¹⁶ Then I said to the priests and all these people, “This is what the Lord says: Do not listen to the prophets who say, ‘Very soon now the articles^(A) from the Lord’s house will be brought back from Babylon.’ They are prophesying lies to you. ¹⁷ Do not listen^(B) to them. Serve the king of Babylon, and you will live.^(C) Why should this city become a ruin? ¹⁸ If they are prophets and have the word of the Lord, let them plead^(D) with the Lord Almighty that the articles remaining in the house of the Lord and in the palace of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem not be taken to Babylon. ¹⁹ For this is what the Lord Almighty says about the pillars, the bronze Sea,^(E) the movable stands and the other articles^(F) that are left in this city, ²⁰ which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take away when he carried^(G) Jehoiachin^[a](H) son of Jehoiakim king of Judah into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem— ²¹ yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says about the things that are left in the house of the Lord and in the palace of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem: ²² ‘They will be taken^(I) to Babylon and there they will remain until the day^(J) I come for them,’ declares the Lord. ‘Then I will bring^(K) them back and restore them to this place.’”