⁷ And afterward,” says the Lord, ^(A)“I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, his servants and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence and the sword and the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life; and he shall strike them with the edge of the sword. ^(B)He shall not spare them, or have pity or mercy.” ’

⁸ “Now you shall say to this people, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Behold, ^(C)I set before you the way of life and the way of death. ⁹ He who ^(D)remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes out and ^[a]defects to the Chaldeans who besiege you, he shall ^(E)live, and his life shall be as a prize to him.