²³ She said to them, “The Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken! Go back and tell the man who sent you,

⁷ “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: The king of Judah sent you to ask me what is going to happen. Tell him, ‘Pharaoh’s army is about to return to Egypt, though he came here to help you. ⁸ Then the Babylonians^[a] will come back and capture this city and burn it to the ground.’

⁹ “This is what the Lord says: Do not fool yourselves into thinking that the Babylonians are gone for good. They aren’t! ¹⁰ Even if you were to destroy the entire Babylonian army, leaving only a handful of wounded survivors, they would still stagger from their tents and burn this city to the ground!”

³ Jeremiah replied, “Go back to King Zedekiah and tell him, ⁴ ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I will make your weapons useless against the king of Babylon and the Babylonians^[a] who are outside your walls attacking you. In fact, I will bring your enemies right into the heart of this city. ⁵ I myself will fight against you with a strong hand and a powerful arm, for I am very angry. You have made me furious! ⁶ I will send a terrible plague upon this city, and both people and animals will die. ⁷ And after all that, says the Lord, I will hand over King Zedekiah, his staff, and everyone else in the city who survives the disease, war, and famine. I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and to their other enemies. He will slaughter them and show them no mercy, pity, or compassion.’

¹⁵ She said to them, “The Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken! Go back and tell the man who sent you, ¹⁶ ‘This is what the Lord says: I am going to bring disaster on this city^[a] and its people. All the words written in the scroll that the king of Judah has read will come true. ¹⁷ For my people have abandoned me and offered sacrifices to pagan gods, and I am very angry with them for everything they have done. My anger will burn against this place, and it will not be quenched.’

¹⁸ “But go to the king of Judah who sent you to seek the Lord and tell him: ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says concerning the message you have just heard: ¹⁹ You were sorry and humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I said against this city and its people—that this land would be cursed and become desolate. You tore your clothing in despair and wept before me in repentance. And I have indeed heard you, says the Lord. ²⁰ So I will not send the promised disaster until after you have died and been buried in peace. You will not see the disaster I am going to bring on this city.’”

So they took her message back to the king.