In the spring King Nebuchadnezzar sent for Jehoiakin and brought him to Babylon with the valuable utensils from the Lord’s temple. Nebuchadnezzar made Jehoiakin’s uncle Zedekiah king of Judah and Jerusalem.
How horrible it will be for you, you destroyer, although you haven’t been destroyed. How horrible it will be for you, you traitor, although you haven’t been betrayed. When you’ve finished destroying, you will be destroyed. When you’ve finished being a traitor, you will be betrayed.
Mourn, you shepherds, and cry. Roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock. The time has come for you to be slaughtered. The time has come for you to be scattered, and you will break like fine pottery.
“What do I see in them? They are terrified. They are retreating. Their warriors are defeated. They flee without looking back. Terror is all around them,” declares the Lord.
A destroyer will attack Babylon, its soldiers will be captured, and their bows and arrows will be broken. “I, the Lord, am a God who punishes evil. I will certainly punish them.
His troops will loot your riches and take your goods as prizes. They will destroy your walls and tear down your delightful homes. They will throw your stones, wood, and soil into the water.
He will take the metal statues of their gods and their precious utensils of silver and gold back to Egypt. He will rule for more years than the northern king.
Your officers are like locusts, and your scribes are like swarms of locusts that settle on the fences when it is cold. The sun rises, and they scatter in every direction. No one knows where they’ve gone.
No one buys their cargo of gold, silver, gems, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, bright red cloth, all kinds of citron wood, articles made of ivory and very costly wood, bronze, iron, marble,
saying, ‘How horrible, how horrible for that important city which was wearing fine linen, purple clothes, bright red clothes, gold jewelry, gems, and pearls.