¹⁹ And Tamar ^(A)put ashes on her head and ^(B)tore the long robe that she wore. And ^(C)she laid her hand on her head and went away, crying aloud as she went.

⁷ “Thus says the Lord, God of Israel: Thus shall you say to the king of Judah who ^(A)sent you to me to inquire of me, ‘Behold, ^(B)Pharaoh's army that came to help you is about to ^(C)return to Egypt, to its own land. ⁸ And ^(D)the Chaldeans shall come back and fight against this city. ^(E)They shall capture it and burn it with fire. ⁹ Thus says the Lord, Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,” for they will not go away. ^10 (F)For even if you should defeat the whole army of Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and there remained of them only wounded men, every man in his tent, they would rise up and ^(G)burn this city with fire.’”

^15 (A)But he rebelled against him by sending his ambassadors ^(B)to Egypt, that they might give him horses and a large army. ^(C)Will he thrive? Can one escape who does such things? Can he ^(D)break the covenant and yet escape?

^16 (E)“As I live, declares the Lord God, surely ^(F)in the place where the king dwells ^(G)who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant with him he broke, in Babylon he shall die. ^17 (H)Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company will not help him in war, ^(I)when mounds are cast up and siege walls built to cut off many lives. ¹⁸ He despised the oath in breaking the covenant, and behold, he gave his hand and did all these things; he shall not escape. ¹⁹ Therefore thus says the Lord God: As I live, surely it is my oath that he despised, and my covenant that he broke. I will return it upon his head. ^20 (J)I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon ^(K)and enter into judgment with him there ^(L)for the treachery he has committed against me.

⁵ And ^(A)he shall take Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he shall remain until I visit him, declares the Lord. ^(B)Though you fight against the Chaldeans, you shall not succeed’?”

¹² Behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests ^(A)with their battle trumpets to sound the call to battle against you. O sons of Israel, ^(B)do not fight against the Lord, the God of your fathers, for you cannot succeed.”