² “Thus says the Lord: ^(A)‘He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes over to the Chaldeans shall live; his life shall be as a prize to him, and he shall live.’

³ Thus says the Lord: ^(A)‘This city shall surely be ^(B)given into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which shall take it.’ ”

¹⁷ Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘If you surely ^(A)surrender^{[a] (B)}to the king of Babylon’s princes, then your soul shall live; this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live. ¹⁸ But if you do not ^[b]surrender to the king of Babylon’s princes, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans; they shall burn it with fire, and ^(C)you shall not escape from their hand.’ ”

¹⁹ And Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have ^(D)defected to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they ^(E)abuse me.”

²⁰ But Jeremiah said, “They shall not deliver you. Please, obey the voice of the Lord which I speak to you. So it shall be ^(F)well with you, and your soul shall live. ²¹ But if you refuse to ^[c]surrender, this is the word that the Lord has shown me: ²² ‘Now behold, all the ^(G)women who are left in the king of Judah’s house shall be surrendered to the king of Babylon’s princes, and those women shall say:

²³ ‘So they shall surrender all your wives and ^(H)children to the Chaldeans. ^(I)You shall not escape from their hand, but shall be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon. And you shall cause this city to be burned with fire.’ ”