had marched out of Egypt to help Zedekiah. So they pulled back from Jerusalem.

⁶A message came to me from the Lord. ⁷The Lord is the God of Israel. He says, “The king of Judah has sent you to ask me for advice. Tell him, ‘Pharaoh’s army has marched out to help you. But it will go back to its own land. It will return to Egypt. ⁸Then the armies of Babylonia will come back here. They will attack this city. They will capture it. Then they will burn it down.’

⁹“The Lord says, ‘Do not fool yourselves. You think, “The Babylonians will leave us alone.” But they will not!

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