¹¹ Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguards, led into exile ^(A)the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the ^[a]people.

^17 (A)So He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or frail; He handed them all over to him. ^18 (B)He brought all the articles of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and his officers, to Babylon. ¹⁹ Then ^(C)they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its fortified buildings with fire and destroyed all its valuable articles. ²⁰ He ^(D)took into exile those who had escaped from the sword to Babylon; and ^(E)they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, ^21 (F)to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until ^(G)the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. ^(H)All the days of its desolation it kept the Sabbath ^[a](I)until seventy years were complete.

⁷ And I will ^(A)frustrate the planning of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and ^(B)I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hand of those who seek their life; and I will make their ^(C)carcasses food for the birds of the sky and the animals of the earth. ⁸ I will also turn this city into an object of ^(D)horror and ^[a]hissing; ^(E)everyone who passes by it will be appalled and ^[b]hiss because of all its ^[c]disasters. ⁹ And I will make them ^(F)eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh during the siege and in the hardship with which their enemies and those who seek their life will torment them.”’

¹⁰ “Then you are to break the ^(G)jar in the sight of the men who accompany you, ¹¹ and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord of armies says: “To the same extent I will ^(H)break this people and this city, just as one breaks a potter’s vessel, which cannot again be repaired; and they will ^(I)bury their dead in Topheth, ^[d]because there is no other place for burial. ¹² This is how I will treat this place and its inhabitants,” declares the Lord, “so as to make this city like Topheth.

³ because Zedekiah king of Judah had ^(A)imprisoned him, saying, “Why do you ^(B)prophesy, saying, ‘^(C)This is what the Lord says: “Behold, I am going to ^(D)hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will take it;

²⁴ Behold, the ^(A)assault ramps have reached the city to take it; and the city has been ^(B)handed over to the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the ^(C)sword, the famine, and the plague; and what You have spoken has ^(D)come to pass; and behold, You see it.

³⁶ “Now therefore the Lord God of Israel says the following concerning this city of which you say, ‘It has been ^(A)handed over to the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by plague’:

² “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘^(A)Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and say to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Behold, ^(B)I am handing this city over to the king of Babylon, and ^(C)he will burn it with fire. ³ And as for you, ^(D)you will not escape from his hand, for you will assuredly be caught and handed over to him; and you will ^(E)see the king of Babylon eye to eye, and he will speak with you ^[a]face to face, and you will go to Babylon.’”’