¹ In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, come hath Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and all his force unto Jerusalem, and they lay siege against it;

² in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, in the ninth of the month, hath the city been broken up;

³ and come in do all the heads of the king of Babylon, and they sit at the middle gate, Nergal-Sharezer, Samgar-Nebo, Sarsechim, chief of the eunuchs, Nergal-Sharezer, chief of the Mages, and all the rest of the heads of the king of Babylon.

⁴ And it cometh to pass, when Zedekiah king of Judah, and all the men of war, have seen them, that they flee and go forth by night from the city, the way of the king's garden, through the gate between the two walls, and he goeth forth the way of the plain.

⁵ And the forces of the Chaldeans pursue after them, and overtake Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and they take him, and bring him up unto Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, to Riblah, in the land of Hamath, and he speaketh with him -- judgments.

⁶ And the king of Babylon slaughtereth the sons of Zedekiah, in Riblah, before his eyes, yea, all the freemen of Judah hath the king of Babylon slaughtered.

⁷ And the eyes of Zedekiah he hath blinded, and he bindeth him with brazen fetters, to bring him in to Babylon.

⁸ And the house of the king, and the house of the people, have the Chaldeans burnt with fire, and the walls of Jerusalem they have broken down.

⁹ And the remnant of the people who are left in the city, and those falling who have fallen to him, and the remnant of the people who are left, hath Nebuzar-Adan, chief of the executioners, removed [to] Babylon.

¹⁰ And of the poor people, who have nothing, hath Nebuzar-Adan, chief of the executioners, left in the land of Judah, and he giveth to them vineyards and fields on the same day.

¹¹ And Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon giveth a charge concerning Jeremiah, by the hand of Nebuzar-Adan, chief of the executioners, saying,

¹² `Take him, and place thine eyes upon him, and do no evil thing to him, but as he speaketh unto thee, so do with him.'

¹³ And Nebuzar-Adan, chief of the executioners sendeth, and Nebushazban, chief of the eunuchs, and Nergal-Sharezer, chief of the Mages, and all the chiefs of the king of Babylon;

¹⁴ yea, they send and take Jeremiah out of the court of the prison, and give him unto Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, to carry him home, and he dwelleth in the midst of the people.

¹⁵ And unto Jeremiah hath a word of Jehovah been -- in his being detained in the court of the prison -- saying:

¹⁶ `Go, and thou hast spoken to Ebed-Melech the Cushite, saying: Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Lo, I am bringing in My words unto this city for evil, and not for good, and they have been before thee in that day.

¹⁷ And I have delivered thee in that day -- an affirmation of Jehovah -- and thou art not given into the hand of the men of whose face thou art afraid,

¹⁸ for I do certainly deliver thee, and by sword thou fallest not, and thy life hath been to thee for a spoil, for thou hast trusted in Me -- an affirmation of Jehovah.'

¹ Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned as king, instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah.

² But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, did listen to the words of Yahweh, which he spoke by the prophet Jeremiah.

³ Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now to Yahweh our God for us.

⁴ Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people; for they had not put him into prison.

⁵ Pharaoh's army was come forth out of Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news of them, they broke up from Jerusalem.

⁶ Then came the word of Yahweh to the prophet Jeremiah, saying,

⁷ Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, You shall tell the king of Judah, who sent you to me to inquire of me: Behold, Pharaoh's army, which is come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land.

⁸ The Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city; and they shall take it, and burn it with fire.

⁹ Thus says Yahweh, Don't deceive yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us; for they shall not depart.

¹⁰ For though you had struck the whole army of the Chaldeans who fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yes would they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire.

¹¹ It happened that, when the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh's army,

¹² then Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to receive his portion there, in the midst of the people.

¹³ When he was in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he laid hold on Jeremiah the prophet, saying, You are falling away to the Chaldeans.

¹⁴ Then Jeremiah said, It is false; I am not falling away to the Chaldeans. But he didn't listen to him; so Irijah laid hold on Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes.

¹⁵ The princes were angry with Jeremiah, and struck him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe; for they had made that the prison.

¹⁶ When Jeremiah was come into the dungeon house, and into the cells, and Jeremiah had remained there many days;

¹⁷ Then Zedekiah the king sent, and fetched him: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from Yahweh? Jeremiah said, There is. He said also, You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.

¹⁸ Moreover Jeremiah said to king Zedekiah, Wherein have I sinned against you, or against your servants, or against this people, that you have put me in prison?

¹⁹ Where now are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land?

²⁰ Now please hear, my lord the king: please let my supplication be presented before you, that you not cause me to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there.

²¹ Then Zedekiah the king commanded, and they committed Jeremiah into the court of the guard; and they gave him daily a loaf of bread out of the bakers' street, until all the bread in the city was spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.