^12 (A)Then Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he and his mother and his servants and his commanders and his officials. So ^(B)the king of Babylon took him captive in the eighth year of his reign.

^27 (A)Now it happened in the thirty-seventh year of ^(B)the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he became king, ^(C)lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison; ²⁸ and he ^(D)spoke to him good words, and he set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon. ²⁹ So ^[a]Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes and ^[b](E)had his meals in ^[c]the king’s presence continually all the days of his life; ³⁰ and for his ^(F)allowance, a continual allowance was given him by the king, a portion for each day, all the days of his life.

⁸ “You shall also say to this people, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Behold, I ^(A)set before you the way of life and the way of death. ⁹ He who ^(B)inhabits this city will die by the ^(C)sword and by famine and by pestilence; but he who goes out and falls away to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live, and he will have his own life as spoil. ¹⁰ For I have ^(D)set My face against this city for ^[a]evil and not for good,” declares Yahweh. “It will be ^(E)given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will ^(F)burn it with fire.”’

¹² I spoke words like all these to ^(A)Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him and his people, and live!

¹⁷ Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live! Why should this city ^(A)become a waste place?

² “Thus says Yahweh, ‘He who ^(A)stays in this city will die by the ^(B)sword and by the famine and by the pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live and have his own ^(C)life as spoil and stay alive.’

³ Then all the ^(A)officials of the king of Babylon came in and sat down at the ^(B)Middle Gate: Nergal-sar-ezer, Samgar-nebu, Sar-sekim the ^[a]Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the ^[b]Rab-mag, and all the rest of the officials of the king of Babylon.