16 So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, “As the Lord lives, who made us this soul, I will not put you to death, neither will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life.”
17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “the Lord, the God of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you will go out to the king of Babylon’s princes, then your soul will live, and this city will not be burned with fire. You will live, along with your house.
18 But if you will not go out to the king of Babylon’s princes, then this city will be given into the hand of the Kasdim, and they will burn it with fire, and you won’t escape out of their hand.’”
19 Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have defected to the Kasdim, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me.”
20 But Jeremiah said, “They won’t deliver you. Obey, I beg you, the Lord’s voice, in that which I speak to you; so it will be well with you, and your soul will live.
21 But if you refuse to go out, this is the word that the Lord has shown me:
22 ‘Behold, all the women who are left in the king of Judah’s house will be brought out to the king of Babylon’s princes, and those women will say,“Your familiar friends have turned on you,and have prevailed over you.Your feet are sunk in the mire,they have turned away from you.”