²⁰ You may only cut down trees that you know are not valuable for food. Use them to make the equipment you need to attack the enemy town until it falls.

¹⁷ Pharaoh and all his mighty army will fail to help Israel when the king of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem again and destroys many lives.

⁴ For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: You have torn down the houses of this city and even the king’s palace to get materials to strengthen the walls against the siege ramps and swords of the enemy.

³³ “And this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:

¹⁴ There was a small town with only a few people, and a great king came with his army and besieged it.

¹⁵ And he built structures on the walls of Jerusalem, designed by experts to protect those who shot arrows and hurled large stones^[a] from the towers and the corners of the wall. His fame spread far and wide, for the Lord gave him marvelous help, and he became very powerful.

²⁸ Where can we go? Our brothers have demoralized us with their report. They tell us, “The people of the land are taller and more powerful than we are, and their towns are large, with walls rising high into the sky! We even saw giants there—the descendants of Anak!”’