23. ‘So they shall surrender all your wives and children to the Chaldeans. You shall not escape from their hand, but shall be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon. And you shall cause this city to be burned with fire.’ ”
24. Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no one know of these words, and you shall not die.
25. But if the princes hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you and say to you, ‘Declare to us now what you have said to the king, and also what the king said to you; do not hide it from us, and we will not put you to death,’
26. then you shall say to them, ‘I presented my request before the king, that he would not make me return to Jonathan’s house to die there.’ ”