The walls of Jerusalem were still standing, but fear had already entered.It
wasn't a rumor this time.
It was not a distant warning.
The sound of enemy footsteps was getting closer.
From the towers, columns of smoke could be seen on the horizon. Babylon was
advancing.With the patience of one who knows that time is on their side. Each day,
the city felt the invisible noose closing in around it growing tighter.King Zedekiah did not sleep.
She paced back and forth in her living room, her face pale and her eyes sunken.
There wasI've heard too many versions, too much contradictory advice.
"God will deliver us," some said.
"Egypt will come to our aid," others said.But deep
down, the king knew it.
None of that sounded convincing.
Finally, she made a decision she had avoided for far too long.
"Call Jeremiah," he ordered.
-Now.
Two men hurried out. They were not friends of the prophet, but neither did they
dare todisobey the king.
They found Jeremiah walking through the city, observing the tense faces,
thereinforced doors, nervous soldiers.
"The king summons you," they
said.Jeremiah looked at them.
She didn't smile.
He wasn't surprised.
"Let's go," he replied simply.
When he entered the palace, the atmosphere was heavy. Advisors were murmuring.
PriestsThey avoided his gaze. Nobody wanted to be near the man who always said
what nobody wanted to hear.
Zedekiah stared at him.
—Inquire of the Lord for us—he pleaded. —
Perhaps he will do something wonderful
for us, as in the days of old.
Jeremiah felt a deep sadness.
—Now? —he thought—.
—After ignoring every warning?Even so, he spoke.
—This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says—he began—:
"I will turn back the weapons that are in your hands."
He king frowned hefrown.
—What did you say?
Jeremiah did not soften anything.
"I will fight against you," he continued.
with outstretched hand and strong arm.
Not against Babylon…
but against Jerusalem.
A murmur of horror swept through the room.
"That's blasphemy!" someone
whispered. Jeremiah fixed his eyes on
the king.
"The city will be handed over," he
said. "The king of Babylon will take
it."
There will be no escape.
Zedekiah clenched his
fists.
"So what should we do?" he asked, almost pleading.
Is there hope?
Jeremiah took a deep
breath.
This was the part everyone hated.
—Thus says the Lord—he proclaimed—:
"I have set before you the path of lifeand the
path of death."
The silence was absolute.
"Whoever remains in this city," he continued.
He will die by the sword, from hunger, or from pestilence.But whoever goes out and surrenders…
will live.The words hit like a ton of bricks.
—Surrender? —exclaimed a council member—.
That's treason!
"No," Jeremiah replied. "It's
about survival."
Zedekiah looked at him with a mixture of fear and anger.
"Do you want me to hand over the city?" he asked.
"Should I hand myself over to my
enemies?" Jeremiah lowered his voice.
—I want you to live.
The king slumped down in his seat.
"If I do that," he said, "the people will
hate me. My officers will kill me."
Jeremiah looked at him with compassion.
"If you don't," he replied, "the
city will burn."
Your children will not
escape.Your eyes will
see the end.
The words hung in the air. Zedekiah
looked away.
—Go away —he finally ordered—.
Jeremiah left the palace with a heavy heart. He knew the king would not listen.He
never did.
As she went outside, she saw people gathered in the streets, talking in low voices,
looking up at the sky.as if they were waiting for a miraculous sign.
Jeremiah stopped.
—Listen— he said.Some turned away, annoyed.
"There is no way out through the walls," he
continued. "There is no army to save us."
There is no alliance that works.
"Shut up!" someone shouted.
You always predict
defeat!Jeremiah raised his
voice.
"I am not announcing defeat,"
he said. "I am announcing
reality."
—The Lord himself has set his face against this city—he continued—.
Because of its wickedness.
People started arguing.
—So what do we do?
—Should we flee?
—Do we trust each other?
Jeremiah spoke with brutal clarity.
"If they remain," he said, "they will die."
If they get out… they will live.
Some laughed nervously.
"I prefer to die free," said a man.before
I give up.
Jeremiah stared at him.
"You will die," he
replied. "And it will not
be heroic."
That ignited the anger.
—This man discourages the soldiers!
—He wants to destroy morality!
Jeremiah left before the violence broke out.That night, from the top of the city, he observed the lights of the Babylonian
camp.They were countless. Orderly. Patient.
"They won't leave," he whispered.
He thought about the message he had just delivered. How absurd it sounded:
surrendering in order to live.
"It's the most difficult message," he thought.
—Because it humbles pride.
National pride.
Religious pride.
Personal pride.
The next day, the king doubted again. He sent secret messages. He looked for signs.
He waited for miracles.
But Jeremiah already knew the end.
—When God says "there is no way out"—he thought—,
It's because all human solutions have already been attempted.
She walked through the city, watching mothers hug their children, shopkeepers close
up shoptheir posts, to soldiers sharpening swords that would soon be useless.
—I have set before you life and death—he repeated.But most
chose to stay.
Not by faith…
but out of pride.
Jeremiah returned to his house and sat down on the ground.
"I have spoken the truth," he
prayed. "Now... let it be
fulfilled."
He looked up at the sky.
—Even if they hate me,
even if they call me a
traitor, I will not change
your word.
And at that moment, she understood something devastating:Judgment no longer depended on God.
It depended on the decision of the
people.
The city gate remained closed.
But the sentence…
I had already gone in.