11. “‘But the nations that put their necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and obey him will live. I will let them stay in their own country and serve the king of Babylon,’ says the Lord. ‘The people from those nations will live in their own land and farm it.’”
12. I gave the same message to King Zedekiah of Judah. I said, “Zedekiah, you must place your neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and obey him. If you serve the king of Babylon and his people, you will live.
13. If you don’t agree to serve the king of Babylon, you and your people will die from war, hunger, and disease. This is what the Lord said would happen.
14. But the false prophets are saying, ‘You will never be slaves to the king of Babylon.’ “Don’t listen to those prophets, because they are telling you lies.
15. ‘I didn’t send them,’ says the Lord. ‘They are telling lies and saying that the message is from me. So I will send you people of Judah away. You will die, and the prophets who spoke to you will die also.’”
16. Then I told the priests and all the people that this is what the Lord says: “Those false prophets are saying, ‘The Babylonians took many things from the Lord’S Temple. These things will be brought back soon.’ Don’t listen to them because they are telling you lies.
17. Don’t listen to those prophets. Serve the king of Babylon. Accept your punishment, and you will live. There is no reason for you to cause this city of Jerusalem to be destroyed.
18. If they are prophets and their message is from the Lord, let them pray. Let them pray to the Lord about the things that are still in the Lord’S Temple, in the king’s palace, and in Jerusalem. Let them pray that all those things will not be taken away to Babylon.
19. “This is what the Lord All-Powerful says about the things that are still left in Jerusalem. In the Temple, there are the pillars, the bronze sea, the moveable stands, and other things. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon left those things in Jerusalem.
20. He didn’t take them away when he took Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah away as a prisoner. Nebuchadnezzar also took other important people away from Judah and Jerusalem.