¹⁸ But if you will not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be given into the hands^(A) of the Babylonians and they will burn^(B) it down; you yourself will not escape^(C) from them.’”

³ And this is what the Lord says: ‘This city will certainly be given into the hands of the army of the king of Babylon, who will capture it.’”^(A)

³ Now Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him there, saying, “Why do you prophesy^(A) as you do? You say, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am about to give this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will capture^(B) it. ⁴ Zedekiah^(C) king of Judah will not escape^(D) the Babylonians^[a](E) but will certainly be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, and will speak with him face to face and see him with his own eyes. ⁵ He will take^(F) Zedekiah to Babylon, where he will remain until I deal with him,^(G) declares the Lord. If you fight against the Babylonians, you will not succeed.’”^(H)

⁸ “‘But like the bad^(A) figs, which are so bad they cannot be eaten,’ says the Lord, ‘so will I deal with Zedekiah^(B) king of Judah, his officials^(C) and the survivors^(D) from Jerusalem, whether they remain in this land or live in Egypt.^{(E) 9} I will make them abhorrent^(F) and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a reproach and a byword,^(G) a curse^[a](H) and an object of ridicule, wherever I banish^(I) them. ¹⁰ I will send the sword,^(J) famine^(K) and plague^(L) against them until they are destroyed from the land I gave to them and their ancestors.^(M)’”

⁴ Then the city wall was broken through,^(A) and the whole army fled at night through the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, though the Babylonians^[a] were surrounding^(B) the city. They fled toward the Arabah,^{[b] 5} but the Babylonian^[c] army pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him and scattered,^{(C) 6} and he was captured.^(D)

He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah,^(E) where sentence was pronounced on him. ⁷ They killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon.^(F)

⁸ On the seventh day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard, an official of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. ⁹ He set fire^(G) to the temple of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down.^{(H) 10} The whole Babylonian army under the commander of the imperial guard broke down the walls^(I) around Jerusalem.

²⁵ “‘You profane and wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come,^(A) whose time of punishment has reached its climax,^{(B) 26} this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Take off the turban, remove the crown.^(C) It will not be as it was: The lowly will be exalted and the exalted will be brought low.^{(D) 27} A ruin! A ruin! I will make it a ruin! The crown will not be restored until he to whom it rightfully belongs shall come;^(E) to him I will give it.’^(F)

²⁰ I will spread my net^(A) for him, and he will be caught in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment^(B) on him there because he was unfaithful^(C) to me. ²¹ All his choice troops will fall by the sword,^(D) and the survivors^(E) will be scattered to the winds.^(F) Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken.^(G)

¹³ I will spread my net^(A) for him, and he will be caught in my snare;^(B) I will bring him to Babylonia, the land of the Chaldeans,^(C) but he will not see^(D) it, and there he will die.^(E)

⁷ Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled.^(A) They left the city at night through the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, though the Babylonians^[a] were surrounding the city. They fled toward the Arabah,^{[b] 8} but the Babylonian^[c] army pursued King Zedekiah and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him and scattered, ⁹ and he was captured.^(B)

He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah^(C) in the land of Hamath,^(D) where he pronounced sentence on him. ¹⁰ There at Riblah the king of Babylon killed the sons^(E) of Zedekiah before his eyes; he also killed all the officials of Judah. ¹¹ Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon, where he put him in prison till the day of his death.^(F)