In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem, and besieged it.

And all the rulers of the king of Babylon came in and sat in the middle gate: Nergal- sharezer, Samgar-nebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris, Nergal-sharezer, Rabmag, and all the rest of the rulers of the king of Babylon.

But the Chaldean army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. And they took him, and brought him to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced judgment upon him.

Moreover he put out Zedekiah's eyes and bound him with chains, to bring him to Babylon.

You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you unto Myself.

And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: You have seen all that Jehovah has done before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land;

You have seen all that Jehovah your God has done to all these nations because of you, for Jehovah your God is He who was fighting for you.

But My Words and My statutes which I commanded My servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? And they turned back and said, As Jehovah of Hosts purposes to do to us, according to our ways and according to our doings, so He has dealt with us.

Yes, so that Jehovah could no longer hold back because of the evil of your doings, because of the abominations which you have done! Therefore your land is a waste, and a wonder, and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is today.

The lion has come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the nations has set out; he has gone forth from his place to make your land a waste. Your cities will fall into ruins without inhabitant.

Then I will cause the voice of gladness to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem, and the voice of joy, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride. For the land shall be desolate.

And I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.

And this whole land shall be a ruin and a waste. And these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

Behold, I will command, says Jehovah, and cause them to return to this city. And they shall fight against it and capture it, and burn it with fire. And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant.

I will bring the land to desolation, and your enemies who dwell in it shall be astonished at it.

I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you; your land shall be desolate and your cities waste.

The land also shall be forsaken by them, and shall be satisfied with its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them; they shall accept their guilt, because they had despised My judgments and because their soul had abhorred My statutes.

And I shall stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab; I shall wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it face down.

Then I said, Lord, how long? And He answered, Until the cities have been smashed to ruins without inhabitant, and the houses without a man, and the land is left devastated,

Desolation is left in the city, and the gate is battered and destroyed.

Your holy cities are a wilderness; Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem is a desolation.

Our holy and beautiful house, where our fathers praised You, is burned up with fire; and all our pleasant things are laid waste.

How alone sits the city that was full of people! She has become like a widow, who was once great among the nations, a princess among the nations, but now has come under tribute.

For these I weep; my eye, my eye runs down with water, because the comforter who could refresh my soul is far from me. My children are desolate because the enemy has prevailed.

The mountain of Zion is laid waste; the foxes walk upon it.

Therefore, on account of you, Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house like the high places of the forest.