⁸ ‘And as the bad ^(A)figs which cannot be eaten, they are so bad’—surely thus says the Lord—‘so will I give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, his princes, the ^(B)residue of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and ^(C)those who dwell in the land of Egypt.

Jeremiah Taken to Egypt

43 Now it happened, when Jeremiah had stopped speaking to all the people all the ^(A)words of the Lord their God, for which the Lord their God had sent him to them, all these words, ^2 (B)that Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men spoke, saying to Jeremiah, “You speak falsely! The Lord our God has not sent you to say, ‘Do not go to Egypt to dwell there.’ ³ But ^(C)Baruch the son of Neriah has ^[a]set you against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may put us to death or carry us away captive to Babylon.” ⁴ So Johanan the son of Kareah, all the captains of the forces, and all the people would ^(D)not obey the voice of the Lord, to remain in the land of Judah. ⁵ But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces took ^(E)all the remnant of Judah who had returned to dwell in the land of Judah, from all nations where they had been driven— ⁶ men, women, children, ^(F)the king’s daughters, ^(G)and every person whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah. ^7 (H)So they went to the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of the Lord. And they went as far as ^(I)Tahpanhes.

⁸ Then the ^(J)word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, ⁹ “Take large stones in your hand, and hide them in the sight of the men of Judah, in the ^[b]clay in the brick courtyard which is at the entrance to Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes; ¹⁰ and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will send and bring Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, ^(K)My servant, and will set his throne above these stones that I have hidden. And he will spread his royal pavilion over them. ^11 (L)When he comes, he shall strike the land of Egypt and deliver to death ^(M)those appointed for death, and to captivity those appointed for captivity, and to the sword those appointed for the sword. ^12 [c]I will kindle a fire in the houses of ^(N)the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them and carry them away captive. And he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd puts on his garment, and he shall go out from there in peace. ¹³ He shall also break the sacred pillars of ^[d]Beth Shemesh that are in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of the Egyptians he shall burn with fire.” ’ ”

Israelites Will Be Punished in Egypt

44 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who dwell in the land of Egypt, who dwell at ^(O)Migdol, at ^(P)Tahpanhes, at ^(Q)Noph,^[e] and in the country of ^(R)Pathros, saying,

² In the ^(A)eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the ^[a]city was penetrated.

^3 (B)Then all the princes of the king of Babylon came in and sat in the Middle Gate: Nergal-Sharezer, Samgar-Nebo, Sarsechim, ^[b]Rabsaris, Nergal-Sarezer, ^[c]Rabmag, with the rest of the princes of the king of Babylon.

^4 (C)So it was, when Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, that they fled and went out of the city by night, by way of the king’s garden, by the gate between the two walls. And he went out by way of the ^[d]plain. ⁵ But the Chaldean army pursued them and ^(D)overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. And when they had captured him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, to ^(E)Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced judgment on him. ⁶ Then the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his ^(F)eyes in Riblah; the king of Babylon also killed all the ^(G)nobles of Judah. ⁷ Moreover ^(H)he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and bound him with bronze ^[e]fetters to carry him off to Babylon. ^8 (I)And the Chaldeans burned the king’s house and the houses of the people with ^(J)fire, and broke down the ^(K)walls of Jerusalem. ^9 (L)Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive to Babylon the remnant of the people who remained in the city and those who ^(M)defected to him, with the rest of the people who remained.

¹⁷ then Zedekiah the king sent and took him out. The king asked him secretly in his house, and said, “Is there any word from the Lord?”

And Jeremiah said, “There is.” Then he said, “You shall be ^(A)delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon!”

² One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs which could not be eaten, they were so ^(A)bad.

¹¹ Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹² “Say now to ^(A)the rebellious house: ‘Do you not know what these things mean?’ Tell them, ‘Indeed ^(B)the king of Babylon went to Jerusalem and took its king and princes, and led them with him to Babylon. ^13 (C)And he took the king’s offspring, made a covenant with him, ^(D)and put him under oath. He also took away the mighty of the land, ¹⁴ that the kingdom might be ^(E)brought low and not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand. ¹⁵ But ^(F)he rebelled against him by sending his ambassadors to Egypt, ^(G)that they might give him horses and many people. ^(H)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 ^(I)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 (J)Nor will Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company do anything in the war, ^(K)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 ^(L)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. ²⁰ I will ^(M)spread My net over him, and he shall be taken in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon and ^(N)try him there for the ^[c]treason which he committed against Me. ^21 (O)All his ^[d]fugitives with all his troops shall fall by the sword, and those who remain shall be ^(P)scattered to every wind; and you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken.”

¹² And ^(A)the prince who is among them shall bear his belongings on his shoulder at twilight and go out. They shall dig through the wall to carry them out through it. He shall cover his face, so that he cannot see the ground with his eyes. ¹³ I will also spread My ^(B)net over him, and he shall be caught in My snare. ^(C)I will bring him to Babylon, to the land of the Chaldeans; yet he shall not see it, though he shall die there. ^14 (D)I will scatter to every wind all who are around him to help him, and all his troops; and ^(E)I will draw out the sword after them.

^15 (F)“Then they shall know that I am the Lord, when I scatter them among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. ^16 (G)But I will spare a few of their men from the sword, from famine, and from pestilence, that they may declare all their abominations among the Gentiles wherever they go. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.”

² He also did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. ³ For because of the anger of the Lord this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, till He finally cast them out from His presence. Then Zedekiah ^(A)rebelled against the king of Babylon.

⁴ Now it came to pass in the ^(B)ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and encamped against it; and they built a siege wall against it all around. ⁵ So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. ⁶ By the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the famine had become so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. ⁷ Then the city wall was broken through, and all the men of war fled and went out of the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden, even though the Chaldeans were near the city all around. And they went by way of the ^[a]plain.

⁸ But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and they overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. All his army was scattered from him. ^9 (C)So they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he pronounced judgment on him. ^10 (D)Then the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. And he killed all the princes of Judah in Riblah. ¹¹ He also ^(E)put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in ^[b]bronze fetters, took him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death.