Zedekiah’s Rebellion

¹¹ Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹² “Say now to the ^(A)rebellious house, ‘Do you not ^(B)know what these things mean?’ Say, ‘Behold, the ^(C)king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, took its king and leaders, and brought them to him in Babylon. ¹³ Then he took one of the royal ^[a](D)family and made a covenant with him, ^[b]putting him under ^(E)oath. He also took away the ^(F)mighty of the land, ¹⁴ so that the kingdom would ^(G)be humbled, not exalting itself, but keeping his covenant so that it might continue. ¹⁵ But ^[c]he ^(H)revolted against ^[d]him by sending his messengers to Egypt so that they might give him horses and many ^[e]troops. Will he succeed? Will he who does these things ^(I)escape? Can he indeed break the covenant and escape? ¹⁶ As I live,’ declares the Lord God, ‘In the ^[f]country of the king who ^[g]put him on the throne, whose oath he ^(J)despised and whose covenant he broke, ^[h](K)in Babylon he shall certainly die. ^17 (L)Pharaoh with his mighty army and great contingent will not ^[i]help him in the war, when they pile up assault ramps and build siege walls to eliminate many lives. ¹⁸ Now he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, and behold, he ^[j](M)pledged his allegiance, yet did all these things; he shall not escape.’” ¹⁹ Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: “As I live, My oath which he despised and My covenant which he broke, I will certainly ^[k]inflict on his head. ²⁰ And I will spread My ^(N)net over him, and he will be ^(O)caught in My net. Then I will bring him to Babylon and ^(P)enter into judgment with him there regarding the unfaithful act which he has committed against Me. ²¹ All the ^[l](Q)choice men in all his troops will fall by the sword, and the survivors will be scattered to every wind; and you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken.”

²² This is what the Lord God says: “I will also take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and ^[m]set it out; I will break off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I will plant it on a ^(R)high and lofty mountain. ²³ On the high mountain of Israel I will plant it, so that it may bring forth branches and bear fruit, and become a stately ^(S)cedar. And ^[n]birds of every ^[o]kind will ^[p]nest under it; they will ^[q]nest in the shade of its branches. ²⁴ All the ^(T)trees of the field will know that I am the Lord; I bring down the high tree, exalt the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree ^(U)flourish. I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will perform it.”