⁸ The people of Israel have been swallowed up;
    they lie among the nations like an old discarded pot.

²⁸ “Why is this man Jehoiachin like a discarded, broken jar?
    Why are he and his children to be exiled to a foreign land?

³⁴ “King Nebuchadnezzar^[a] of Babylon has eaten and crushed us
    and drained us of strength.
He has swallowed us like a great monster
    and filled his belly with our riches.
    He has thrown us out of our own country.

¹⁶ All your enemies mock you.
    They scoff and snarl and say,
“We have destroyed her at last!
    We have long waited for this day,
    and it is finally here!”

⁵ Yes, the Lord has vanquished Israel
    like an enemy.
He has destroyed her palaces
    and demolished her fortresses.
He has brought unending sorrow and tears
    upon beautiful Jerusalem.

² Without mercy the Lord has destroyed
    every home in Israel.^[a]
In his anger he has broken down
    the fortress walls of beautiful Jerusalem.^[b]
He has brought them to the ground,
    dishonoring the kingdom and its rulers.