19 Zedekiah answered, “I can't surrender to the Babylonians. I'm too afraid of the Jews who have already joined them. The Babylonians might hand me over to those Jews, and they would torture me.”
20 I said, “If you will just obey the Lord, the Babylonians won't hand you over to those Jews. You will be allowed to live, and all will go well for you.
21 But the Lord has shown me that if you refuse to obey,
22 then the women of your palace will be taken prisoner by Nebuchadnezzar's officials. And those women will say to you:“Friends you trusted led you astray.Now you're trapped in mud,and those friends you trustedhave all turned away.
23 The Babylonian army will take your wives and children captive, you will be taken as a prisoner to the King of Babylonia, and Jerusalem will be burnt down.”
24 Zedekiah said, “Jeremiah, if you tell anyone what we have talked about, you might lose your life.
25 And I'm sure that if my officials hear about our meeting, they will ask you what we said to each other. They might even threaten to kill you if you don't tell them.