⁸ But thus says the Lord: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who live in the land of Egypt.^(A)

Taken to Egypt, Jeremiah Warns of Judgment

43 When Jeremiah finished speaking to all the people all the words of the Lord their God, with which the Lord their God had sent him to them, all these words,^{(A) 2} Azariah son of Hoshaiah and Johanan son of Kareah and all the other insolent men said to Jeremiah, “You are telling a lie. The Lord our God did not send you to say, ‘Do not go to Egypt to settle there,’^{(B) 3} but Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us, to hand us over to the Chaldeans, in order that they may kill us or take us into exile in Babylon.”^{(C) 4} So Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces and all the people did not obey the voice of the Lord to stay in the land of Judah.^{(D) 5} But Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took all the remnant of Judah who had returned to settle in the land of Judah from all the nations to which they had been driven— ⁶ the men, the women, the children, the princesses, and everyone whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan, also the prophet Jeremiah and Baruch son of Neriah.^{(E) 7} And they came into the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of the Lord. And they arrived at Tahpanhes.

⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes:^{(F) 9} Take some large stones in your hands, and bury them in the clay pavement^[a] that is at the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace in Tahpanhes. Let the Judeans see you do it, ¹⁰ and say to them, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I am going to send and take my servant King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon, and I will set his throne above these stones that I have buried, and he will spread his royal canopy over them.^{(G) 11} He shall come and ravage the land of Egypt, giving

¹² “I shall kindle a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them and carry them away captive, and he shall pick clean the land of Egypt as a shepherd picks his cloak clean of vermin, and he shall depart from there safely.^{(I) 13} He shall break the obelisks of Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt, and the temples of the gods of Egypt he shall burn with fire.”

Denunciation of Persistent Idolatry

44 The word that came to Jeremiah for all the Judeans living in the land of Egypt, at Migdol, at Tahpanhes, at Memphis, and in the land of Pathros:^(J)

² in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city.^{(A) 3} Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came and sat in the middle gate: Nergal-sharezer, Samgar-nebo, Sarsechim the Rabsaris, Nergal-sharezer the Rabmag, with all the rest of the officials of the king of Babylon.^{(B) 4} When King Zedekiah of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled, going out of the city at night by way of the King’s Garden through the gate between the two walls, and they went toward the Arabah.^{(C) 5} But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and when they had taken him, they brought him up to King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon, at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, and he passed sentence on him.^{(D) 6} The king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah at Riblah before his eyes; also the king of Babylon slaughtered all the nobles of Judah.^{(E) 7} He put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in fetters to take him to Babylon.^{(F) 8} The Chaldeans burned with fire the king’s house and the houses of the people and broke down the walls of Jerusalem.^{(G) 9} Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard exiled to Babylon the rest of the people who were left in the city, those who had deserted to him, and the rest of the people who remained.^(H)

¹⁷ Then King Zedekiah sent for him and received him. The king questioned him secretly in his house and said, “Is there any word from the Lord?” Jeremiah said, “There is!” Then he said, “You shall be handed over to the king of Babylon.”^(A)

¹⁶ thus says the Lord concerning the king who sits on the throne of David and concerning all the people who live in this city, your kinsfolk who did not go out with you into exile:^{(A) 17} Thus says the Lord of hosts: I am going to let loose on them sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like rotten figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten.^{(B) 18} I will pursue them with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence and will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be an object of cursing and horror and hissing and a derision among all the nations where I have driven them,^(C)

² One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten.^(A)

¹¹ Then the word of the Lord came to me: ¹² Say now to the rebellious house: Do you not know what these things mean? Tell them: The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, took its king and its officials, and brought them back with him to Babylon.^{(A) 13} He took one of the royal offspring and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath (he had taken away the chief men of the land),^{(B) 14} so that the kingdom might be humble and not lift itself up and that by keeping his covenant it might stand.^{(C) 15} But he rebelled against him by sending ambassadors to Egypt, that they might give him horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Can one escape who does such things? Can he break the covenant and yet escape?^{(D) 16} As I live, says the Lord God, surely in the place where the king resides who made him king, whose oath he despised and whose covenant with him he broke—in Babylon he shall die.^{(E) 17} Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company will not help him in war, when ramps are cast up and siege walls built to cut off many lives.^{(F) 18} Because he despised the oath and broke the covenant, because he gave his hand and yet did all these things, he shall not escape.^{(G) 19} Therefore thus says the Lord God: As I live, I will surely return upon his head my oath that he despised and my covenant that he broke. ²⁰ I will spread my net over him, and he shall be caught in my snare; I will bring him to Babylon and enter into judgment with him there for the treason he has committed against me.^{(H) 21} All the pick^[a] of his troops shall fall by the sword, and the survivors shall be scattered to every wind, and you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken.^(I)

¹² And the prince who is among them shall lift his baggage on his shoulder in the dark and shall go out; he^[a] shall dig through the wall and carry it through; he shall cover his face so that he may not see the land with his eyes.^{(A) 13} I will spread my net over him, and he shall be caught in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, yet he shall not see it, and he shall die there.^{(B) 14} I will scatter to every wind all who are around him, his helpers and all his troops, and I will unsheathe the sword behind them.^{(C) 15} And they shall know that I am the Lord when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the countries.^{(D) 16} But I will let a few of them escape from the sword, from famine and pestilence, so that they may tell of all their abominations among the nations where they go; then they shall know that I am the Lord.^(E)

² He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, just as Jehoiakim had done.^{(A) 3} Indeed, Jerusalem and Judah so angered the Lord that he expelled them from his presence.

Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.^{(B) 4} And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem, and they laid siege to it; they built siegeworks against it all around.^{(C) 5} So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. ⁶ On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine became so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.^{(D) 7} Then a breach was made in the city wall,^[a] and all the soldiers fled and went out from the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, by the King’s Garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. They went in the direction of the Arabah.^{(E) 8} But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered, deserting him.^{(F) 9} Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he passed sentence on him.^{(G) 10} The king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes and also killed all the officers of Judah at Riblah.^{(H) 11} He put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in fetters, and the king of Babylon took him to Babylon and put him in prison until the day of his death.^(I)