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1Zedekiah the son of Josiah, 2whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah, reigned instead of 3Coniah the son of Jehoiakim.
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4But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the LORD that he spoke through Jeremiah the prophet.
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King Zedekiah sent 5Jehucal the son of 6Shelemiah, and 7Zephaniah the priest, the son of 8Maaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "Please 9pray for us to the LORD our God."
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10Now Jeremiah was still going in and out among the people, 11for he had not yet been put in prison.
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12The army of Pharaoh had come out of Egypt. And when 13the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news about them, 14they withdrew from Jerusalem.
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Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet:
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"Thus says the LORD, God of Israel: Thus shall you say to the king of Judah who 15sent you to me to inquire of me, 'Behold, 16Pharaoh's army that came to help you is about to 17return to Egypt, to its own land.
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And 18the Chaldeans shall come back and fight against this city. 19They shall capture it and burn it with fire.
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Thus says the LORD, Do not deceive yourselves, saying, "The Chaldeans will surely go away from us," for they will not go away.
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20For even if you should defeat the whole army of Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and there remained of them only wounded men, every man in his tent, they would rise up and 21burn this city with fire.'"