Jeremiah 38:14-23

14Then King Zedekiah 1sent word and 2had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance that is in the house of the Lord; and the king said to Jeremiah, “I am going to 3ask you something; do not hide anything from me.” 15And Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “4If I tell you, will you not certainly put me to death? Besides, if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.” 16But King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah in 5secret, saying, “As the Lord lives, who made this 67life for us, I certainly will not put you to death, nor will I hand you over to 8these men who are seeking your 9life.”

17So Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord 10God of armies, the 11God of Israel says: ‘If you will indeed 12surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then 13you will live, this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will 14survive. 18But if you do 15not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city 16will be handed over to the Chaldeans; and they will burn it with fire, and 17you yourself will not escape from their hands.’” 19Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am 18in fear of the Jews who have 19deserted to the Chaldeans, for they may hand me over to them, and they will 20abuse me.” 20But Jeremiah said, “They will not turn you over. Please 2122obey the Lord in what I am saying to you, so that it may go 23well for you and 2425you may live. 21But if you keep refusing to surrender, this is the word which the Lord has shown me: 22‘Behold, all of the 26women who have been left in the palace of the king of Judah are going to be brought out to the officers of the king of Babylon; and those women will say, “27Your close friends Have misled and overpowered you; While your feet were sunk in the mire, They turned back.” 23They are also going to bring out all your wives and your 28sons to the Chaldeans, and 29you yourself will not escape from their hand, but will be seized by the hand of the king of Babylon, and 30this city will be burned with fire.’”