"Then laysiegeagainstit, builda siegewall,raiseup a ramp,pitchcampsand placebatteringramsagainstit allaround.
They cameand besiegedhim in AbelBeth-maacah,and they castup a siegerampagainstthe city,and it stoodby the rampart;and allthe peoplewhowere with Joabwere wreakingdestructionin order to topplethe wall.
Then your choicestvalleyswere fullof chariots,And the horsementookup fixedpositionsat the gate.
Behold,the siegerampshave reachedthe cityto takeit; and the cityis giveninto the handof the Chaldeanswho fightagainstit, becauseof the sword,the famineand the pestilence;and whatYou have spokenhas cometo pass;and behold,You see[it].
"For thussaysthe LORDGodof Israelconcerningthe housesof thiscity,and concerningthe housesof the kingsof Judahwhich are brokendown[to make a defense] againstthe siegerampsand againstthe sword,
Now it cameabout in the ninthyearof his reign,on the tenth[day] of the tenthmonth,that Nebuchadnezzarkingof Babyloncame,he and allhis army,againstJerusalem,campedagainstit and builta siegewallallaroundit.
For thussaysthe LORDof hosts,"Cutdownher treesAnd castup a siegeagainstJerusalem.Thisis the cityto be punished,In whose midstthere is onlyoppression.
"Into his righthandcamethe divination,'Jerusalem,'to setbatteringrams,to openthe mouthfor slaughter,to liftup the voicewith a battlecry,to setbatteringramsagainstthe gates,to castup ramps,to builda siegewall.
A ruin,a ruin,a ruin,I will makeit. Thisalsowill be nomore untilHe comeswhoserightit is, and I will giveit [to Him].'
"Onethirdyou shall burnin the fireat the centerof the city,when the daysof the siegeare completed.Then you shall takeonethirdand strike[it] with the swordallaroundthe city, and onethirdyou shall scatterto the wind;and I will unsheathea swordbehindthem.
"Then the kingof the Northwill come,castup a siegerampand capturea well-fortifiedcity;and the forcesof the Southwill not stand[their ground], not even their choicesttroops,for therewill be nostrengthto makea stand.
