¹ And it came to pass when Jerusalem was taken, in the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and they besieged it.

² In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth of the month, the city was broken into;

³ and all the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate: Nergal-sharezer, Samgar-nebu, Sarsechim, chief chamberlain, Nergal-sharezer, chief magian, and all the rest of the princes of the king of Babylon.

⁴ And it came to pass when Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, that they fled, and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the king's garden, by the gate between the two walls; and he went out the way of the plain.

⁵ And the army of the Chaldeans pursued after them, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and they took him, and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, unto Riblah in the land of Hamath; and he pronounced judgment upon him.

⁶ And the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes, and the king of Babylon slaughtered all the nobles of Judah;

⁷ and he put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with chains of brass, to carry him to Babylon.

⁸ And the Chaldeans burned the king's house and the houses of the people with fire, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem.

⁹ And Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard carried away captive into Babylon the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the deserters that had deserted to him, with the rest of the people that were left.

¹⁰ But Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard left [certain] of the people, the poor who had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.

¹¹ And Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had given charge concerning Jeremiah by Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard, saying,

¹² Take him, and keep an eye upon him, and do him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee.

¹³ So Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard sent, and Nebushazban, chief chamberlain, and Nergal-sharezer, chief magian, and all the king of Babylon's princes,

¹⁴ even they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the guard and committed him to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, that he should conduct him away home. And he dwelt among the people.

¹⁵ And the word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the guard, saying,

¹⁶ Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good, and they shall come to pass before thy face in that day.

¹⁷ And I will deliver thee in that day, saith Jehovah; and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid;

¹⁸ for I will certainly save thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thou shalt have thy life for a prey; for thou hast put thy confidence in me, saith Jehovah.

¹ In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; salvation doth he appoint for walls and bulwarks.

² Open ye the gates, and the righteous nation which keepeth faithfulness shall enter in.

³ Thou wilt keep in perfect peace the mind stayed [on thee], for he confideth in thee.

⁴ Confide ye in Jehovah for ever; for in Jah, Jehovah, is the rock of ages.

⁵ For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low, he layeth it low to the ground, he bringeth it even to the dust.

⁶ The foot shall tread it down, -- the feet of the afflicted, the steps of the poor.

⁷ The way of the just is uprightness: thou, the Upright, dost make the path of the just even.

⁸ Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Jehovah, have we waited for thee; the desire of [our] soul is to thy name, and to thy memorial.

⁹ With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

¹⁰ If favour be shewn to the wicked, he doth not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness he dealeth unjustly, and beholdeth not the majesty of Jehovah.

¹¹ Jehovah, thy hand is lifted up, but they do not see: [yet] they shall see [thy] jealousy [for] the people, and be ashamed; yea, the fire which is for thine adversaries shall devour them.

¹² Jehovah, thou wilt ordain peace for us; for thou also hast wrought all our works for us.

¹³ Jehovah our God, other lords than thee have had dominion over us; by thee only will we make mention of thy name.

¹⁴ [They are] dead, they shall not live; deceased, they shall not rise: for thou hast visited and destroyed them, and made all memory of them to perish.

¹⁵ Thou hast increased the nation, Jehovah, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified. Thou hadst removed [it] far [unto] all the ends of the earth.

¹⁶ Jehovah, in trouble they sought thee; they poured out [their] whispered prayer when thy chastening was upon them.

¹⁷ As a woman with child, that draweth near her delivery, is in travail, [and] crieth out in her pangs; so have we been before thee, Jehovah.

¹⁸ We have been with child, we have been in travail, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought the deliverance of the land, neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

¹⁹ Thy dead shall live, my dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing in triumph, ye that dwell in dust; for thy dew is the dew of the morning, and the earth shall cast forth the dead.

²⁰ Come, my people, enter into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself just for a little moment, until the indignation be past.

²¹ For behold, Jehovah cometh out of his place to visit the iniquity of the inhabitants of the earth upon them; and the earth shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.