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Say now to the rebellious house: Do you not know what these things mean? Tell them: The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, took its king and its officials, and brought them back with him to Babylon.
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He took one of the royal offspring and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath (he had taken away the chief men of the land),
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so that the kingdom might be humble and not lift itself up, and that by keeping his covenant it might stand.
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But he rebelled against him by sending ambassadors to Egypt, in order that they might give him horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Can one escape who does such things? Can he break the covenant and yet escape?
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As I live, says the Lord God, surely in the place where the king resides who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant with him he broke—in Babylon he shall die.
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Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company will not help him in war, when ramps are cast up and siege walls built to cut off many lives.
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Because he despised the oath and broke the covenant, because he gave his hand and yet did all these things, he shall not escape.
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Therefore thus says the Lord God: As I live, I will surely return upon his head my oath that he despised, and my covenant that he broke.
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I will spread my net over him, and he shall be caught in my snare; I will bring him to Babylon and enter into judgment with him there for the treason he has committed against me.
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All the pick of his troops shall fall by the sword, and the survivors shall be scattered to every wind; and you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken.
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Thus says the Lord God: I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of a cedar; I will set it out. I will break off a tender one from the topmost of its young twigs; I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain.