15. Early and often the Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent his messengers to them, for he had compassion on his people and his dwelling place.
16. But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until the Lord’s anger against his people blazed up beyond remedy.
17. Then he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in their own sanctuary, with compassion for neither young men nor young women, neither the old nor the infirm; all of them he delivered into his power.
18. All the utensils of the house of God, large and small, the treasures of the Lord’s house, and the treasures of the king and his princes, all these he brought to Babylon.
19. They burnt the house of God, tore down the walls of Jerusalem, burnt down all its palaces, and destroyed all its precious objects.
20. Those who escaped the sword he carried captive to Babylon, where they became servants to him and his sons until the Persian kingdom came to power.