³ Then Jeremiah said to them, “Say this to Zedekiah: ⁴ ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “Behold, I will turn back and dull the edge of the weapons of war that are in your hands, [those] with which you fight against the king of Babylon and the ^[a]Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls; and I will bring them into the center of this city (Jerusalem). ⁵ I Myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm in anger, in fury, and in great indignation and wrath. ⁶ I will also strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they will die of a great virulent disease. ⁷ Then afterward,” says the Lord, “I will hand over Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the virulent disease, the sword, and the famine, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemy, into the hand of those who seek their lives. And he will strike them with the edge of the sword; he will not spare them nor have mercy and compassion on them.”’