13 ^aHe also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. ^bHe stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord, the God of Israel. 14 All the officers of the priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations. And they polluted the house of the Lord that he had made holy in Jerusalem.

15 The Lord, the God of their fathers, ^csent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. 16 ^dBut they kept mocking the messengers of God, ^edespising his words and scoffing at his prophets, ^funtil the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no remedy.

Fall and Captivity of Judah

1 ^uAnd in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, ^vNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem and laid siege to it. ^wAnd they built siegeworks all around it.

The Siege of Jerusalem

1 ^lIn the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 2 ^m“Son of man, write down the name of this day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day. 3 And ⁿutter a parable to ^othe rebellious house and say to them, Thus says the Lord God:

6 “Therefore thus says the Lord God: ^rWoe to the bloody city, to ^pthe pot whose corrosion is in it, and whose corrosion has not gone out of it! Take out of it piece after piece, without making any choice.² 7 For the blood she has shed is in her midst; she put it on ^sthe bare rock; ^tshe did not pour it out on the ground to cover it with dust. 8 To rouse my wrath, to take vengeance, I have set on the bare rock the blood she has shed, that it may not be covered. 9 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Woe to the bloody city! ^uI also will make the pile great. 10 Heap on the logs, kindle the fire, boil the meat well, mix in the spices,³ and let the bones be burned up. 11 Then set it empty upon the coals, that it may become hot, and its copper may burn, ^vthat its uncleanness may be melted in it, its corrosion consumed. 12 ^wShe has wearied herself with toil;⁴ its abundant corrosion does not go out of it. Into the fire with its corrosion! 13 On account of your unclean lewdness, because I would have cleansed you and you were not cleansed from your uncleanness, ^xyou shall not be cleansed anymore till ^yI have satisfied my fury upon you. 14 ^zI am the Lord. I have spoken; it shall come to pass; I will do it. I will not go back; ^aI will not spare; ^bI will not relent; ^caccording to your ways and your deeds you will be judged, declares the Lord God.”

Ezekiel’s Wife Dies

15 The word of the Lord came to me: 16 ^d“Son of man, behold, I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you at a stroke; yet you shall not mourn or weep, nor shall your tears run down. 17 Sigh, but not aloud; make no mourning for the dead. ^eBind on your turban, and ^fput your shoes on your feet; do not cover your lips, ^gnor eat the bread of men.” 18 So I spoke to the people in the morning, and ^hat evening my wife died. And on the next morning I did ⁱas I was commanded.

19 And ^jthe people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things mean for us, that you are acting thus?” 20 Then I said to them, “The word of the Lord came to me: 21 ‘Say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: ^kBehold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the delight of your eyes, and the yearning of your soul, and ^lyour sons and your daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword. 22 And ^myou shall do as I have done; ^myou shall not cover your lips, ^gnor eat the bread of men. 23 ^mYour turbans shall be on your heads and your shoes on your feet; you shall not mourn or weep, but ⁿyou shall rot away in your iniquities and groan to one another. 24 Thus shall Ezekiel be to you ^oa sign; ^maccording to all that he has done you shall do. When this comes, then ^pyou will know that I am the Lord God.’

25 “As for you, ^qson of man, surely on the day when I take from them ^rtheir stronghold, their joy and glory, the delight of their eyes and their soul’s desire, and also their sons and daughters, 26 ^son that day a fugitive will come to you to report to you the news. 27 On that day your mouth ^twill be opened to the fugitive, and you shall speak and be no longer mute. ^uSo you will be a sign to them, and ^vthey will know that I am the Lord.”

