2. Neither Zedekiah, his attendants, nor the people of the land listened to the Lord’s words spoken by the prophet Jeremiah.
3. Nevertheless, King Zedekiah sent Jehucal, Shelemiah’s son, and the priest Zephaniah, Maaseiah’s son, to Jeremiah the prophet with this plea: "Please pray for us to the Lord our God." (
4. Now Jeremiah hadn’t been imprisoned yet, so he was free to come and go among the people.
5. Pharaoh’s army had recently set out from Egypt; when the Babylonians who were attacking Jerusalem learned of the Egyptian advance, they withdrew from Jerusalem.)
6. Then the Lord’s word came to Jeremiah the prophet:
7. The Lord, the God of Israel, proclaims: Tell the king of Judah who sent his emissaries to seek advice from me: "Pharaoh’s army that came to assist you is heading back to Egypt.
8. The Babylonians will return and attack this city. They will capture it and burn it down."
9. The Lord proclaims: Don’t let yourself be deceived into thinking that the Babylonians will withdraw for good. They won’t!
10. Even if you were to crush the entire Babylonian army that’s attacking you and only the wounded in their tents remained, they would rise up and burn this city down.