But now please listen, your royal Majesty, and grant my plea for mercy. Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan, the royal secretary. If you do, I will die there.”

If they do this, tell them, ‘I was pleading with the king not to send me back to die in the dungeon of Jonathan’s house.’”

Then Jeremiah said to them, “You sent me to the Lord God of Israel to make your request known to him. Here is what he says to you:

Perhaps then they will ask the Lord for mercy and will all stop doing the evil things they have been doing. For the Lord has threatened to bring great anger and wrath against these people.”

They said to him, “Please grant our request and pray to the Lord your God for all those of us who are still left alive here. For, as you yourself can see, there are only a few of us left out of the many there were before.