Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took him out: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from the LORD? And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said he, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.
The king asked him secretly. Zedekiah was ashamed to be seen by his courtiers consulting Jeremiah (John 12:43; John 5:44, "How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only." So Joseph of Arimathea came originally to Jesus "secretly, for fear of the Jews," but with a very different issue from that of Zedekiah, John 19:38).
Thou shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon Had Jeremiah consulted his earthly interests he would have answered very differently. Contrast the "smooth" flatteries of the false prophets, saying, "Peace, peace, when there was no peace" (Jeremiah 6:14; Isaiah 30:10; Ezekiel 13:10).