¹⁷ So Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord ^(A)God of armies, the ^(B)God of Israel says: ‘If you will indeed ^(C)surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then ^[a]you will live, this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will ^[b]survive. ¹⁸ But if you do ^(D)not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city ^(E)will be handed over to the Chaldeans; and they will burn it with fire, and ^(F)you yourself will not escape from their hands.’” ¹⁹ Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am ^(G)in fear of the Jews who have ^(H)deserted to the Chaldeans, for they may hand me over to them, and they will ^(I)abuse me.”

¹⁵ then ^[a]in that case listen to the word of the Lord, you remnant of Judah. This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “If you really set your ^[b]minds to enter ^(A)Egypt and go in to reside there, ¹⁶ then the ^(B)sword, of which you are afraid, will overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, about which you are anxious, will follow closely after you there in Egypt, and you will die there.

¹⁹ Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: “As I live, My oath which he despised and My covenant which he broke, I will certainly ^[a]inflict on his head. ²⁰ And I will spread My ^(A)net over him, and he will be ^(B)caught in My net. Then I will bring him to Babylon and ^(C)enter into judgment with him there regarding the unfaithful act which he has committed against Me. ²¹ All the ^[b](D)choice men in all his troops will fall by the sword, and the survivors will be scattered to every wind; and you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken.”