Prophecy Against Ammon

1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 ^w“Son of man, ^xset your face toward ^ythe Ammonites and prophesy against them. 3 Say to the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord God: ^zThus says the Lord God, Because you said, ^a‘Aha!’ over my ^bsanctuary when it was profaned, and over the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and over the house of Judah when they went into exile, 4 therefore behold, I am handing you over to ^cthe people of the East for a possession, and they shall set their encampments among you and make their dwellings in your midst. They shall eat your fruit, and they shall drink your milk. 5 I will make ^dRabbah a ^epasture for camels and Ammon^{5 e}a fold for flocks. ^vThen you will know that I am the Lord. 6 For thus says the Lord God: Because ^fyou have clapped your hands ^gand stamped your feet and ^hrejoiced with all the ⁱmalice within your soul against the land of Israel, 7 therefore, behold, ^jI have stretched out my hand against you, and ^kwill hand you over as plunder to the nations. And I will cut you off from the peoples and will make you perish out of the countries; I will destroy you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

Prophecy Against Moab and Seir

8 “Thus says the Lord God: Because ^lMoab and ^mSeir⁶ said, ‘Behold, the ⁿhouse of Judah is like all the other nations,’ 9 therefore ^lI will lay open the flank of Moab from the cities, from its cities on its frontier, the glory of the country, ^oBeth-jeshimoth, ^pBaal-meon, and ^qKiriathaim. 10 I will give it ^ralong with the Ammonites ^sto the people of the East as a possession, ^tthat the Ammonites may be remembered no more among the nations, 11 ^land I will execute judgments upon Moab. ^uThen they will know that I am the Lord.

Prophecy Against Edom

12 “Thus says the Lord God: Because ^vEdom acted revengefully against the house of Judah and has grievously offended ^win taking vengeance on them, 13 therefore thus says the Lord God, ^xI will stretch out my hand against Edom and cut off from it man and beast. And I will make it desolate; from ^yTeman even to ^zDedan they shall fall by the sword. 14 And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom ^aby the hand of my people Israel, and they shall do in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath, and ^bthey shall know my vengeance, declares the Lord God.

Prophecy Against Philistia

15 “Thus says the Lord God: Because ^cthe Philistines ^dacted revengefully and took vengeance ^ewith malice of soul to destroy in never-ending enmity, 16 therefore thus says the Lord God, ^xBehold, I will stretch out my hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off ^fthe Cherethites and destroy the rest of the seacoast. 17 I will execute great vengeance on them ^gwith wrathful rebukes. ^hThen they will know that I am the Lord, when I lay my vengeance upon them.”

Jerusalem Will Fall to Nebuchadnezzar

1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when King Zedekiah sent to him ^uPashhur the son of Malchiah and ^vZephaniah the priest, the son of ^wMaaseiah, saying, 2 ^x“Inquire of the Lord for us, ^yfor Nebuchadnezzar¹ king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to ^zall his wonderful deeds and will make him withdraw from us.”

3 Then Jeremiah said to them: “Thus you shall say to Zedekiah, 4 ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ^aBehold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls. ^bAnd I will bring them together into the midst of this city. 5 I myself will fight against you ^cwith outstretched hand and strong arm, ^din anger and in fury and in great wrath. 6 And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence. 7 Afterward, declares the Lord, ^eI will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives. He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword. ^fHe shall not pity them or spare them or have compassion.’

8 “And to this people you shall say: ^g‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, ^hI set before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 He who stays in this city shall die ⁱby the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out and ^jsurrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live ^kand shall have his life as a prize of war. 10 For ^lI have set my face against this city for harm and ^mnot for good, declares the Lord: ⁿit shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.’

Message to the House of David

11 “And to the house of the king of Judah say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, 12 O house of David! Thus says the Lord:

4 ^dNow Jeremiah was still going in and out among the people, ^efor he had not yet been put in prison. 5 ^fThe army of Pharaoh had come out of Egypt. And when ^gthe Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news about them, ^hthey withdrew from Jerusalem.

3 King Zedekiah sent ^yJehucal the son of ^zShelemiah, and ^aZephaniah the priest, the son of ^bMaaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “Please ^cpray for us to the Lord our God.”

6 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet: 7 “Thus says the Lord, God of Israel: Thus shall you say to the king of Judah who ⁱsent you to me to inquire of me, ‘Behold, ^jPharaoh’s army that came to help you is about to ^kreturn to Egypt, to its own land. 8 And ^lthe Chaldeans shall come back and fight against this city. ^lThey shall capture it and burn it with fire. 9 Thus says the Lord, Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,” for they will not go away. 10 ^mFor even if you should defeat the whole army of Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and there remained of them only wounded men, every man in his tent, they would rise up and ^lburn this city with fire.’”