12. “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.
13. He took one from the royal family, made a treaty with him, and put him under oath. He then took the leaders of the land
14. so it would be a lowly kingdom which could not rise on its own but must keep its treaty with him in order to stand.
15. 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?
16. “‘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!
17. 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.
18. He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Take note – he gave his promise and did all these things – he will not escape!