18 'But if you will not go out to the officers of the king of Babylon , then this city will be given over to the hand of the Chaldeans ; and they will burn it with fire , and you yourself will not escape from their hand .' "

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Jeremiah 38:18

Commentary on Jeremiah 38:14-28

(Read Jeremiah 38:14-28)

Jeremiah was not forward to repeat the warnings, which seemed only to endanger his own life, and to add to the king's guilt, but asked whether he feared to do the will of God. The less men fear God, the more they fear men; often they dare not act according to their own judgments and consciences.