⁴ and Zedekiah king of Judah ^(A)shall not escape from the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him ^[a]face to face, and see him ^(B)eye to eye;

²³ ‘So they shall surrender all your wives and ^(A)children to the Chaldeans. ^(B)You shall not escape from their hand, but shall be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon. And you shall cause this city to be burned with fire.’ ”

¹⁸ But if you do not ^[a]surrender to the king of Babylon’s princes, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans; they shall burn it with fire, and ^(A)you shall not escape from their hand.’ ”

^4 (A)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 ^[a]plain. ⁵ But the Chaldean army pursued them and ^(B)overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. And when they had captured him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, to ^(C)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 ^(D)eyes in Riblah; the king of Babylon also killed all the ^(E)nobles of Judah. ⁷ Moreover ^(F)he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and bound him with bronze ^[b]fetters to carry him off to Babylon.

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!”

⁴ Then ^(A)the city wall was broken through, and all the men of war fled at night by way of the gate between two walls, which was by the king’s garden, even though the Chaldeans were still encamped all around against the city. And ^(B)the king^[a] went by way of the ^[b]plain. ⁵ But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and they overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his army was scattered from him. ⁶ So they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon ^(C)at Riblah, and they pronounced judgment on him. ⁷ Then they killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, ^(D)put^[c] out the eyes of Zedekiah, bound him with bronze fetters, and took him to Babylon.

²⁵ ‘Now to you, O ^(A)profane, wicked prince of Israel, ^(B)whose day has come, whose iniquity shall end, ²⁶ thus says the Lord God:

^13 (A)And he took the king’s offspring, made a covenant with him, ^(B)and put him under oath. He also took away the mighty of the land, ¹⁴ that the kingdom might be ^(C)brought low and not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand. ¹⁵ But ^(D)he rebelled against him by sending his ambassadors to Egypt, ^(E)that they might give him horses and many people. ^(F)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 ^(G)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 (H)Nor will Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company do anything in the war, ^(I)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 ^(J)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 ^(K)spread My net over him, and he shall be taken in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon and ^(L)try him there for the ^[c]treason which he committed against Me. ^21 (M)All his ^[d]fugitives with all his troops shall fall by the sword, and those who remain shall be ^(N)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.