18 But if you do not go surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city will be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they will burn it with fire, and you will not escape from their hand.’ ”
19 And Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Chaldeans, lest they give me into their hand and they abuse me.”
20 And Jeremiah said, “They will not give you over. Please obey the voice of Yahweh with regard to what I am saying to you, and it will go well with you, and you will live.
21 But if you are refusing to surrender, this is the thing that Yahweh has shown me.
22 Now look, all the women who remain in the house of the king of Judah are being led out to the officials of the king of Babylon. And look, they are saying, ‘Your trusted friends have misled you, and they have prevailed against you. Your feet are stuck in the mud, so they turned backward.’
23 And all your wives and your children will be led out to the Chaldeans, and you will not escape from their hand, but by the hand of the king of Babylon you will be seized, and this city will burn with fire.”
24 And Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “No man must know about these words so that you will not die.