He did that which was evil in the LORD his God's sight. He didn't humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from The LORD's mouth.

1. The word which came to Jeremiah from The LORD, when king ZEDEKIAH sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchijah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, saying,

2. "Please inquire of the LORD for us; for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon makes war against us. Perhaps the LORD will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, that he may withdraw from us."

3. Then Jeremiah said to them, "Tell ZEDEKIAH:

4. 'The LORD, the God of Israel says, "Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans who besiege you outside the walls; and I will gather them into the middle of this city.

5. I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, in wrath, and in great indignation.

6. I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and animal. They will die of a great pestilence.

7. Afterward," says The LORD, "I will deliver ZEDEKIAH king of Judah, his servants, and the people, even those who are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life. He will strike them with the edge of the sword. He will not spare them, have pity, or have mercy."'

8. "You shall say to this people, 'The LORD says: "Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.

9. He who remains in this city will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; but he who goes out, and passes over to the Chaldeans who besiege you, he will live, and he will escape with his life.

10. For I have set my face on this city for evil, and not for good," says The LORD. "It will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire."'

11. "Concerning the house of the king of Judah, hear The LORD's word:

12. House of David, the LORD says,'Execute justice in the morning,and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor,lest my wrath go out like fire,and burn so that no one can quench it,because of the evil of your doings.

13. Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley,and of the rock of the plain,' says The LORD.'You that say, "Who would come down against us?"or "Who would enter into our homes?"

14. I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, says The LORD;and I will kindle a fire in her forest,and it will devour all that is around her.'"

8. "'As the bad figs, which can't be eaten, they are so bad,' surely the LORD says, 'So I will give up ZEDEKIAH the king of Judah, and his princes, and the remnant of Jerusalem, who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt.

9. I will even give them up to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth for evil; to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places where I will drive them.

10. I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, until they are consumed from off the land that I gave to them and to their fathers.'"

12. I spoke to ZEDEKIAH king of Judah according to all these words, saying, "Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.

13. Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the LORD has spoken concerning the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?

14. Don't listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, 'You shall not serve the king of Babylon;' for they prophesy a lie to you.

15. For I have not sent them," says The LORD, "but they prophesy falsely in my name; that I may drive you out, and that you may perish, you, and the prophets who prophesy to you."

16. Also I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, the LORD says, "Don't listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, 'Behold, the vessels of The LORD's house will now shortly be brought again from Babylon;' for they prophesy a lie to you.

17. Don't listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon, and live. Why should this city become a desolation?

18. But if they are prophets, and if The LORD's word is with them, let them now make intercession to the LORD of Hosts, that the vessels which are left in The LORD's house, in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, don't go to Babylon.

19. For the LORD of Hosts says concerning the pillars, concerning the sea, concerning the bases, and concerning the rest of the vessels that are left in this city,

20. which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon didn't take when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem;

21. yes, the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says concerning the vessels that are left in The LORD's house, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem:

22. 'They will be carried to Babylon, and there they will be, until the day that I visit them,' says The LORD; 'then I will bring them up, and restore them to this place.'"

3. For ZEDEKIAH king of Judah had shut him up, saying, "Why do you prophesy, and say, 'The LORD says, "Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will take it;

4. and ZEDEKIAH king of Judah won't escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but will surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and will speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes will see his eyes;

5. and he will bring ZEDEKIAH to Babylon, and he will be there until I visit him," says The LORD: "though you fight with the Chaldeans, you will not prosper?"'"

1. The word which came to Jeremiah from The LORD, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, with all his army, all the kingdoms of the earth that were under his dominion, and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem and against all its cities, saying:

2. "The LORD, the God of Israel, says, 'Go, and speak to ZEDEKIAH king of Judah, and tell him, the LORD says, "Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon and he will burn it with fire.

3. You won't escape out of his hand, but will surely be taken and delivered into his hand. Your eyes will see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he will speak with you mouth to mouth. You will go to Babylon."'

4. "Yet hear The LORD's word, O ZEDEKIAH king of Judah: the LORD says concerning you, 'You won't die by the sword.

5. You will die in peace; and with the burnings of your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so they will make a burning for you. They will lament you, saying, "Ah Lord!" for I have spoken the word,' says The LORD."

6. Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to ZEDEKIAH king of Judah in Jerusalem,

7. when the king of Babylon's army was fighting against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and against Azekah; for these alone remained of the cities of Judah as fortified cities.

8. The word came to Jeremiah from The LORD, after king ZEDEKIAH had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them;

9. that every man should let his male servant, and every man his female servant, who is a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, go free; that no one should make bondservants of them, of a Jew his brother.

10. All the princes and all the people obeyed who had entered into the covenant, that everyone should let his male servant, and everyone his female servant go free, that no one should make bondservants of them any more. They obeyed and let them go;

11. but afterwards they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids.

12. Therefore The LORD's word came to Jeremiah from The LORD, saying,

13. "The LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying,

14. At the end of seven years, every man of you shall release his brother who is a Hebrew, who has been sold to you, and has served you six years. You shall let him go free from you; but your fathers didn't listen to me, and didn't incline their ear.

15. You had now turned, and had done that which is right in my eyes, in every man proclaiming liberty to his neighbor. You had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name;

16. but you turned and profaned my name, and every man caused his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom you had let go free at their pleasure, to return. You brought them into subjection, to be to you for servants and for handmaids.'"

17. Therefore the LORD says: "You have not listened to me, to proclaim liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbor. Behold, I proclaim to you a liberty," says The LORD, "to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine. I will make you be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth.

18. I will give the men who have transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts:

19. the princes of Judah, the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land, who passed between the parts of the calf;

20. I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life. Their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and for the animals of the earth.

21. "I will give ZEDEKIAH king of Judah and his princes into the hands of their enemies, into the hands of those who seek their life and into the hands of the king of Babylon's army, who has gone away from you.

22. Behold, I will command," says The LORD, "and cause them to return to this city. They will fight against it, take it, and burn it with fire. I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant."