⁸ “‘“If, however, any nation or kingdom will not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon or bow its neck under his yoke, I will punish^(A) that nation with the sword,^(B) famine^(C) and plague,^(D) declares the Lord, until I destroy it by his hand.

¹⁹ “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, I will repay him for despising my oath and breaking my covenant.^{(A) 20} I will spread my net^(B) for him, and he will be caught in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment^(C) on him there because he was unfaithful^(D) to me. ²¹ All his choice troops will fall by the sword,^(E) and the survivors^(F) will be scattered to the winds.^(G) Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken.^(H)

²¹ “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem my four dreadful judgments^(A)—sword^(B) and famine^(C) and wild beasts and plague^(D)—to kill its men and their animals!^(E)

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.’”

¹⁹ King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid^(F) of the Jews who have gone over^(G) to the Babylonians, for the Babylonians may hand me over to them and they will mistreat me.”

¹⁰ I will send the sword,^(A) famine^(B) and plague^(C) against them until they are destroyed from the land I gave to them and their ancestors.^(D)’”

³ It was because of the Lord’s anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah,^(A) and in the end he thrust them from his presence.^(B)

Now Zedekiah rebelled^(C) against the king of Babylon.

⁴ So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth^(D) day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem^(E) with his whole army. They encamped outside the city and built siege works^(F) all around it.^{(G) 5} The city was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.

⁶ By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat.^(H)

¹⁰ ‘If you stay in this land,^(A) I will build^(B) you up and not tear you down; I will plant^(C) you and not uproot you,^(D) for I have relented concerning the disaster I have inflicted on you.^{(E) 11} Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon,^(F) whom you now fear.^(G) Do not be afraid of him, declares the Lord, for I am with you and will save^(H) you and deliver you from his hands.^{(I) 12} I will show you compassion^(J) so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your land.’^(K)

¹³ “However, if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ and so disobey^(L) the Lord your God, ¹⁴ and if you say, ‘No, we will go and live in Egypt,^(M) where we will not see war or hear the trumpet^(N) or be hungry for bread,’^{(O) 15} then hear the word of the Lord,^(P) you remnant of Judah. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and you do go to settle there, ¹⁶ then the sword^(Q) you fear^(R) will overtake you there, and the famine^(S) you dread will follow you into Egypt, and there you will die.^{(T) 17} Indeed, all who are determined to go to Egypt to settle there will die by the sword, famine and plague;^(U) not one of them will survive or escape the disaster I will bring on them.’ ¹⁸ This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘As my anger and wrath^(V) have been poured out on those who lived in Jerusalem,^(W) so will my wrath be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. You will be a curse^[a](X) and an object of horror,^(Y) a curse^[b] and an object of reproach;^(Z) you will never see this place again.’^(AA)

⁹ Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, took an oath to reassure them and their men. “Do not be afraid to serve^(A) the Babylonians,^[a](B)” he said. “Settle down in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you.^(C)

²⁸ But if they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink^(A), tell them, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: You must drink it! ²⁹ See, I am beginning to bring disaster^(B) on the city that bears my Name,^(C) and will you indeed go unpunished?^(D) You will not go unpunished, for I am calling down a sword^(E) on all^(F) who live on the earth,^(G) declares the Lord Almighty.’