“ ‘For I am determined to bring calamity to this city, not good, declares Yahweh. I will turn the city over to the king of Babylon, and he will burn it to the ground.’ ”
“So, I, Yahweh, God of Israel, Commander of Angel Armies, say to you that I am determined to bring disasters upon the people of Judah living in Egypt to eliminate you completely.
Behold, instead of watching over you for good, I will watch for chances to harm you. Some of you will die in war, and others will die by famine until you are wiped out.
I will oppose them! They may have escaped one fire, but another fire will yet devour them. When I set my face against them, then you will know that I am Yahweh!
But if you do not surrender to Nebuchadnezzar’s generals, this city will be handed over to the Babylonians, they will burn it down, and I will make sure that you are taken prisoner by your enemies.’ ”
Yahweh, God of Israel, then told me to go to Zedekiah king of Judah and give him this message: “Yahweh says to you, ‘I am going to hand over this city to the king of Babylon, and he will burn it down.
“Yes, all your wives and children will be marched out into your enemy’s camp. And you, Zedekiah, will be a prisoner in the clutches of the king of Babylon, powerless to escape. And this city will be burned to the ground.”
But if you do not listen to me, if you treat the Sabbath as any other day on which you carry loads through the gates of Jerusalem, then I will set its gates on fire, and that fire will consume even the palaces of Jerusalem, and no one will be able to extinguish it!’ ”
The defenders of the city will go out and battle the Babylonians, but this will only serve to fill the ruins with the corpses of men who are the victims of my furious anger. I have hidden my face from this city because of all their evil.
“Go and prophesy to Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian and tell him what I, Yahweh, God of Israel, Commander of Angel Armies have to say: ‘I am going to do what I promised to do to this city, and it will not be good but disastrous. And you will see it come true before your eyes.
Set the empty pot on the coals until it gets hot and the metal glows red-hot. The scum will become soft enough to scrub, and what is left will be burned off.
“Well then,” I said to Zedekiah, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, Commander of Angel Armies says, ‘If you go out and surrender to Nebuchadnezzar’s generals, your life will be spared, and Jerusalem will not be burned down. You and your family will survive.