⁵² It shall besiege you in all your towns until your high and fortified walls, in which you trusted, come down throughout your land; it shall besiege you in all your towns throughout the land that the Lord your God has given you.^(A)

The Destruction of Jerusalem Foretold

²⁰ “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near.^{[a](A) 21} Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those inside the city must leave it, and those out in the country must not enter it,^{(B) 22} for these are days of vengeance, as a fulfillment of all that is written.^{(C) 23} Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress on the earth and wrath against this people; ²⁴ they will fall by the edge of the sword and be taken away as captives among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the nations, until the times of the nations are fulfilled.^(D)

⁴³ Indeed, the days will come upon you when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you and hem you in on every side.^{(A) 44} They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”^[a](B)

The Desolating Sacrilege

¹⁵ “So when you see the desolating sacrilege, spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),^{(A) 16} then those in Judea must flee to the mountains;

⁷ The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.^(A)

² For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped; half the city shall go into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city.^(A)

² See, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of reeling for all the surrounding peoples; it will be against Judah also in the siege against Jerusalem.^(A)

²⁶ After the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing, and the troops of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its^[a] end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed.^(A)

The Siege of Jerusalem Portrayed

4 “And you, O mortal, take a brick and set it before you. On it portray a city, Jerusalem,^{(A) 2} and put siegeworks against it, and build a siege wall against it, and cast up a ramp against it; set camps also against it, and plant battering rams against it all around.^{(B) 3} Then take an iron plate and place it as an iron wall between you and the city; set your face toward it, and let it be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it. This is a sign for the house of Israel.^(C)