¹⁷ Then King Zedekiah sent for him and received him. The king questioned him secretly in his house and said, “Is there any word from the Lord?” Jeremiah said, “There is!” Then he said, “You shall be handed over to the king of Babylon.”^(A)

⁷ Afterward, says the Lord, I will give King Zedekiah of Judah and his servants and the people in this city—those who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine—into the hands of King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon, into the hands of their enemies, into the hands of those who seek their lives. He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword; he shall not pity them or spare them or have compassion.^(A)

¹² And the prince who is among them shall lift his baggage on his shoulder in the dark and shall go out; he^[a] shall dig through the wall and carry it through; he shall cover his face so that he may not see the land with his eyes.^{(A) 13} I will spread my net over him, and he shall be caught in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, yet he shall not see it, and he shall die there.^(B)

²⁴ Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Do not let anyone else know of this conversation, or you will die. ²⁵ If the officials should hear that I have spoken with you and come and say to you, ‘Just tell us what you said to the king; do not conceal it from us, or we will put you to death. What did the king say to you?’^{(A) 26} then you shall say to them, ‘I was presenting my plea to the king not to send me back to the house of Jonathan to die there.’ ”^{(B) 27} All the officials did come to Jeremiah and questioned him, and he answered them in the very words the king had commanded. So they stopped questioning him, for the conversation had not been overheard.^(C)

Zedekiah Consults Jeremiah Again

¹⁴ King Zedekiah sent for the prophet Jeremiah and received him at the third entrance of the temple of the Lord. The king said to Jeremiah, “I have something to ask you; do not hide anything from me.”^{(A) 15} Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, you will put me to death, will you not? And if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.”^{(B) 16} So King Zedekiah swore an oath in secret to Jeremiah, “As the Lord lives, who gave us our lives, I will not put you to death or hand you over to these men who seek your life.”^(C)

⁵ King Zedekiah said, “Here he is; he is in your hands, for the king is powerless against you.”^(A)

³ King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “Please pray for us to the Lord our God.”^(A)

⁸ But thus says the Lord: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who live in the land of Egypt.^(A)

Jerusalem Will Fall to Nebuchadrezzar

21 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur son of Malchiah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, saying,^{(A) 2} “Please inquire of the Lord on our behalf, for King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon is making war against us; perhaps the Lord will perform a wonderful deed for us, as he has often done, and Nebuchadrezzar^[a] will withdraw.”^(B)

¹⁶ But the king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?”