“ I, the LORD, also solemnly assert:‘ King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and the people who remain in Jerusalem or who have gone to live in Egypt are like those bad figs. I consider them to be just like those bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten.

耶和华如此说：“我必将犹大王西底家和他的首领，以及剩在这地耶路撒冷的余民，并住在埃及地的犹大人都交出来，好像那极坏、坏得不可吃的无花果。

耶和华如此说：“我必将犹大王西底家和他的众领袖，以及留在这地耶路撒冷剩余的人，并住在埃及地的犹大人都交出来，好像那极坏、坏得不能吃的无花果。

耶和华如此说：“我必将犹大王西底家和他的众领袖，以及留在这地耶路撒冷剩余的人，并住在埃及地的犹大人都交出来，好像那极坏、坏得不能吃的无花果。

至于那些坏得不能吃的无花果，耶和华这样说，‘犹大王西底迦及其官员，以及留在耶路撒冷和埃及的人在我眼中就像坏得不能吃的无花果。我必丢弃他们，

“但耶和华这样说：‘我怎样处置那些坏到不能吃的坏无花果，我也必照样对待犹大王西底家、他的众领袖和耶路撒冷的余民，不论是余剩在这地的，或是住在埃及地的。

耶和華如此說：「我必將猶大王西底家和他的首領，以及剩在這地耶路撒冷的餘民，並住在埃及地的猶大人都交出來，好像那極壞、壞得不可吃的無花果。

耶和華如此說：「我必將猶大王西底家和他的眾領袖，以及留在這地耶路撒冷剩餘的人，並住在埃及地的猶大人都交出來，好像那極壞、壞得不能吃的無花果。

耶和華如此說：「我必將猶大王西底家和他的眾領袖，以及留在這地耶路撒冷剩餘的人，並住在埃及地的猶大人都交出來，好像那極壞、壞得不能吃的無花果。

至於那些壞得不能吃的無花果，耶和華這樣說，『猶大王西底迦及其官員，以及留在耶路撒冷和埃及的人在我眼中就像壞得不能吃的無花果。我必丟棄他們，

“但耶和華這樣說：‘我怎樣處置那些壞到不能吃的壞無花果，我也必照樣對待猶大王西底家、他的眾領袖和耶路撒冷的餘民，不論是餘剩在這地的，或是住在埃及地的。

『但是永恆主這麼說：我必將猶大王西底家和眾首領、以及耶路撒冷的餘民、剩在這地的、和住在埃及地的、都看像那壞的無花果，壞到喫不得的。

至於無花果之劣而不可食者、耶和華曰、此若猶大王西底家、與其牧伯、及耶路撒冷遺民、居於斯土之眾、與旅於埃及者、

惟彼劣果、不堪適口、可比猶大王西底家、以及牧伯、耶路撒冷居民、斯土之遺眾、暨旅於埃及者。

主如是云、惟猶大王西底家、與其牧伯、及耶路撒冷之遺民、尚遺於斯地者、及旅於伊及者、我必使若此劣甚不可食之劣無花果、

“‘ But like the bad figs, which are so bad they cannot be eaten,’ says the Lord,‘ so will I deal with Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials and the survivors from Jerusalem, whether they remain in this land or live in Egypt.

“‘ But there are also bad figs. In fact, they are so bad they can’t be eaten,’ says the Lord.‘ Zedekiah, the king of Judah, is like these bad figs. So are his officials and the people of Jerusalem who are still left alive. I will punish them whether they remain in this land or live in Egypt.

“ But thus says the Lord: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt.

“ But the bad figs,” the Lord said,“ represent King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, all the people left in Jerusalem, and those who live in Egypt. I will treat them like bad figs, too rotten to eat.

“ But as for the bad figs, so bad they are inedible, this is what the LORD says: In this way I will deal with King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem— those remaining in this land or living in the land of Egypt.

‘ But like the bad figs which cannot be eaten due to rottenness,’ indeed, this is what the Lord says,‘ so will I give up Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and the ones who live in the land of Egypt.

‘ And as the bad figs which cannot be eaten, they are so bad’— surely thus says the Lord—‘ so will I give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, his princes, the residue of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt.

And as the bad figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so bad, surely thus saith Jehovah, So will I give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt,

“ But as for the bad figs, so bad they are inedible, this is what the Lord says: in this way I will deal with king Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem— those remaining in this land and those living in the land of Egypt.

And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely thus saith the LORD, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt:

“‘ As the bad figs, which can’t be eaten, they are so bad,’ surely Yahweh says,‘ So I will give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the remnant of Jerusalem, who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt.

