¹⁸ This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘As my anger and wrath^(A) have been poured out on those who lived in Jerusalem,^(B) so will my wrath be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. You will be a curse^[a](C) and an object of horror,^(D) a curse^[b] and an object of reproach;^(E) you will never see this place again.’^(F)

²⁰ “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign^(A) Lord says: My anger^(B) and my wrath will be poured^(C) out on this place—on man and beast, on the trees of the field and on the crops of your land—and it will burn and not be quenched.^(D)

39 ¹ In the ninth year of Zedekiah^(A) king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar^(B) king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army and laid siege^(C) to it. ² And on the ninth day of the fourth^(D) month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year, the city wall^(E) was broken through.^{(F) 3} Then all the officials^(G) of the king of Babylon came and took seats in the Middle Gate: Nergal-Sharezer of Samgar, Nebo-Sarsekim a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer a high official and all the other officials of the king of Babylon. ⁴ When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled; they left the city at night by way of the king’s garden, through the gate between the two walls,^(H) and headed toward the Arabah.^[a](I)

⁵ But the Babylonian^[b] army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah^(J) in the plains of Jericho. They captured^(K) him and took him to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah^(L) in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced sentence on him. ⁶ There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes and also killed all the nobles^(M) of Judah. ⁷ Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes^(N) and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon.^(O)

⁸ The Babylonians^[c] set fire^(P) to the royal palace and the houses of the people and broke down the walls^(Q) of Jerusalem. ⁹ Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard carried into exile to Babylon the people who remained in the city, along with those who had gone over to him,^(R) and the rest of the people.^(S)

¹² I will take away the remnant^(A) of Judah who were determined to go to Egypt to settle there. They will all perish in Egypt; they will fall by the sword or die from famine. From the least to the greatest,^(B) they will die by sword or famine.^(C) They will become a curse and an object of horror, a curse and an object of reproach.^(D)

⁹ I will make them abhorrent^(A) and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a reproach and a byword,^(B) a curse^[a](C) and an object of ridicule, wherever I banish^(D) them.

²⁷ You will never come back to the land you long to return^(A) to.”