¹ In the ninth year of Sedecias king of Juda, in the tenth month, came Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, and all his army to Jerusalem, and they besieged it.

² And in the eleventh year of Sedecias, in the fourth month, the fifth day of the month, the city was opened.

³ And all the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate: Neregel, Sereser, Semegarnabu, Sarsachim, Rabsares, Neregel, Serezer, Rebmag, and all the rest of the princes of the king of Babylon.

⁴ And when Sedecias the king of Juda and all the men of war saw them, they fled: and they went forth in the night out of the city by the way of the king's garden, and by the gate that was between the two walls, and they went; out to the way of the desert.

⁵ But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after them: and they took Sedecias in the plain of the desert of Jericho, and when they had taken him, they brought him to Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon to Reblatha, which is in the land of Emath: and he gave judgment upon him.

⁶ And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Sedecias, in Reblatha, before his eyes: and the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Juda.

⁷ He also put out the eyes of Sedecias: and bound him with fetters, to be carried to Babylon.

⁸ And the Chaldeans burnt the king's house, and the houses of the people with fire, and they threw down the wall of Jerusalem.

⁹ And Nabuzardan the general of the army carried away captive to Babylon the remnant of the people that remained in the city, and the fugitives that had gone over to him, and the rest of the people that remained.

¹⁰ But Nabuzardan the general left some of the poor people that had nothing at all, in the land of Juda, and he gave them vineyards, and cisterns at that time.

¹¹ Now Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon had given charge to Nabuzardan the general concerning Jeremias, saying:

¹² Take him, and set thy eyes upon him, and do him no harm: but as he hath a mind, so do with him.

¹³ Therefore Nabuzardan the general sent, and Nabusezban, and Rabsares, and Neregel, and Sereser, and Rebmag, and all the nobles of the king of Babylon,

¹⁴ Sent, and took Jeremias out of the court of the prison, and committed him to Codolias the son of Ahicam the son of Saphan, that he might go home, and dwell among the people.

¹⁵ But the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, when he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying: Go, and tell Abdemelech the Ethiopian, saying:

¹⁶ Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Behold I will bring my words upon this city unto evil, and not unto good: and they shall be accomplished in thy sight in that day.

¹⁷ And I will deliver thee in that day, saith the Lord: and thou shalt not be given into the hands of the men whom thou fearest:

¹⁸ But delivering, I will deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword : but thy life shall be saved for thee, because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the Lord.

¹ "Comfort, Comfort my people," says your God.

² "Speak comfortably to Jerusalem; and call out to her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received of Yahweh's hand double for all her sins."

³ The voice of one who calls out, "Prepare the way of Yahweh in the wilderness! Make a level highway in the desert for our God.

⁴ Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The uneven shall be made level, and the rough places a plain.

⁵ The glory of Yahweh shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it."

⁶ The voice of one saying, "Cry!" One said, "What shall I cry?" "All flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field.

⁷ The grass withers, the flower fades, because Yahweh's breath blows on it. Surely the people are like grass.

⁸ The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God stands forever."

⁹ You who tell good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who tell good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength. Lift it up. Don't be afraid. Say to the cities of Judah, "Behold, your God!"

¹⁰ Behold, the Lord Yahweh will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.

¹¹ He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who have their young.

¹² Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and marked off the sky with his span, and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?

¹³ Who has directed the Spirit of Yahweh, or has taught him as his counselor?

¹⁴ Who did he take counsel with, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?

¹⁵ Behold, the nations are like a drop in a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on a balance. Behold, he lifts up the islands like a very little thing.

¹⁶ Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor its animals sufficient for a burnt offering.

¹⁷ All the nations are like nothing before him. They are regarded by him as less than nothing, and vanity.

¹⁸ To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to him?

¹⁹ A workman has cast an image, and the goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts silver chains for it.

²⁰ He who is too impoverished for such an offering chooses a tree that will not rot. He seeks a skillful workman to set up an engraved image for him that will not be moved.

²¹ Haven't you known? Haven't you heard, yet? Haven't you been told from the beginning? Haven't you understood from the foundations of the earth?

²² It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in;

²³ who brings princes to nothing; who makes the judges of the earth like meaningless.

²⁴ They are planted scarcely. They are sown scarcely. Their stock has scarcely taken root in the ground. He merely blows on them, and they wither, and the whirlwind takes them away as stubble.

²⁵ "To whom then will you liken me? Who is my equal?" says the Holy One.

²⁶ Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these, who brings out their army by number. He calls them all by name. by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power, Not one is lacking.

²⁷ Why do you say, Jacob, and speak, Israel, "My way is hidden from Yahweh, and the justice due me is disregarded by my God?"

²⁸ Haven't you known? Haven't you heard? The everlasting God, Yahweh, The Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn't faint. He isn't weary. His understanding is unsearchable.

²⁹ He gives power to the weak. He increases the strength of him who has no might.

³⁰ Even the youths faint and get weary, and the young men utterly fall;

³¹ But those who wait for Yahweh will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run, and not be weary. They will walk, and not faint.