Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “The Lord, the God who rules over all, the God of Israel, ¹  says, ‘You must surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon. If you do, your life will be spared ²  and this city will not be burned down. Indeed, you and your whole family will be spared.

I, the Lord, promise that ¹  I will hand Pharaoh Hophra ²  king of Egypt over to his enemies who are seeking to kill him. I will do that just as surely as I handed King Zedekiah of Judah over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, his enemy who was seeking to kill him.’”

Then ¹  I, the Lord, promise that ²  I will hand over King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and any of the people who survive the war, starvation, and disease. I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and to their enemies who want to kill them. He will slaughter them with the sword. He will not show them any mercy, compassion, or pity.’

He did what displeased the Lord ¹  just as Jehoiakim had done.

He did evil in the sight of ¹  the Lord, as Jehoiakim had done. ² 

“‘As for you, profane and wicked prince of Israel, ¹  whose day has come, the time of final punishment,

So King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Jerusalem with his whole army and set up camp outside ¹  it. They built siege ramps all around it. He arrived on the tenth day of the tenth month in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign. ² 

“‘As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, surely in the city ¹  of the king who crowned him, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke – in the middle of Babylon he will die!

By the ninth day of the fourth month ¹  the famine in the city was so severe the residents ²  had no food.

They captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, ¹  where he ²  passed sentence on him.

By the ninth day of the fourth month ¹  the famine in the city was so severe the residents ²  had no food.

Say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: The prince will raise this burden in Jerusalem, ¹  and all the house of Israel within it.’ ² 

He took one of the seedlings ¹  of the land, placed it in a cultivated plot; ²  a shoot by abundant water, like a willow he planted it.

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Jerusalem with his whole army and set up camp outside it. ¹  They built siege ramps all around it. He arrived on the tenth day of the tenth month in the ninth year that Zedekiah ruled over Judah. ² 

But the Babylonian army chased after the king. They caught up with him in the plains of Jericho, ¹  and his entire army deserted him.

Neither he nor the officials who served him nor the people of Judah paid any attention to what the Lord said through the prophet Jeremiah. ¹ 

They captured him and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah ¹  in the territory of Hamath and he passed sentence on him there.

He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Take note ¹  – he gave his promise ²  and did all these things – he will not escape!

“‘Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard, ¹  planted by water. It was fruitful and full of branches because it was well-watered.

that the Lord, the God of Israel, says, ¹  ‘The forces at your disposal ²  are now outside the walls fighting against King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and the Babylonians ³  who have you under siege. I will gather those forces back inside the city. ⁴