Zedekiah’s Fears and Jeremiah’s Advice

¹⁴ Then Zedekiah the king sent and had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance of the house of the Lord. And the king said to Jeremiah, “I will ^(A)ask you something. Hide nothing from me.”

²⁰ For you ^[a]were hypocrites in your hearts when you sent me to the Lord your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to the Lord our God, and according to all that the Lord your God says, so declare to us and we will do it.’

² and said to Jeremiah the prophet, ^(A)“Please, let our petition be acceptable to you, and ^(B)pray for us to the Lord your God, for all this remnant (since we are left but ^(C)a few of many, as you can see), ³ that the Lord your God may show us ^(D)the way in which we should walk and the thing we should do.”

⁴ Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard. Indeed, I will pray to the Lord your God according to your words, and it shall be, that ^(E)whatever the Lord answers you, I will declare it to you. I will ^(F)keep nothing back from you.”

⁵ So they said to Jeremiah, ^(G)“Let the Lord be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not do according to everything which the Lord your God sends us by you.

¹⁷ then Zedekiah the king sent and took him out. The king asked him secretly in his house, and said, “Is there any word from the Lord?”

And Jeremiah said, “There is.” Then he said, “You shall be ^(A)delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon!”

Jerusalem’s Doom Is Sealed

21 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord when ^(A)King Zedekiah sent to him ^(B)Pashhur the son of Melchiah, and ^(C)Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, saying, ^2 (D)“Please inquire of the Lord for us, for ^[a]Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon makes war against us. Perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to all His wonderful works, that the king may go away from us.”

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

¹⁷ And he said, “What is the word that the Lord spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. ^(A)God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the things that He said to you.” ¹⁸ Then Samuel told him everything, and hid nothing from him. And he said, ^(B)“It is the Lord. Let Him do what seems good to Him.”

¹⁵ So the king said to him, “How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?”

¹⁸ Also he removed the Sabbath pavilion which they had built in the temple, and he removed the king’s outer entrance from the house of the Lord, on account of the king of Assyria.

⁵ the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his cupbearers, ^(A)and his entryway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her.