²⁶ As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, “Help me, my lord the king!”

²⁷ The king replied, “If the Lord does not help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor? From the winepress?” ²⁸ Then he asked her, “What’s the matter?”

She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son so we may eat him today, and tomorrow we’ll eat my son.’ ²⁹ So we cooked my son and ate^(A) him. The next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son so we may eat him,’ but she had hidden him.”

⁹ I will make them eat^(A) the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh because their enemies^(B) will press the siege so hard against them to destroy them.’

¹⁰ Therefore in your midst parents will eat their children, and children will eat their parents.^(A) I will inflict punishment on you and will scatter all your survivors to the winds.^(B)

²⁹ You will eat^(A) the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters.^(B)