Jeremiah 38:17–23

¹⁷Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘If you surely ⁿsurrender ^6oto the king of Babylon’s princes, then your soul shall live; this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live. ¹⁸But if you do not ⁷surrender to the king of Babylon’s princes, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans; they shall burn it with fire, and ^pyou shall not escape from their hand.’ ”

¹⁹And Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have ^qdefected to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they ^rabuse me.”

²⁰But Jeremiah said, “They shall not deliver you. Please, obey the voice of the Lord which I speak to you. So it shall be ^swell with you, and your soul shall live. ²¹But if you refuse to ⁸surrender, this is the word that the Lord has shown me: ²²‘Now behold, all the ^twomen who are left in the king of Judah’s house shall be surrendered to the king of Babylon’s princes, and those women shall say:

“Your close friends have ⁹set upon you

And prevailed against you;

Your feet have sunk in the mire,

And they have ¹turned away again.”

²³‘So they shall surrender all your wives and ^uchildren to the Chaldeans. ^vYou shall not escape from their hand, but shall be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon. And you shall cause this city to be burned with fire.’ ”