Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon's princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house:

And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, {and} in the fifth month, {that} Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet, which {was} of Gibeon, spake unto me in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying,

Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

And it shall come to pass, {that} the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the LORD, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.

Zedekiah {was} one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.

Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck, {saith...: or, hath the LORD said}

But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.

Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon's princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house:

To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: {for} as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.

Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the LORD: for I {am} with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.

But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith the LORD; and they shall till it, and dwell therein.

And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, {which} shall burn for ever. {thyself: Heb. in thyself}

So they shall bring out all thy wives and thy children to the Chaldeans: and thou shalt not escape out of their hand, but shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon: and thou shalt cause this city to be burned with fire. {thou shalt cause...: Heb. thou shalt burn, etc}

And when he was in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the ward {was} there, whose name {was} Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he took Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Thou fallest away to the Chaldeans.

Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks; neither shall ye go haughtily: for this time {is} evil.

For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

And he did {that which was} evil in the sight of the LORD his God, {and} humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet {speaking} from the mouth of the LORD.

In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck, {saith...: or, hath the LORD said}

And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, {and} in the fifth month, {that} Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet, which {was} of Gibeon, spake unto me in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying,

Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all {things}: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.

The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand: they are wreathed, {and} come up upon my neck: he hath made my strength to fall, the Lord hath delivered me into {their} hands, {from whom} I am not able to rise up.

That the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, {but} that by keeping of his covenant it might stand. {but...: Heb. to keep his covenant, to stand to it}

And next unto them the Tekoites repaired; but their nobles put not their necks to the work of their Lord.