^{12 Ref} And I said all this to Zedekiah, king of Judah, saying, Put your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and become his servants and his people, so that you may keep your lives.

^{13 Ref} Why are you desiring death, you and your people, by the sword, and because food is gone, and by disease, as the Lord has said of the nation which does not become the servant of the king of Babylon?

^{14 Ref} And you are not to give ear to the prophets who say to you, You will not become servants of the king of Babylon: for what they say is not true.

^{15 Ref} For I have not sent them, says the Lord, but they are saying what is false in my name, so that I might send you out by force, causing destruction to come on you and on your prophets.

^{16 Ref} And I said to the priests and to all the people, This is what the Lord has said: Give no attention to the words of your prophets who say to you, See, in a very little time now the vessels of the Lord's house will come back again from Babylon: for what they say to you is false.

^{17 Ref} Give no attention to them; become servants of the king of Babylon and keep yourselves from death: why let this town become a waste?