¹² Then ^(A)Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his officials. And ^(B)the king of Babylon took him prisoner in the eighth year of his reign.

^27 (A)Now it came about in the thirty-seventh year of ^(B)the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he became king, ^[a](C)released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison; ²⁸ and he ^(D)spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon. ²⁹ So ^[b]Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes, and ^[c](E)had his meals in ^[d]the king’s presence regularly all the days of his life; ³⁰ and as his ^(F)allowance, a regular allowance was given to him by the king, a portion for each day, all the days of his life.

⁸ “You shall also say to this people, ‘This is what the Lord says: “Behold, I am ^(A)setting before you the way of life and the way of death. ⁹ Anyone who ^(B)stays in this city will die by the ^(C)sword, by famine, or by plague; but anyone who leaves and goes over to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live, and he will have his own life as plunder. ¹⁰ For I have ^(D)set My face against this city for harm and not for good,” declares the Lord. “It will be ^(E)handed over to the king of Babylon and he will ^(F)burn it with fire.”’

¹² I spoke words like all these to ^(A)Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him and his people, and live!

¹⁷ Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live! Why should this city ^(A)become a place of ruins?

² “This is what the Lord says: ‘Anyone who ^(A)stays in this city will die by the ^(B)sword, by famine, or by plague; but anyone who surrenders to the Chaldeans will live and have his own ^(C)life as plunder, and stay alive.’

³ Then all the ^(A)officials of the king of Babylon came in and sat down at the ^(B)Middle Gate: Nergal-sar-ezer, Samgar-nebu, Sar-sekim the ^[a]Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the ^[b]Rab-mag, and all the rest of the officials of the king of Babylon.