Jeremiah finished telling all the people all these things the LORD their God had sent him to tell them.Then Azariah son of Hoshaiah, Johanan son of Kareah, and other arrogant men said to Jeremiah,“ You are telling a lie! The LORD our God did not send you to tell us,‘ You must not go to Egypt and settle there.’But Baruch son of Neriah is stirring you up against us. He wants to hand us over to the Babylonians so that they will kill us or carry us off into exile in Babylon.”So Johanan son of Kareah, all the army officers, and all the rest of the people did not obey the LORD’s command to stay in the land.Instead Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers led off all the Judean remnant who had come back to live in the land of Judah from all the nations where they had been scattered.They also led off all the men, women, children, and royal princesses that Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, had left with Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan. This included the prophet Jeremiah and Baruch son of Neriah.They went on to Egypt because they refused to obey the LORD, and came to Tahpanhes.At Tahpanhes the LORD spoke to Jeremiah.“ Take some large stones and bury them in the mortar of the clay pavement at the entrance of Pharaoh’s residence here in Tahpanhes. Do it while the people of Judah present there are watching.Then tell them,‘ The LORD God of Israel who rules over all says,“ I will bring my servant King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I will set his throne over these stones which I have buried. He will pitch his royal tent over them.He will come and attack Egypt. Those who are destined to die of disease will die of disease. Those who are destined to be carried off into exile will be carried off into exile. Those who are destined to die in war will die in war.He will set fire to the temples of the gods of Egypt. He will burn their gods or carry them off as captives. He will pick Egypt clean like a shepherd picks the lice from his clothing. He will leave there unharmed.He will demolish the sacred pillars in the temple of the sun in Egypt and will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt.”’”The LORD spoke to Jeremiah concerning all the Judeans who were living in the land of Egypt, those in Migdol, Tahpanhes, Memphis, and in the region of southern Egypt.

One basket had very good-looking figs in it. They looked like those that had ripened early. The other basket had very bad-looking figs in it, so bad they could not be eaten.

For even if you were to defeat all the Babylonian forces fighting against you so badly that only wounded men were left lying in their tents, they would get up and burn this city down.”’”

Therefore I, the LORD, say:‘ I will indeed hand this city over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and the Babylonian army. They will capture it.The Babylonian soldiers that are attacking this city will break into it and set it on fire. They will burn it down along with the houses where people have made me angry by offering sacrifices to the god Baal and by pouring out drink offerings to other gods on their rooftops.

So I, the LORD, say:“ You have not really obeyed me and granted freedom to your neighbor and fellow countryman. Therefore, I will grant you freedom, the freedom to die in war, or by starvation or disease. I, the LORD, affirm it! I will make all the kingdoms of the earth horrified at what happens to you.I will punish those people who have violated their covenant with me. I will make them like the calf they cut in two and passed between its pieces. I will do so because they did not keep the terms of the covenant they made in my presence.I will punish the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests, and all the other people of the land who passed between the pieces of the calf.I will hand them over to their enemies who want to kill them. Their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.I will also hand King Zedekiah of Judah and his officials over to their enemies who want to kill them. I will hand them over to the army of the king of Babylon, even though they have temporarily withdrawn from attacking you.For I, the LORD, affirm that I will soon give the order and bring them back to this city. They will fight against it and capture it and burn it down. I will also make the towns of Judah desolate so that there will be no one living in them.”’”

He did what displeased the LORD just as Jehoiakim had done.What follows is a record of what happened to Jerusalem and Judah because of the LORD’s anger when he drove them out of his sight. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Jerusalem with his whole army and set up camp outside it. They built siege ramps all around it. He arrived on the tenth day of the tenth month in the ninth year that Zedekiah ruled over Judah.The city remained under siege until Zedekiah’s eleventh year.By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city was so severe the residents had no food.They broke through the city walls, and all the soldiers tried to escape. They left the city during the night. They went through the gate between the two walls that is near the king’s garden.( The Babylonians had the city surrounded.) Then they headed for the Jordan Valley.But the Babylonian army chased after the king. They caught up with Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and his entire army deserted him.They captured him and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the territory of Hamath and he passed sentence on him there.The king of Babylon had Zedekiah’s sons put to death while Zedekiah was forced to watch. He also had all the nobles of Judah put to death there at Riblah.He had Zedekiah’s eyes put out and had him bound in chains. Then the king of Babylon had him led off to Babylon and he was imprisoned there until the day he died.

Then the word of the LORD came to me:“ Say to the rebellious house of Israel:‘ Don’t you know what these things mean?’ Say:‘ See here, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and took her king and her officials prisoner and brought them to himself in Babylon.He took one from the royal family, made a treaty with him, and put him under oath. He then took the leaders of the landso it would be a lowly kingdom which could not rise on its own but must keep its treaty with him in order to stand.But this one from Israel’s royal family rebelled against the king of Babylon by sending his emissaries to Egypt to obtain horses and a large army. Will he prosper? Will the one doing these things escape? Can he break the covenant and escape?“‘ As surely as I live, declares the sovereign LORD, surely in the city of the king who crowned him, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke– in the middle of Babylon he will die!Pharaoh with his great army and mighty horde will not help him in battle, when siege ramps are erected and siege-walls are built to kill many people.He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Take note– he gave his promise and did all these things– he will not escape!“‘ Therefore this is what the sovereign LORD says: As surely as I live, I will certainly repay him for despising my oath and breaking my covenant!I will throw my net over him and he will be caught in my snare; I will bring him to Babylon and judge him there because of the unfaithfulness he committed against me.All the choice men among his troops will die by the sword and the survivors will be scattered to every wind. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken!

