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 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said, "Strike the tops of the pillars, that the thresholds may shake; and break them in pieces on the head of all of them; and I will kill the last of them with the sword: there shall not one of them flee away, and there shall not one of them escape.

² Though they dig into Sheol, there my hand will take them; and though they climb up to heaven, there I will bring them down.

³ Though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out there; and though they be hidden from my sight in the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent, and it will bite them.

⁴ Though they go into captivity before their enemies, there I will command the sword, and it will kill them. I will set my eyes on them for evil, and not for good.

⁵ For the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, is he who touches the land and it melts, and all who dwell in it will mourn; and it will rise up wholly like the River, and will sink again, like the River of Egypt.

⁶ It is he who builds his rooms in the heavens, and has founded his vault on the earth; he who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the surface of the earth; Yahweh is his name.

⁷ Are you not like the children of the Ethiopians to me, children of Israel?" says Yahweh. "Haven't I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?

⁸ Behold, the eyes of the Lord Yahweh are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the surface of the earth; except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob," says Yahweh.

⁹ "For, behold, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all the nations, as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet not the least kernel will fall on the earth.

¹⁰ All the sinners of my people will die by the sword, who say, 'Evil won't overtake nor meet us.'

¹¹ In that day I will raise up the tent of David who is fallen, and close up its breaches, and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old;

¹² that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the nations who are called by my name," says Yahweh who does this.

¹³ "Behold, the days come," says Yahweh, "that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the one treading grapes him who sows seed; and sweet wine will drip from the mountains, and flow from the hills.

¹⁴ I will bring my people Israel back from captivity, and they will rebuild the ruined cities, and inhabit them; and they will plant vineyards, and drink wine from them. They shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.

¹⁵ I will plant them on their land, and they will no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them," says Yahweh your God.