Jeremiah 39:16
Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished in that day before thee. Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished in that day before thee.
Jeremiah 39:16 belongs to the section of Jeremiah covering the history of the two years before Jerusalem fell. It belongs with the account of events during Zedekiah's reign and comes before the account of the city's fall in chronological order. Chronologically it stands before Jeremiah 39:1-14, even though it appears after those verses in the chapter, and this rearrangement of the material does not change Jeremiah's teaching.
The verse belongs to the account of Jerusalem's judgment and records God's assurance to Ebed-melech that the foretold disaster would come upon Jerusalem for harm and not for welfare, and that God's words of judgment would be fulfilled before his eyes. The wider account in Jeremiah 34-39 teaches that God's people should heed the humble instrument through whom He speaks.