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.’

Before Jeremiah could turn to leave, the captain of the guard added, “Go back ¹  to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon appointed to govern ²  the towns of Judah. Go back and live with him ³  among the people. Or go wherever else you choose.” Then the captain of the guard gave Jeremiah some food and a present and let him go.

Wild dogs will yip in her ruined fortresses, jackals will yelp in the once-splendid palaces. ¹  Her time is almost up, ²  her days will not be prolonged. ³ 

Work to see that the city where I sent you as exiles enjoys peace and prosperity. Pray to the Lord for it. For as it prospers you will prosper.’

Therefore desert creatures and jackals will live there. Ostriches ¹  will dwell in it too. ²  But no people will ever live there again. No one will dwell there for all time to come. ³ 

The primary regions ¹  of his kingdom were Babel, ²  Erech, ³  Akkad, ⁴  and Calneh ⁵  in the land of Shinar. ⁶ 

Let them fall ¹  slain in the land of Babylonia, ²  mortally wounded in the streets of her cities. ³ 

From ¹  Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their colleagues – the judges, the rulers, the officials, the secretaries, the Erechites, the Babylonians, the people of Susa (that is, ²  the Elamites),

“Babylon, ¹  you are my war club, ²  my weapon for battle. I used you to smash nations. ³  I used you to destroy kingdoms.

Yes, but the time will certainly come,” ¹  says the Lord, ²  “when I will punish her idols. Throughout her land the mortally wounded will groan.

I saw among the goods we seized a nice robe from Babylon, ¹  two hundred silver pieces, ²  and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels. I wanted them, so I took them. They are hidden in the ground right in the middle of my tent with the silver underneath.”

I have received a distressing message: ¹  “The deceiver deceives, the destroyer destroys. Attack, you Elamites! Lay siege, you Medes! I will put an end to all the groaning!” ² 

All nations must serve him and his son and grandson ¹  until the time comes for his own nation to fall. ²  Then many nations and great kings will in turn subjugate Babylon. ³ 

But this one from Israel’s royal family ¹  rebelled against the king of Babylon ²  by sending his emissaries to Egypt to obtain horses and a large army. Will he prosper? Will the one doing these things escape? Can he break the covenant and escape?

The sons of Jehoiachin the exile: ¹  Shealtiel his son,

On the poplars in her midst we hang our harps,

“A lion coming up from the thick undergrowth along the Jordan scatters the sheep in the pastureland around it. So too I will chase the Babylonians off of their land. Then I will appoint over it whomever I choose. For there is no one like me. There is no one who can call me to account. There is no ruler that can stand up against me.

Now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land. ¹ 

Look, I am stirring up the Medes to attack them; ¹  they are not concerned about silver, nor are they interested in gold. ² 

No one will live there again; no one will ever reside there again. ¹  No bedouin ²  will camp ³  there, no shepherds will rest their flocks ⁴  there.