Jeremiah 38:17-23

New International Version

¹⁷ Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you surrender^(A) to the officers of the king of Babylon, your life will be spared and this city will not be burned down; you and your family will live.^{(B) 18} But if you will not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be given into the hands^(C) of the Babylonians and they will burn^(D) it down; you yourself will not escape^(E) from them.’”

¹⁹ King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid^(F) of the Jews who have gone over^(G) to the Babylonians, for the Babylonians may hand me over to them and they will mistreat me.”

²⁰ “They will not hand you over,” Jeremiah replied. “Obey^(H) the Lord by doing what I tell you. Then it will go well^(I) with you, and your life^(J) will be spared. ²¹ But if you refuse to surrender, this is what the Lord has revealed to me: ²² All the women^(K) left in the palace of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon. Those women will say to you:

²³ “All your wives and children^(N) will be brought out to the Babylonians. You yourself will not escape^(O) from their hands but will be captured^(P) by the king of Babylon; and this city will^[a] be burned down.”^(Q)