⁴ ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am about to turn^(A) against you the weapons of war that are in your hands, which you are using to fight the king of Babylon and the Babylonians^[a] who are outside the wall besieging^(B) you. And I will gather them inside this city.

⁸ Then the Babylonians will return and attack this city; they will capture^(A) it and burn^(B) it down.’

⁹ “This is what the Lord says: Do not deceive^(C) yourselves, thinking, ‘The Babylonians will surely leave us.’ They will not! ¹⁰ Even if you were to defeat the entire Babylonian^[a] army that is attacking you and only wounded men were left in their tents, they would come out and burn^(D) this city down.”

⁵ in the fight with the Babylonians^[a]: ‘They will be filled with the dead bodies of the people I will slay in my anger and wrath.^(A) I will hide my face^(B) from this city because of all its wickedness.

⁵ He will take^(A) Zedekiah to Babylon, where he will remain until I deal with him,^(B) declares the Lord. If you fight against the Babylonians, you will not succeed.’”^(C)

² I will gather all the nations^(A) to Jerusalem to fight against it;^(B) the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped.^(C) Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city.^(D)

¹⁷ Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you surrender^(A) to the officers of the king of Babylon, your life will be spared and this city will not be burned down; you and your family will live.^{(B) 18} But if you will not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be given into the hands^(C) of the Babylonians and they will burn^(D) it down; you yourself will not escape^(E) from them.’”