⁷ The Lord ^(A)was with him; he ^(B)prospered wherever he went. And he ^(C)rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.

^13 (A)And he took the king’s offspring, made a covenant with him, ^(B)and put him under oath. He also took away the mighty of the land, ¹⁴ that the kingdom might be ^(C)brought low and not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand. ¹⁵ But ^(D)he rebelled against him by sending his ambassadors to Egypt, ^(E)that they might give him horses and many people. ^(F)Will he prosper? Will he who does such things escape? Can he break a covenant and still be delivered?

¹⁶ ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘surely ^(G)in the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke—with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die. ^17 (H)Nor will Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company do anything in the war, ^(I)when they heap up a siege mound and build a ^[a]wall to cut off many persons. ¹⁸ Since he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, and in fact ^(J)gave^[b] his hand and still did all these things, he shall not escape.’ ”

¹⁹ Therefore thus says the Lord God: “As I live, surely My oath which he despised, and My covenant which he broke, I will recompense on his own head.

The Decree of Darius

6 Then King Darius issued a decree, ^(B)and a search was made in the ^[a]archives, where the treasures were stored in Babylon. ² And at ^[b]Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of ^(C)Media, a scroll was found, and in it a record was written thus:

²⁰ For because of the anger of the Lord this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, that He finally cast them out from His presence. ^(A)Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

¹⁴ then you shall inquire, search out, and ask diligently. And if it is indeed true and certain that such an ^[a]abomination was committed among you,