But as for you, your officials, and the people who survive the war, the famine, and the disease---I will let all of you be captured by King Nebuchadnezzar and by your enemies, who want to kill you. Nebuchadnezzar will put you to death. He will not spare any of you or show mercy or pity to any of you. I, the LORD, have spoken."

and King Zedekiah will not escape. He will be handed over to the king of Babylonia; he will see him face-to-face and will speak to him in person.

I will also hand over King Zedekiah of Judah and his officials to those who want to kill them. I will hand them over to the Babylonian army, which has stopped its attack against you.

Then I asked, "What crime have I committed against you or your officials or this people, to make you put me in prison?

Then I added, "All your women and children will be taken out to the Babylonians, and you yourself will not escape from them. You will be taken prisoner by the king of Babylonia, and this city will be burned to the ground."

But the Babylonian army pursued them and captured Zedekiah in the plains near Jericho. Then they took him to King Nebuchadnezzar, who was in the city of Riblah in the territory of Hamath, and there Nebuchadnezzar passed sentence on him.

Instead, you plan to escape from your enemies by riding fast horses. And you are right---escape is what you will have to do! You think your horses are fast enough, but those who pursue you will be faster!

A thousand of you will run away when you see one enemy soldier, and five soldiers will be enough to make you all run away. Nothing will be left of your army except a lonely flagpole on the top of a hill.

Swifter than eagles swooping from the sky, they chased us down. They tracked us down in the hills; they took us by surprise in the desert.

They captured the source of our life, the king the LORD had chosen, the one we had trusted to protect us from every invader.

The prince who is ruling them will shoulder his pack in the dark and escape through a hole that they dig for him in the wall. He will cover his eyes and not see where he is going.

I will scatter in every direction all the members of his court and his advisers and bodyguards, and people will search for them to kill them.

I will spread out a hunter's net and catch him in it. I will take him to Babylonia and punish him there, because he was unfaithful to me.

His best soldiers will be killed in battle, and the survivors will be scattered in every direction. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken."

Not even fast runners will escape; strong men will lose their strength, and soldiers will not be able to save their own lives.

Archers will not stand their ground, fast runners will not get away, and men on horses will not escape with their lives.

I saw the Lord standing by the altar. He gave the command: "Strike the tops of the Temple columns so hard that the foundation will shake. Break them off and let them fall on the heads of the people. I will kill the rest of the people in war. No one will get away; not one will escape.

If they hide on the top of Mount Carmel, I will search for them and catch them. If they hide from me at the bottom of the sea, I will command the sea monster to bite them.