But just listen to what the LORD has to say about the king who occupies David’s throne and all your fellow countrymen who are still living in this city of Jerusalem and were not carried off into exile with you.The LORD who rules over all says,‘ I will bring war, starvation, and disease on them. I will treat them like figs that are so rotten they cannot be eaten.I will chase after them with war, starvation, and disease. I will make all the kingdoms of the earth horrified at what happens to them. I will make them examples of those who are cursed, objects of horror, hissing scorn, and ridicule among all the nations where I exile them.

“ I, the LORD, the God of Israel, say:‘ The exiles whom I sent away from here to the land of Babylon are like those good figs. I consider them to be good.

Then King Zedekiah had him brought to the palace. There he questioned him privately and asked him,“ Is there any message from the LORD?” Jeremiah answered,“ Yes, there is.” Then he announced,“ You will be handed over to the king of Babylon.”

But listen to what the LORD has to say, all you people of Judah who are living in the land of Egypt. The LORD says,‘ I hereby swear by my own great name that none of the people of Judah who are living anywhere in Egypt will ever again invoke my name in their oaths! Never again will any of them use it in an oath saying,“ As surely as the Lord GOD lives….”I will indeed see to it that disaster, not prosperity, happens to them. All the people of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will die in war or from starvation until not one of them is left.Some who survive in battle will return to the land of Judah from the land of Egypt. But they will be very few indeed! Then the Judean remnant who have come to live in the land of Egypt will know whose word proves true, mine or theirs.’Moreover the LORD says,‘ I will make something happen to prove that I will punish you in this place. I will do it so that you will know that my threats to bring disaster on you will prove true.I, the LORD, promise that I will hand Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt over to his enemies who are seeking to kill him. I will do that just as surely as I handed King Zedekiah of Judah over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, his enemy who was seeking to kill him.’”

But if you do not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be handed over to the Babylonians and they will burn it down. You yourself will not escape from them.’”Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah,“ I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Babylonians. The Babylonians might hand me over to them and they will torture me.”Then Jeremiah answered,“ You will not be handed over to them. Please obey the LORD by doing what I have been telling you. Then all will go well with you and your life will be spared.But if you refuse to surrender, the LORD has shown me a vision of what will happen. Here is what I saw:All the women who are left in the royal palace of Judah will be led out to the officers of the king of Babylon. They will taunt you saying,‘ Your trusted friends misled you; they have gotten the best of you. Now that your feet are stuck in the mud, they have turned their backs on you.’“ All your wives and your children will be turned over to the Babylonians. You yourself will not escape from them but will be captured by the king of Babylon. This city will be burned down.”

For I, the LORD, say that I am determined not to deliver this city but to bring disaster on it. It will be handed over to the king of Babylon and he will destroy it with fire.’”

“ The prince who is among them will raise his belongings onto his shoulder in darkness, and will go out. He will dig a hole in the wall to leave through. He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land with his eyes.But I will throw my net over him, and he will be caught in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans( but he will not see it), and there he will die.All his retinue– his attendants and his troops– I will scatter to every wind; I will unleash a sword behind them.“ Then they will know that I am the LORD when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them among foreign countries.But I will let a small number of them survive the sword, famine, and pestilence, so that they can confess all their abominable practices to the nations where they go. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”

It lasted until the ninth day of the fourth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year. On that day they broke through the city walls.Then Nergal-Sharezer of Samgar, Nebo-Sarsekim, who was a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer, who was a high official, and all the other officers of the king of Babylon came and set up quarters in the Middle Gate.When King Zedekiah of Judah and all his soldiers saw them, they tried to escape. They departed from the city during the night. They took a path through the king’s garden and passed out through the gate between the two walls. Then they headed for the Jordan Valley.But the Babylonian army chased after them. They caught up with Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho and captured him. They took him to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon at Riblah in the territory of Hamath and Nebuchadnezzar passed sentence on him there.There at Riblah the king of Babylon had Zedekiah’s sons put to death while Zedekiah was forced to watch. The king of Babylon also had all the nobles of Judah put to death.Then he had Zedekiah’s eyes put out and had him bound in chains to be led off to Babylon.The Babylonians burned down the royal palace, the temple of the LORD, and the people’s homes, and they tore down the wall of Jerusalem.Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, took captive the rest of the people who were left in the city. He carried them off to Babylon along with the people who had deserted to him.